Since Paul "Triple H" Levesque has taken over for Vince McMahon, Corey Graves feels like he has more leeway to be himself on WWE commentary.
Graves was recently interviewed by the Short and to the Point podcast. During the appearance, Graves discussed the support he's received from Levesque throughout his WWE career. Graves said that the space Levesque gives WWE announcers to develop their own style has been "sort of refreshing."
Triple H is another guy that I owe a great deal, if not everything in my career, to. He was the one that took a chance on me as a wrestler in NXT. And I know that we've had a few conversations since - that him having to shut me down broke his heart as much as it broke mine. He's always been sort of silently supportive. If I need something, I’ve never hesitated to go to him and ask. He also is really cool and sort of refreshing in a sense that he gives us [announcers] space.
When he's in Gorilla [position] right where the old boss sat, instead of being told and prompted, 'Hey, you've got to say this, you have to do it this way, you have to use this verbiage,' He, I think, understands that we’re all fans and we all love this in different ways. And as the business grows and evolves, you kind of have to let go of the reins a little bit. I still have my guide rails, I just feel like they’re a little bit wider on each side now where rather than trying to stay on a particular path and walk in a certain rhythm and do things a certain way, I have a little bit more leeway to be me and develop my own style. As long as all the boxes that need checked continue to be checked, I don't have to do them the same way that the six guys before me have done or that Michael Cole does or etcetera.
Graves was then asked what it's like having Levesque in his headset.
I’ve been on TV for, I think, seven years on Raw and SmackDown. And in the last few months, I think my headsets have been as quiet and lucid as they have been ever. I only hear from him if I’m doing something terribly wrong, which knock on wood doesn't happen too frequently, or the other time I hear from him pretty regularly is if a joke lands. If I say something and it gets him, 'Oh, that was really good.' Or he’ll double down. He’ll follow up on my joke in my headset. And sometimes I'm like, 'Oh man I wish I could tell the people this but it just doesn't fit.'
Graves and Wade Barrett are WWE's commentary team for SmackDown. Last month, Graves took on a new role as the lead play-by-play voice of the show. He had previously been a color commentator.
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