Official Wrestling News Thread

PWInsider.com has confirmed that Corey Graves will not be appearing on tonight's edition of WWE NXT.

Graves was spotted this afternoon at the Orlando Airport, going through TSA to leave the city.

Last night, Graves tweeted, "Imagine chasing your dream. Then being TOLD (not deciding) that you’re no longer physically able to pursue your dream. Then you dedicate your life to something “dream adjacent” and being pretty fucking awesome at it. And then, when it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor, being told you’re not famous enough for your own job. Just in case you’ve wondered where I’ve been."

As we reported at the time, there had been word within WWE for the last week that Graves wasn't happy with being bumped off Raw and Smackdown for the NXT assignment, where he would be the third-man in the booth alongside Vic Joseph and Booker T. This morning, Graves tweeted again, trying to focus the energy he received overnight into interest into what he might say on NXT TV.

Instead, it appears he won't be saying anything tonight.

We will update as we confirm more.
 
I dunno I still kinda feel like it’s all a work… Pat vs Cory would be some fuckery they’d do at a Wrestlemania lol
 
Corey Graves appears unhappy on the surface after being moved to NXT.

Corey Graves was moved to NXT in a commentary shakeup that saw Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett on Smackdown, and Michael Cole and Pat McAfee on WWE Raw. Fightful Select had heard word last week that Graves wasn't happy, which seemed to boil over this week.

To be clear -- Fightful Select has not confirmed if this is a work or a shoot, but those close to him claim it's real. Graves posted a tweet on January 13 laying out his history, being medically sidelined from a wrestling career, working commentary in a variety of roles, and claiming he was told he wasn't "famous enough" to retain the spot. He also indicated on January 14 he had a lot to say "tonight."

Shortly after, PWInsider claimed that Corey Graves was seen at TSA leaving the Orlando area and was not going to be on NXT. Fightful can't confirm that info, but did learn a lot more.

Graves lives in the Pittsburgh area, not Orlando or Florida like much talent. He re-signed with WWE in January of 2024, and has at least a couple of years left on his deal. As of 3:45 PM ET, he was not at NXT rehearsals, and there were only two chairs present for NXT.

One WWE source that we spoke to last week pointed to WWE's commentary teams constantly shuffling, and Michael Cole and Graves being the constants. That source, a WWE higher up, said at the time they'd be shocked if Graves wasn't back on Raw or Smackdown by the Spring. Previously Graves had gained heavy praise in WWE for being so flexible with his role and schedule.

Fightful Select’s Corey Brennan has asked about Graves in NXT this week, and was claimed to by multiple sources that Graves was legitimately frustrated with being moved to NXT.

When asking amongst both talent and production sources in NXT, we did not hear from anyone who was aware of Graves’ initial move to the brand, with many being surprised to see him at New Years’ Evil on January 7th, with one source expressing they believed he was on the call due to being in town for the show.

- Fightful Select
 
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