In early January, WWE commentator Corey Graves took to social media to vent his frustrations over "being told you’re not famous enough for your own job." That came shortly after he was removed from RAW in favour of the returning Pat McAfee.
Clearly unhappy about being sent back to NXT - Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett have become an established duo on SmackDown, so there was unlikely to be a place for him on Friday night - Graves later claimed to have a lot to say on the Wednesday night show.
However, he was nowhere to be seen and his X posts have since been deleted. Graves has since returned to NXT alongside Vic Joseph and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T but hasn't referenced his apparent unhappiness and certainly isn't involved in any storylines.
Many believe Graves' time in WWE could be winding down, particularly after Carmella levelled a series of damaging claims against the company while addressing her recent release.
Joseph has now weighed in on the situation and downplayed Graves' apparent issues with calling the action as part of the developmental brand he started his career in.
"I think he had to have a new set of eyes and take a deep breath. And something we’ve always talked about...we used to travel in the car together...was, 'Hey man, it’d be cool to call the shows together one day,'" the announcer explained. "And I think once he and I had the talk, like, 'Dude, this is what we’ve always talked about.' He was kind of like, 'Yeah, you’re right.'"
"I think the difficulty [is] for Corey, and I think this is where you start to see that seamless transition," Joseph continued. "Now, he doesn’t have to do as much. Now he can take a deep breath. Now he can take a step back and understand that it is three of us, three unique individuals, three distinct personalities for one goal for one show."
When McAfee returns to covering the NFL on a regular basis, chances are Graves could return to RAW on Monday nights. However, when Tessitore was recently unable to attend SmackDown, Joseph filled in for him and did a great job.
With that in mind, he may get the chance to do more on the main roster and end up working alongside Michael Cole on Netflix in place of Graves. We'll have to wait and see.
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