Corey Graves opens up about when he was cleared to compete and any plans he has on returning to the ring.
On January 12, Fightful Select reported Graves had been cleared by doctors in 2020 and was no longer on the strict internal "no contact" list that the company keeps.
Graves later confirmed the news to TMZ, but he is now opening up even further in a new interview with Chris Van Vliet.
"It is factual. The news for some reason took about eight months to break, which I'm sort of proud of and a little bit surprised in this day and age," Graves began. "I wasn't necessarily hiding it from anybody, it was just not something I was bringing to the forefront, because I didn't want everybody to go, 'Oh my god, Graves is making a comeback.'"
Continuing on, Corey Graves explains that he enjoys what he does now behind the commentary desk and sometimes with past them but there is a part of him who misses the gratification of hearing the audience cheer for the babyface that just defeated the dastardly villain that he used to be.
"I love what I'm doing now. But there is a part of me that would just love that gratification. I'm a guy who, when I was wrestling, was primarily a villain. To me, the gratification came as soon as the bell rang at the end of the match, because to me, there is nothing more satisfying than taking the crowd on a roller coaster ride, and then losing. As a good guy, usually, you stand up and pose and you have to mug for the cameras, but I would lay there on my back after the ref counted three. I would be looking at the lights and just thinking, 'We did it.' That, to me, was always what kind of kept me going it was just like that exhale at the end of all of it. That was the most rewarding to me. So there's part of me that's still going to chase that forever and I would be open to it, if the opportunity presents itself, to maybe step back in the ring once in a blue moon or maybe just once," said Graves.
As for what Corey might do if he ever comes back to the squared circle, Corey says he's open do anything from competing in a mixed tag team match, presumably with Carmella, to wrestling Pat McAfee in what would be a clash of color commentators for brand supremacy.
"The important thing is I got medically cleared," he continued. "Now, I'm just kind of gonna see where the world takes us because if that's within the stars for me as another match or if it's a mixed tag team match or it's me versus Pat McAfee at some point. Whatever it ends up being, at least now I know that I can do it without putting my health at long-term risk, which is above all, the most important. I gotta be there for my kids and my Blushing Bride."
Corey’s relationship with Carmella is taking center stage in a new reality show, Corey and Carmella. Two episodes are available now on WWE's YouTube channel.
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