Chuck Carroll interviewed Corey Graves for CBS. They talked about his upcoming After The Bell podcast, how adjusting to his new schedule has been challenging, the changes at SmackDown, getting booed by fans after he began dating Carmella and the insane travel schedule the WWE crew is facing this week.
Here are some highlights from the interview: (The full interview is here)
Over the last month, there have just been enormous changes in WWE. SmackDown has moved to a new network, and you and Michael Cole are no longer calling RAW. How has this month been for you?
“This, weirdly enough, has kind of thrown my personal life upside down. I am a creature of habit, and I was used to flying out Sunday, working Monday, working Tuesday, flying on Wednesday, and then, X, Y, Z was very, very regimented.”
Just this change in schedule, from now I travel on Thursdays, and work Fridays, and I come home Saturdays. Now there’s a pay-per-view, and I’ve got this podcast to launch. I’m not any less busy. It’s just really taken a toll on my schedule, but it’s fun.
You have quite a challenging schedule this week with a pay-per-view Thursday halfway around the world, then you have to be back in the States on Friday for SmackDown. How quick is that turnaround from the time Crown Jewel ends until you get on the flight back to the U.S.?
“Saying it’s a little bit daunting would be an understatement. We travel like nobody else on the planet, but I’m excited for it just to be able to tell the tale. I’ve told a few people what the schedule looks like already, people outside the business, and they go, “Oh my God, that’s insane.”
So, my personal schedule is as such: [last Saturday I flew] back from Kansas City to go home for about a day and a half. Monday, head to Stanford. We actually shoot the podcast on Monday this week, simply because of the pay-per-view and the travel schedule. So I do the podcast on Monday, get a car down to New York City, fly to St. Louis, spend about three hours in St. Louis, jump on the charter that then flies us all the way over to Riyadh, do the show, and then hop back and fly from Riyadh to Buffalo to do Friday SmackDown. I’m sure there will be ancillary things in between, but that’s the best I can recall at the moment without looking at my itinerary.”