Having both been mainstays of WWE’s commentary teams for the past decade, it’s clear that Booker T and Corey Graves have not always seen eye to eye. Although the two former wrestlers-turned-announcers previously cleared the air during a podcast episode in 2018, it appears they currently have what those in the industry refer to as “heat” with each other.
During the latest episode of the Hall of Fame with Booker T & Brad Gilmore podcast, Booker T expressed his disdain for putting “lives on Twitter,” leading Gilmore to ask for his thoughts on Graves, who recently made headlines for a post on X expressing frustration over his demotion from WWE SmackDown to WWE NXT. “How is your relationship with Cory? Y’all good? Y’all cool?” Gilmore inquired.
“Oh, no, we’re not cool,” Booker T — whose real name is Booker T. Huffman Jr. — replied. “Not cool at all.” He further confirmed, “I didn’t like the tweet,” when asked if he had addressed it with Graves, whom he now works with on NXT. Booker T admitted he hadn’t spoken to Graves about it but didn’t rule out the possibility of doing so in the future. “I didn’t tell him I didn’t like it, but I’m sure there perhaps will come a time when I might say it,” he stated. “My thing is, it wasn’t my business. He wasn’t talking to me, wasn’t talking about me. So, therefore, that’s out of my pay grade. You know what I mean? So I let the bosses handle that stuff. But my thing is, man, stay off Twitter. Stay off Twitter, especially after you’ve been drinking.”
The 59-year-old clarified he wasn’t accusing Graves of drinking before the post, rather stating, “if you drinking, the last place you wanna be is on Twitter.”
Graves’ post sparked questions about whether it was a work (storyline) or a shoot (real), but signs have pointed more towards the latter. After missing an NXT episode following his post, Graves returned a week later, displaying newfound enthusiasm for his role on WWE’s quasi-development brand, which airs a weekly two-hour show on The CW. “I am right where I want to be, where passion is everything,” an overly enthusiastic Graves said. “Only the hungry survive and pro wrestling never stopped being cool. Let’s light the fuse.”
It seems that Booker T and Graves are still not on the best terms, which is not uncommon in the world of pro wrestling. For now, the NXT broadcast team appears to be settled, although that could change if Booker T decides to have the conversation with Graves that he hinted at.
