Legendary broadcaster Jim Ross gave his thoughts on the situation between Corey Graves and WWE.
With Pat McAfee having returned to Monday Night Raw on January 6th, Corey Graves was absent from the Raw broadcast and reports indicated that he would be in NXT for the foreseeable future.
Graves took to social media on January 13th to air frustrations about the move, hinting at being “not famous enough” to do the job he’d worked so hard at since being forced to retire due to concussion issues. Despite promising he had “a lot to say” on the January 14th broadcast of NXT, Graves was pulled from the show following his complaints, and all reports indicate the tension between himself and WWE is legitimate.
Speaking on the latest episode of Grilling JR, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross addressed the situation, pointing out that he went through similar struggles in WWE but accepted those changes as he chose to live a life in the sports entertainment giant.
“How many times did that happen to me? And here I am jolly, happy, healthy as an old horse and I got nothing to bitch about.
I remember this classic line from The Sopranos where Tony [Soprano] was talking to his cousin Tony and cousin Tony was talking about how he wanted to start a massage parlour, a legit, therapeutic massage parlour. He just got out of prison, he was trying to get his life started but he needed some extra cash. Extra cash came in the form of a hit as I recall and he started complaining about that life and the classic line from Tony Soprano was ‘This is the life we chose.’”
“Would You Trade Pat McAfee For Corey Graves?” – Jim Ross
Continuing, Jim Ross pointed to the fact that while Corey Graves is likely a more skilled commentator than Pat McAfee, McAfee brings a massive audience due to his mainstream popularity in the world of sports.
“It’s very synonymous with some issues in wrestling that many of us have gone through. So I feel badly that he feels like he’s been left behind and maybe he has. Would you trade Pat McAfee and his broadcast platform for Corey Graves? I wouldn’t to be honest with you.
Corey Graves is probably more learned and has a better skillset as far as his internal knowledge than Pat McAfee but McAfee has a platform that reaches border to border. He’s got a huge footprint and I applaud Pat McAfee for his entrepreneurship and promotional instincts. I wish he wasn’t unhappy, I’ll say that.”
Pat McAfee recently apologized for snubbing a celebrity at WWE Raw.
h/t TJR Wrestling