Corey Graves is seriously, wickedly brilliant to listen to as a Raw color commentator

[AegonTargaryen]

Hello there!

I've been meaning to create this thread since weeks, as every Raw, every time Corey Graves says something, it's so wickedly funny and witty, and the way he says it- the intonation- makes me feel good and chuckle. It's just amazing.

If I were to try and compile a list of his witticisms from every Raw so far, it would be an impossible task because practically everything he says, in every segment, especially him antagonizing Byron Saxton, is sheerly, penetratingly witty and amusing. But just to name a few:-

"It was much better until these two arrived. I was actually having a good day. Now, terrible". (Upon the arrival of Enzo and Cass)

The way he says things is sort of in a monotone, or whatever? I seriously need to find words to describe the Register he speaks/commentates in, and words to describe his voice type. (I already need to work on my singing and vocal range so I'm gonna read Singing for Dummies, and it has all this stuff about Voices, Registers and Stuff. I can't wait).

To sum it up:-
The delivery is brilliant.
The content is sheer wit, invariably.
Plus he's a heel so him antagonizing Byron Saxton, Enzo and Cass, The New Day is pretty amusing.
And he's also very good at being a Neutral commentator and call matches, such as with Cesaro vs Sheamus matches, he puts over Cesaro just as much as Sheamus, in a neutral way. It's pretty good.

Feel free to agree or disagree. Also if you agree, try and elaborate as to why you find Corey Graves as a Raw color commentator incredibly amusing. With examples and stuff. (Try and re-hear the stuff from last week's Raw. His lines to Byron Saxton not having any friends, gift of jericho etc are incredibly funny).

 

[shadyfozzie]

I think that because he was a wrestler in the past (unlike Cole/Saxton) he has better knowledge of the in-ring stuff, so he can work (brilliantly I might add) on the out of ring stuff. He's so on point it's crazy.. I wish he and King were together for a few weeks... They'd be hilarious....

When Owens was on commentary a few weeks ago, it was pure gold with him and Graves.

 

[deesee5]

Have you seen him in NXT? Dude is even better there. He works soo well with Tom Phillips. He puts over Eva Marie like no other. He actually makes watching Eva's matches bearable.

Ohh and i'll also remember the Animal Planet analogy he put with Asuka and Eva Marie. He explained a scene comparing Eva being the beautiful baby deer drinking water from a pond, while the dangerous Asuka would be like the crocodile hunting in the pond and eating the baby deer from there. Stuff like that he brings up is brilliant!

 

[Vintage]

So was Matt Stryker. You know how they rewarded him for bringing legit passion and excitement to his job which he did very well?

Pink slip.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

So was Matt Stryker. You know how they rewarded him for bringing legit passion and excitement to his job which he did very well?

Pink slip.

Matt Strike wasn't very good he made a ton on non-nonsensical comments during his run.

I do like Tom Phillips and Corey Graves and it makes me hopeful and wish they can become the main commentators and eventually phasing out Michael Cole. I am not saying Michael Cole is bad, he was good when he was the lead commentator at Smackdown, but he's become such a corporate parrot as lead commentator it's hard to really take him seriously.

I do wish WWE had a southern commentator to vary up the commentating styles though. Sometimes I think WWE tries to make the extra effort of not feature the more traditional southern roots of wrestling.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

So was Matt Stryker. You know how they rewarded him for bringing legit passion and excitement to his job which he did very well?

Pink slip.

Matt Striker also pissed them off from what I understand. I appreciated Striker referencing the past often, but the powers that be didn't like that. Striker used old school wrestling terms, another thing they didn't like.

I can just see Vince liking Corey Graves more than Striker. Graves is tall and classically handsome whereas Striker does not really fit that description. Graves does what he's told as well as having his own subtle flare (the suits, the tats, etc).

Striker also used a lot of flowery words and grand metaphors and similes that just aren't good commentary. WWE caters to a blue collar crowd, and Striker used too many of them fancy book learning words.

Graves is an old school heel and it's endearing. the classic heel and face commentary is there on Raw between Saxton and Graves with Cole calling the action.

I'm a Smackdown guy, so I'm disappointed we got JBL and not Graves, I'm optimistic they'll want JBL back on Raw next year. Graves makes a long and redundant Raw easier to watch.

 

[legendkiller1979]

I'm going to have to disagree slightly here. When I listen to Graves, I hear a poor man's Jesse The Body Ventura. This was my first reaction when I heard him. He is trying to be an old school heel commentator and it just sounds forced to me. His childish jabs at Byron Saxton get old.

Don't misunderstand, I'm not saying he's not any good. He definitely is. I'm just not ready to sing his praises the way so many others have

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I generally agree, Corey Graves is a much needed breath of fresh air to the commentary of Raw. Although, to be fair, commentary during the "new era" has improved as a whole on both shows, but Graves being someone who had nearly 15 years of experience as a wrestler does add something that Cole & Saxton can't. I think his heel tactics are a fresh, welcome change from those of JBL in that Graves actually tries to use words and logic more than boorish behavior towards Saxton every 30 seconds to get his point across. Graves does insult Saxton, but he does so in a way that doesn't make it seem like he's about to get up and bitch slap the taste out of his mouth the way JBL did, which got extremely old pretty quick.

 

[mral82]

Y'all do know that Bryon Saxton Wrestled as well but Retired way before Corey was even in the WWE as he was on the NXT Hybrid stuff but I guess people are such moronic Idiots that they don't remember history.
As far as Corey goes he reminds me a Former Navy Seal whom became "The BODY, MIND, SOUL" of Heel Commentators as he to me is this ERA's Jesse Ventura. Yeah Corey's Career was just as Quick as Jesse's was as both were forced to retired due to injuries. Plus I find Corey more Bearable than jerry Lawler or a JBL these days all 3 imo perfect that HEEL Comentator.

 

[ShinChan]

Both Mauro and Graves are just so damn good at commentary that I don't feel any need to mute the action.

Them being on different shows has helped my case since I now have a reason to listen commentary on both shows. And about NxT, I have been listening since lomg as Graves and Phillips are good enough for me.

So yeah, Graves and Mauro are a lot better than Cole and JBL. They actually call the action and put over talents too.