Prior to the arrival of Jonathon Coachman as his replacement last Monday (Jan. 29), the banter between Booker T and his fellow Raw announcers Michael Cole and especially Corey Graves was a topic of jokes and conversation among wrestling fans.
But if the WWE Hall of Famer’s comments about Graves on the most recent edition of his radio show and podcast, Heated Conversations, are legit, things between Booker and the Savior of Misbehavior were no joking matter.
This quote comes from the 1:18 mark of episode 143:
“People ask me about Corey Graves. Corey Graves is good at what he does, you know? Corey Graves, he’s thrown jabs at me, I’ve thrown jabs back, you know? And you know, the thing is Corey Graves, of course, yeah, he’s a college educated young man. His vernacular is a little different than mine. You see that word I just used? Threw that out there - just want you people to know, I ain’t studied this, it’s just something that we just threw out.
But I tell you, if I got Corey Graves into a fisticuffs, I would beat him down like he stole something. I would be whooping his ass all day long. Because that’s the thing - my thing is this. I’m a nice guy, until you get on my bad side. Corey Graves, right now, I wouldn’t necessarily say he’s on my bad side, but he’s the reason that I’m not on Monday Night Raw right now. Because, you know what, a lot of people in the company thought I was gonna jump on him, I was gonna do something bad to him, I was gonna drag him, I was gonna take him out to the woodshed, I was gonna beat that man so bad, I was gonna beat him until this man say, ‘Please, please, please, just don’t beat me any more.’
That’s how hot I was getting. That’s how close I was getting. So, they said, ‘Hey, Book. We’re gonna take - step back a second, alright? We’re gonna regroup, alright, we’re gonna press the rewind button. We’re gonna send you back to the Kickoff show of SmackDown, Monday Night Raw pay-per-views and cool you down for a second. Cause we don’t want you to do anything to Corey Graves, because we know what you could do to him. We know Corey Graves could do... he’s sitting there for a reason, man. He’s sitting there for a reason, and Corey Graves knows it.
You know what? I’ll tell you this here. I want all you people out there to know, you heard it right here Heated Conversations, Sports Radio 610, it’s probably gonna make all the dirt sheets like Meltzer and all those guys. But if I catch Corey Graves on the street, I’m gonna do something to him. Alright? I ain’t gonna do it at the office or anything like that. But if I catch him... not gonna do it in the airport, nah, I’m not gonna do that. But if I catch Corey Graves on the street? You see that little bouffant hairdo he got? I’m gonna rearrange it for him. Alright? I’m just saying. I’m just saying... Let me catch him at Starbucks. I’m a tattoo him...
He’s one of those guys gonna have to walk it like he talk it... Me personally, everybody knows my reputation... I get mean, when you mess with my green. And right now, my green is being messed with, you know what I mean? So, me and Corey Graves... WrestleMania coming up, right? There’s room for one more match. Right now, on my show, Heated Conversations, Sports Radio 610, I’m calling Corey Graves out to a fight. Not a match. Not a pre-show posedown or anything like that. I’m calling Corey Graves out to a fight.”
From there, he and co-host Brad Gilmore talk trash over a Migos track, but you get the idea.
Work? Shoot?
Booker is working at least a little bit - you don’t plug the station identification and name-drop Big Dave otherwise. But it’s hard to believe there isn’t a little bad blood considering how he clearly enjoys fantasy-booking the asskicking he’d give the younger man... and how he alludes to the concussion issues which forced Graves to the announce desk, especially after Enzo Amore referencing Corey’s involuntary retirement was rumored to be one of the strikes against the released Cruiserweight.
Let us know what you think.