Speaking on WWE After The Bell, new WWE Champion Bobby Lashley revealed that he was told only a few months ago that Corey Graves wanted to be his manger.
SmackDown Live commentator Graves has confirmed that not only is the story true, but that he was telling “anyone who would listen” that he wanted to be Lashley’s mouthpiece.
“Somebody told me in the locker room a few months back at the Performance Center, Kofi came to me and said something about (Graves wanting me to be a badass),” Lashley revealed.
Graves went on to say that he pitched the idea while WWE were doing shows at the Performance Center and Lashley wasn’t hitting the heights he has in more recent months.
“It was mid-pandemic. When we were doing shows at the Performance Center every week and Lashley was there, and I don’t want to say floundering, but weren’t necessarily doing what you wanted to be doing and in the spotlight. I told anyone who would listen, ‘let me talk for Bobby Lashley. Let me be the manager and let Bobby beat people up.’ It wasn’t me, but hypothetically, I could have been managing the WWE Champion right now,”
Corey Graves has been a staple of WWE’s commentary teams across all three of it’s major brands since his injury enforced retirement from in-ring competition in 2014. Graves currently performs as a commentator and analyst for SmackDown, a position he has held since 2017.
After a decade away from the company, Bobby Lashley returned to WWE in April 2018. In that time he has been managed by Lio Rush, Lana and most recently MVP. Lashley finally won the WWE Championship on the March 1st episode of RAW, overcoming The Miz in the main event.
H/t to Fightful for the transcription.