Corey Graves under fire after SmackDown; WWE veteran wants another person on commentary who "talks bullsh*t" (Exclusive)

By Prityush Haldar

Modified Dec 28, 2024 08:05 GMT

Corey Graves and Michael Cole are the announcers on SmackDown [Image: WWE.com]

Former WWE manager Dutch Mantell recently spoke about Corey Graves' commentary skills. The star has been on the announcement team for several years.

Currently, Corey Graves and Michael Cole are the announcers on SmackDown, while Wade Barrett and Joe Tessitore announce on Monday Night RAW. Other guest commentators, such as Pat McAfee and Jesse "The Body" Ventura, show up from time to time for premium live events.

This week on Smack Talk, Mantell mentioned that WWE was possibly pushing Graves to do color commentary, but he wasn't there yet. He drew parallels to Jesse Ventura & Jerry Lawler and felt Corey needed more freedom to speak his mind.

"I think they're trying to get Corey a little bit in that range. But he's not a Jesse, he's not a Lawler, he's damn sure not a Piper. I think they need to let these guys go a little more. When Corey and the straight guys are there, they call it straight as they see it. Hell, I can see that."

Mantell stated Corey Graves needed to show more personality and be more entertaining. The veteran was even open to WWE adding a third announcer to the team to add more color to the proceedings.

"Tell me something that happened earlier in the day. Some guy told you to get a cup of coffee, and I slapped the hell out. To me, that's entertaining stuff. Even they know it didn't happen, but at least it's off the shelf of normalcy. People say that didn't happen, but you give them something to think about... They need a third guy in that booth that talks bullsh*t." [From 38:51 onwards]