It looks like Corey Graves will not be appearing on the January 14 episode of NXT, live on the CW.
PWInsider is reporting that Graves was seen earlier on Tuesday going through TSA to leave Florida.
On Monday, Graves took to X and said the following: “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.”
Then on Tuesday morning Graves tweeted out that he would be on NXT and have a lot to say, and not to miss the show.
PWInsider, Dave Meltzer and Fightful Select are further reporting that the word from sources within WWE is that Graves was not happy about being removed from the WWE SmackDown commentary team and moved to the NXT commentary team with Vic Joseph and Booker T.
Graves’s brother Sam Adonis has tweeted out that the situation with Graves is not a work.
Per Fightful Select’s report, Graves resides in Pittsburgh rather than the Florida area, unlike much of the WWE and NXT roster. His contract with WWE was renewed as a multi-year deal last January. In addition, Fightful states that as of 3:45 pm ET on Tuesday, Graves was not present at the NXT TV rehearsals and only two chairs were set up at the announce table.
Furthermore, Fightful Select also notes a WWE higher-up said to the publication, that while commentary teams do often change, Michael Cole and Graves did remain consistent. This same source expressed surprise that Graves was moved to NXT television and said they predict he would end up back on Raw or SmackDown by this spring. Graves has received significant praise within WWE for his flexibility to adapt to the different roles and changing schedules in the company.
Fightful Select concluded by noting per multiple sources, Graves’s frustration with being sent to NXT is indeed legitimate and that several NXT talent and sources on the production side of things were actually were unaware of Graves being moved to NXT. Many staff were also surprised to see him at the New Year’s Evil special back on January 7, thinking he was doing commentary due to being in Orlando that day.
We will provide more details on this situation as it becomes available.