WWE Smackdown Commentator Reportedly Removed From Main Roster

Many were surprised to see Corey Graves join Booker T and Vic Joseph on the mic at WWE's NXT New Years Evil special.

As reported by Wrestling Observer Radio yesterday, Graves' appearance was not a one-off for the special event. However, it does appear to be a temporary situation until next football season.

Yep, he's going to be off [the main roster] until football season, then he'll come back... He was the best color guy that they had, I mean he was the best, and now he's in 'NXT' instead of on Netflix. Look, they're always going to go with Pat McAfee because these guys are into star power, and man, McAfee's become a huge star in the sports world so they're always going to go with him. The choice of Wade Barrett over Corey Graves, and Wade Barrett's really good, but it was an interesting choice, and that was the choice they made.
Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Radio

PWInsider has now corroborated Meltzer's report, confirming that Graves will be off the SmackDown roster for the time being.

It'll be the first time since Graves will have a full-time role on the NXT brand since 2017.

The move is yet another shakeup across WWE's broadcast teams over the past two weeks. Back on January 2, it was confirmed that Alicia Taylor was set to be the new ring announcer on Raw while Lilian Garcia was moving to SmackDown. Then a couple days later, Triple H confirmed that Joe Tessitore would be moving to SmackDown while Pat McAfee was to man the desk alongside Michael Cole on Raw.

No official statement or confirmation has been made by WWE as of publication.

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