Corey Graves Pulled From WWE SmackDown

Following Corey Graves working the New Year's Evil edition of WWE NXT on Tuesday night, it has been confirmed the former NXT Tag Team Champion is done on the main roster, at least for the time being.

Mike Johnson of PWInsider has reported that Corey Graves will be off Friday Night SmackDown going forward, so Graves won't be pulling double duty as an announcer. Graves is scheduled to be alongside Vic Joseph and Booker T once again for next week's WWE NXT.

WWE SmackDown, meanwhile, will be a two-man commentary booth of Joe Tessitore on play-by-play and Wade Barrett as the colour commentator. The Raw commentary team consists of Michael Cole and Pat McAfee.

Corey Graves was previously a commentator on NXT from 2014 until February 2017. He had been a full-time announcer on the main roster since 2016, often switching between Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown.

Graves has primarily been a colour commentator but he had a brief spell on play-by-play in 2024 following Kevin Patrick's departure. Graves' stint as the lead announcer came to an end in September when WWE brought in Joe Tessitore.

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