Corey Graves believes the future is bright in WWE.
Ahead of the WWE main roster presenting SummerSlam, NXT had the chance to steal the show one week prior at The Great American Bash. The highlight of the evening was the main event that saw Carmelo Hayes successfully defend the title against Ilja Dragunov.
While recapping the NXT PLE on After The Bell, the Raw announcer praised the physicality of the match, feeling like both Superstars had a point to prove:
Ilja Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes, man. Unbelievable. Those two gentlemen tore it up. The athleticism, the physicality. I’ve droned on about Ilja Dragunov a few times on this podcast over the years. The guy gives me anxiety when I watched him compete, and I mean that in a great way. Dragunov is like a cyborg, let me correct myself. He’s a cyborg who can emote. The intensity that just pours from Ilja Dragunov anytime he’s on screen, it’s palpable.
You can feel the intensity, but the way he just soldiers forward, he gets his head kicked off and he turns around and he fires right back, and credit to Carmelo Hayes. Because I think there are probably a few doubters in the WWE Universe who think for one reason or another okay, well, Melo, he hasn’t caught fire like Bron Breakker did. Granted he had to defeat Bron Breakker to become NXT champion.
Graves continued with the positivity, believing that both competitors will wow the WWE Universe when they are inevitably called up to the main roster:
But there are still those questions, is Melo the next guy? When it comes to Raw or SmackDown does he have what it takes? Is he gonna sink or swim? Well buddy he was doing backstrokes in the Atlantic at The Great American Bash because it was real. Just the physicality, these two dudes felt like they were trying to harm one another. Not just when physically incapacitate and harm each other. It felt dangerous, it was brutal. Oh my God KP, you know it takes a lot to get me all wound up especially when I’m not on the air. And I was buzzing for that main event.
Dragunov’s toughness is well-recognised among the NXT roster, with previous opponent Grayson Waller describing the former United Kingdom Champion as terrifying.
Corey Graves Interviews LA Knight On WWE Podcast
The praise for the NXT Championship match was a prelude to the main guest on the show, LA Knight. The megastar would discuss a variety of topics leading into SummerSlam, including those that feel he is a throwback to The Attitude Era.
The praise from Graves would continue the following week, with the commentator having nothing but praise for Ricochet.
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