Corey Graves Says Being AAA’s English Commentator Has Been a ‘Full Circle’ Moment

Corey Graves loves being part of the AAA English commentary team, noting that it came out of nowhere for him. Graves has been part of the Mexican promotion’s commentary team since the company was acquired by WWE. He has called events including TripleMania XXXIII as well as AAA on FOX’s weekly broadcast.

Graves talked about the role in his interview with TV Insider. He said that he has long been a fan of lucha libre and consers this a full circle moment from when he would watch the company as a kid without understanding it. he also noted that he’s doing his best to help maintain the company’s authenticity under the WWE umbrella. You can see highlights below:

On Serving as the Voice Of AAA:

“First off, this whole growth that has been my addition to AAA came out of left field. I did that Worlds Collide event in Los Angeles last year before Money in the Bank and got a great response internally, the fans seemed to appreciate it. It was sort of my spot to lose. I take it very seriously. I’ve been a fan of lucha for a long time. I wouldn’t say I’m an expert by any means. I grew up in a household full of wrestling fans. We had Telemundo, which broadcasted AAA back in the day. Even though I didn’t understand what I was watching, I couldn’t stop watching. To have it come full-circle has been really cool.”

On Maintaining AAA’s Authenticity:

“The most important aspect to me is to maintain the authenticity of lucha libre. As exciting as it is to have WWE and AAA be partners and have WWE’s production abilities added to the world of AAA, lucha libre at its core is a staple of Mexican culture. It is bigger than one company. It’s part of life there. It’s taken very seriously. I was aware of that. It has been mission since the outset to pay respect to it while simultaneously being able to educate fans who may not be familiar with it and generally are WWE fans and only watched American wrestling. There are several responsibilities, but I take it very seriously. At the end of the day, it’s about not betraying what makes lucha libre so special because it’s not WWE. There are elements that cross over both ways. You see WWE talent wrestling in AAA and vice-versa. Structurally, things might have been tweaked to make for a better television product. But as far as what makes AAA, the team has been cognizant of trying to be authentic and honor the culture and in doing so, I think we’ve created a little bit of magic. In my opinion, AAA is probably the most fun television product WWE is producing. I say that with full respect to Raw, SmackDown, or PLEs. To me, AAA is just fun. It’s action-packed and colorful. The storylines are relatively simple. There isn’t anything too long-term or if you hadn’t been paying attention you’re not going to understand it. Everything is easily digestible and a lot of fun. Its fast-paced, hour-long, action-packed show on Saturday nights. I’m having a blast.”