Corey Graves recently appeared as a guest on Sportskeeda’s WrestleBinge for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling.
During the discussion, Graves revealed that he reconciled with CM Punk. Graves went on social media years ago and stated that Punk was no longer communicating with his friends. On Monday’s The Ariel Helwani Show, Punk admitted that he cut off many of the people he was close to in WWE. Graves stated the following regarding Punk:
“I am proud to report that it’s all water under the bridge. I bumped into him briefly the night of Survivor Series backstage, but it was chaotic. He had just come back. Everything was at eleven at the moment. The day of the Royal Rumble at Tropicana Field, I actually got to pull him aside for a few minutes and we cleared the air. We had a nice, long chat. We both apologized for some things over the years and realized this is where we both belong. This is where we both want to be. It’s been a really exciting time for me personally to be able to rekindle a friendship that meant so much to me over the years. I’m truly as excited to have Punk back here under the WWE banner as just about anybody.”
If he wants to return to the ring now that he has been cleared to do so:
“I can honestly say my focus has really shifted. I got cleared almost two years ago now and it was in the midst of a lot of different things were happening professionally and personally and I was sort of looking for something to scratch that itch, but since I’ve slid over into the now lead role on Friday Night SmackDown in the commentary booth, that’s actually provided me with a lot more motivation and a new skill to learn and to focus on. As much as this is the biggest sports entertainment company on the globe, it can be Groundhog Day from time to time. You see the same faces and you do the same things. I honestly was on autopilot half the time doing SmackDown or RAW from a color perspective, so to have this new role, I’ve been able to put 100% of my focus and energy in that. With that said, if the opportunity ever presented itself where it made sense and where it can be part of a larger story, I’m beyond the point of, I don’t need that WrestleMania for my own ego. I just am a willing participant and another character that can hopefully be thrown into the mix in some capacity as needed, but I think I’ve scratched the itch fairly well recently.”
You can watch the interview below:
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
