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Corey Graves On The Advice He’d Tell His Younger Self, Says He Has ‘No Plans’ For In-Ring Return Yet

May 16, 2022 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas
Corey Graves Image Credit: WWE

Corey Graves recently revealed what advice he’d have for his younger self in WWE, as well as whether he has any plans for an in-ring return now that he’s cleared. Graves spoke with the Illumnerdi for a new interview and you can check out some highlights below, per Fightful:

On a potential return to the ring now that he’s cleared: “There are no plans. I mean, I’m not going to spoil anything. I don’t have any sort of like immediate goals to accomplish. It was just something that I’ve wanted to do and I’ve accomplished so much in this role as a commentator, which is a role I never in a million years expected to have in the first place. So now I’m like, ‘Okay, I feel like I’ve got the commentary thing down. Now, what else can I do?’ I’m constantly — I mean, behind the scenes trying to learn and learn the business side of the wrestling business. I always want to have irons in different fires, just because otherwise I feel like when I get complacent, I get bored.

“I just keep thinking to myself, that is the one thing that I was right there. I was right at the peak. I fell down the mountain and now it’s like, wait, I can get medically cleared. Maybe get myself back into shape, which has been the hardest part. Because I really enjoy sitting and sitting ringside not having to do that. Yeah. But it’s just always that what if and this is a what-if that I think I can potentially answer instead of having to wonder forever. So, it may happen six months from now, it may happen next year, or it may not happen at all, but I’m just trying to get myself physically and mentally into the best shape possible for whatever the world may have waiting for me.”

On what advice he’d give his younger self: “Slow down. Slow down. All the madness that I experienced on the indies prior to arriving in WWE? I wouldn’t have changed for the world. Stylistically speaking, [I would have changed] a little bit. I would have taken a little bit better care of myself. I felt like I was invincible. If I got a concussion? ‘That’s no big deal, I’ll be fine.’ Well, no, you need to take the week off. ‘What do you mean, I need to take the week off, I’m fine.’ I was so driven and goal-oriented that I had blinders on. The only thing I could focus on was making it to WWE, and I was right there.

“I think in hindsight if I had slowed down a little bit, taken a little bit better care of myself physically and mentally, maybe I wouldn’t have hit that roadblock when I did. Not to say it wouldn’t have come another year or two down the road, but at that time, I was burning the candle at both ends constantly. I was training trying to balance everything. Trying to make it and I think, a little bit older, wiser version of me, I would just tell myself to slow down and take it easy, because as we can see, I eventually got here in some capacity.”

article topics :

Corey Graves, Jeremy Thomas