Corey Graves made his return to 'WWE NXT' on Tuesday, one week after publicly expressing frustration about his demotion to the brand. Credit: The CW

Was Corey Graves publicly expressing frustration with WWE last week a work or a shoot?

It appears we now have our answer.

As the latest episode of WWE NXT opened on Tuesday night, lead announcer Vic Joseph introduced color commentator and WWE legend Booker T, who was sitting on his right. Joseph then proceeded to call attention to the other analyst sitting on his left, Graves, who was absent from last week’s episode after publicly venting on social media about his demotion from WWE SmackDown to the pro wrestling giant’s quasi-developmental brand, NXT.

“Do not adjust your set. This isn’t AI,” Joseph said. “Corey Graves is here live and in living color.”

“I am right where I want to be, where passion is everything,” an overly enthusiastic Graves responded. “Only the hungry survive and pro wrestling never stopped being cool. Let’s light the fuse.”

Corey Graves’ on-air enthusiasm stood in stark contrast to his viral social media post, in which he complained about being moved to NXT following Pat McAfee’s return to WWE Raw and the broadcast team shakeup that followed.

“Imagine chasing your dream. Then being TOLD (not deciding) that you’re no longer physically able to pursue your dream,” Graves said in reference to the injury in a since-deleted post on X. “Then you dedicate your life to something ‘dream adjacent’ and being pretty fucking awesome at it. And then, when it’s time to enjoy the fruits of your labor, being told you’re not famous enough for your own job.

“Just in case you’ve wondered where I’ve been.”

While Corey Graves later teased that he’d have more to say about the situation on last week’s WWE NXT, he was ultimately absent from the show for reasons that have yet to publicly be explained. But lest you thought his return this week would lead to an on-air angle — perhaps even with McAfee — it ultimately proved to be the closest the show came to addressing the situation, seemingly indicating that it’s all been a shoot (wrestling lingo for “real”) all along.

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.