Corey Graves is regarded by a vast majority of the WWE Universe as the best commentator in WWE. His enthusiasm for the NXT product and his ability to tell you the story of the match is contagious, and it really helps the NXT product a lot.
A few weeks ago, it was rumored that Corey Graves could be on his way to the main roster to join the SmackDown announce team alongside Mauro Ranallo. That was music to the ears of many WWE fans because Graves provides a heel persona against Ranallo’s play-by-play, announcing that would give SmackDown the best commentary team in WWE.
Because of the brand split, there were already rumors that Corey Graves was talented enough and in the position to replace Jerry “The King” Lawler on SmackDown as the heel announcer. The speculation behind that more has only escalated significantly since Lawler’s arrest this weekend in the domestic abuse issue with his fiancée that led to his indefinite suspension from the company. It seems that there could be an open chair with Corey Graves’ name on it on Tuesday nights.
Jerry “The King” Lawler has been a part of WWE’s announce team for most of the past twenty-five years. He left briefly in the 2000s, and briefly after suffering a heart attack on the air during Monday Night Rawa few years back.
He’s been one of the constant voices for WWE programming over the past two and a half decades, but it looks like the door will most likely be shutting on his career. Even if Lawler is found innocent, he is going to be absent from SmackDown for a while, and the black mark on his record may be enough for him to call it a career at the announce table.
So, Lawler unofficially passing the torch to Corey Graves is something that was spoke about by DailyDDT.com recently. It goes without saying that Corey Graves is the most logical choice to replace Lawler, and the teaming of Graves and Ranallo is something that would make SmackDown very unique.
Graves may not have the experience of Lawler, or the career accomplishments. What makes him so good in NXT is he proves a great voice into the WWE developmental system that he was a part of and his enthusiasm for the in-ring product of NXT is something that is very difficult to teach. It’s one of those things you just have or you don’t.
If WWE is going to make SmackDown as much of an equal to Monday Night Raw as possible, having the best combination on commentary is going to help the product tremendously. Michael Cole and JBL have been working together forever, and Byron Saxton present on both shows is going to be great exposure for him if that’s the lineup WWE is able to keep through the brand split, but Saxton is more likely to replace Graves on NXT.
That’s the only downside of Graves moving to SmackDown . Many people would consider Corey Graves as “The Voice of NXT,” and it would be a shame to lose him, but he’s no doubt going to be of more use on SmackDown .
There is no confirmation on what WWE plans to do with Corey Graves or what’s going to happen over the next month before the brand split, but keeping an eye on Lawler’s chair is going to be important because The King was doing well as the heel voice of SmackDown , but there isn’t a better heel voice on commentary than Corey Graves. It’s not the best situation, but it may be for the best.
[Image via WWE.com]