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A former WWE champion was surprisingly absent from SmackDown last Friday. Former WWE employee Tommy Carlucci claimed the aforementioned star was still being punished for his recent actions.
Since 2016, Corey Graves has been a color commentator in WWE. While the 40-year-old has worked on RAW and SmackDown over the past few years, he was recently moved to NXT. The former NXT Tag Team Champion took to X to heavily criticize the company's decision. While many expected Graves to fill in for Joe Tessitore last Friday on SmackDown, Vic Joseph was the one who surprisingly joined Wade Barrett at the commentary table.
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Speaking on The Coach & Bro Show, Tommy Carlucci claimed Graves was still being punished by Chief Content Officer Triple H and his associates for the tweets in which he voiced his displeasure with his current position in the promotion:
"When I saw this I'm like, 'Wow! Where is Corey Graves? Because Corey Graves for a while did play-by-play with Wade Barrett for SmackDown. He's in the doghouse, Vince. As you know, and we all know about the doghouse. He's in the doghouse. He is paying for that tweet that he put out there a while back. He is in the doghouse," he said. [14:14 - 14:35]
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WWE color commentator Michael Cole addressed Corey Graves' actions
During his recent appearance on Impaulsive, WWE color commentator Michael Cole addressed the Corey Graves situation. He pointed out that he believed it was a shoot despite the NXT color commentator claiming he was trying to generate interest in a storyline.
However, Cole disclosed that the 40-year-old and the Stamford-based company are working it out:
"I love Corey. I still don’t understand all the dynamics of it. I know that he sent something out on social media that was pretty critical of the company. He tried to explain to everyone that he was trying to generate some interest in maybe a type of storyline. I don't think the company saw it that way. It was not a work, right? It was a shoot—yes, allegedly, allegedly. But again, I think he and the company are working that out. I love Corey to death. He's an unbelievable commentator. Besides McAfee, he's probably the best partner I've ever had," he said. [H/T: Ringside News]
It will be interesting to see if Graves returns to the commentary table on the main roster anytime soon.
Please credit The Coach & Bro Show and give an H/T to Sportskeeda if you use the above transcription.
