Corey Graves recently appeared as a guest on The Kurt Angle Show podcast for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling.
During the discussion, the former WWE NXT Superstar and WWE television commentator spoke about making the move to the main roster years ago, as well as what it is like to work alongside Michael Cole.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where he touches on these topics with his thoughts.
On being called up to the main roster as Raw commentator: “My first night on Monday Night Raw was here in Pittsburgh. So that, to me, was really, really special. Didn’t matter to anybody else because no one knew who the hell I was. But to me I remember staying at the Marriott right by PPG paints. It’s something else now. And I woke up that morning, and I opened the window, and I looked, and I saw Mount Washington, and I was living in, I was either in Tampa or Connecticut at the time. I think I was still in Tampa, waking up and seeing Mount Washington, and it all became real. And I stood in my window in my hotel, and I cried for about five minutes just going, ‘Oh my God, here I am. And I got there.’ The first night went well, and I don’t think I ever looked back since it was just kind of all right. We made it through. On to the next, on to the next. That’s the nature of the beast, right?”
On working with Michael Cole: “There is no dirt, man. Michael Cole is the genuine article. I take that back. The Michael Cole you see on TV is nothing like the Michael Cole off-screen. Listen, I spend plenty of nights at the hotel bar with Michael Cole, talking about old music and old wrestling and old football, and God knows what he’s become. He’s become one of my closest friends. He’s technically my boss, and I am so grateful up there with Dusty Rhodes. People who have had an impact on my life and my career, especially Cole’s, got to be in that conversation. He is so patient, so unbelievably patient, with me and other talent coming through because he understands Cole will tell the tale any time he gets the opportunity. He felt like it took him ten years to fully grasp the psychology of WWE, which, if you look back, I mean, he still had JR. At the time, you had King running around, and Cole was with Taz, and they were both sort of learning on the job together, and Cole’s patience is second to none. Also, to hear him tell the stories about his real-life pre-WWE, like his journalism stories, the guy’s covered wars. The guy who interviewed David Koresh, like Cole, has done some really wild stuff in his life. But you’ll never know because he’s the consummate pro. He shows up, he doesn’t ruffle any feathers, and he does what he has to do. He is a pro’s pro, and there’s not enough time on this or any other podcast for me to truly give him all the flowers that I want. Man, I have all the respect in the world for Cole.”
Check out the complete interview at AdFreeShows.com. H/T to WrestlingHeadlines.com for transcribing the above quotes.
