Corey Graves appeared on The Kurt Angle Show to discuss a variety of topics, including his WWE career, which began as a wrestler before transitioning to a commentator.
During the interview, Graves told a story about being yelled at by Vince McMahon while doing commentary on an episode of Raw because of a mistake made by Michael Cole. Although Graves was convinced he would be fired, McMahon turned out to be a rib.
“When you’ve got Kevin Dunn in one ear, you’ve got whoever’s producing in another ear, and nowadays you’ve got Bruce and Triple H. But nothing rocked me like hearing the voice of Vince McMahon at any given moment. I always joke and say it’s when the voice of God comes into your ears. I remember the first time I ever got a quote-unquote, Vince. We were in Chicago. It was Christmas night. We did Monday Night Raw live. This was probably, I don’t know, 4 or 5 years ago. The Raw commentary desk was on the top of the stage by the entranceway. And we would stand up and turn around and do these reverse on cameras so that the ring and the crowd were way in the back. Yeah, it was kind of a really cool setup.
Michael Cole and I were discussing beforehand, and he said, ‘Listen, I’m going to do a welcome to Monday Night Raw. I’m going to say Happy Holidays, everybody.’ And he said, ‘Then you can say Merry Christmas. Here’s what we have on tap.’ Okay, great. We’re going to throw in some graphics. And Cole goes, ‘Welcome everyone to Monday Night Raw. Happy Holidays, everybody.’ And with the speed of lightning, the boss was on the all-call button. Which means everybody who’s listening can hear. ‘I said, ‘Merry Christmas. Not Happy Holidays.’ Meanwhile, I’m going to say, I’m getting yelled at on camera, and you look like a deer in headlights going, ‘Oh my, this is it. I’m getting fired on Christmas night. I have no idea.’ And, of course, we get done with it. And then he comes on and goes, ‘Aha, that was good. Thanks, guys.’ But you never know. I mean Kurt, you know him well enough. Sometimes, when Vince wanted to mess with you, you would never know. I was terrified. My heart skipped a few beats there, but man. And then conversely, somewhere down the line, when I write a book, one day, I’ll tell a few other stories that are a little more lighthearted but a little definitely not for public consumption. So it’s good the things that came through the headset over the years.”
You can check out the complete podcast below:
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
