WWE Commentator Corey Graves' Real Life Feud With CM Punk, Explained
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CM Punk's fans are aware that the wrestler is known for quickly cutting people off from his life. Last year, The Cult of Personality got involved in a huge controversy when he decided to verbally insult The Elite and Colt Cabana during last year’s All Out media scrum. Since leaving WWE, Punk hasn’t maintained many friendships, especially with those who still work there. One of them was Corey Graves. They used to be great friends, but aren’t on great terms anymore. How and why did their relationship get strained? Turns out WWE was to blame for this.
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CM Punk & Corey Graves Were Friends For A Long Time
Punk and Graves have known each other for over 20 years now. While they may have lost touch today, they were once great friends who also worked together in the ring on several occasions. In WWE, they didn’t wrestle each other. Graves career ended in NXT and he never got to wrestle on the main roster, and then Punk was also fired from the company in 2014.
At the end of the day, wrestling is scripted entertainment and even if two wrestlers don’t like each other, they are expected to act professionally and work together if asked. This doesn’t mean they have to be friends off-screen. We’ve seen such rivalries previously where two wrestlers disliked each other but on television, they had no issues working together. There can be many reasons why two wrestlers may not see eye to eye anymore. What happened exactly between Punk and Graves that turned their relationship sour?
Why Did CM Punk Cut Corey Graves Out Of His Life?
Simply put: Punk cut everyone off after he left WWE, including Graves. Apparently, it didn't matter to The Straight Edge Superstar whether those wrestlers were his great friends or not, simply because they were employed by WWE. Over the years, Corey Graves has taken several shots against Punk on Twitter. Shortly after Punk won the lawsuit against WWE’s Dr. Chris Amann back in 2018, Graves unexpectedly sent several digs at The Cult of Personality in his tweets. Graves talked about how Punk betrayed his friends who had his back and expressed his sadness about the situation. Graves wrote that Punk was a really close friend and that he held his “first son before I did because I was on tour and I trusted him.” They even had dinner shortly after Punk quit WWE, but then, he cut him off completely because he was working for the same company Punk used to work for. Punk never responded to Graves’ tweets, and it doesn’t look like he wants to mend their relationship anymore.
When Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp reached out to Corey Graves for comment on a rumor he heard that Punk gave an ultimatum to his friends whether they side with him and leave WWE or he’ld cut them off. Graves told Fightful, "Well, to be honest, I’d never heard or been given that ultimatum. It kinda shocked me when I texted him about grabbing dinner because we were in Chicago and he told me he no longer had any interest in being friends with me or anybody related to WWE.” Graves still wished him good luck before his first UFC fight: “I texted him the day of his FIRST fight something along the lines of ‘I know life is nuts, I still love you good luck.’” But after this, both wrestlers went their separate ways and didn’t converse again.
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CM Punk Doesn't Talk To His Former Friends In WWE
Graves wasn't the only wrestler that Punk cut off after leaving WWE. He was once great friends with Kofi Kingston. They were also Tag Team Champions for a while in WWE. Kingston talked about how Punk “took me under his wing when he didn’t have to.” While they are no longer in touch, Kingston doesn’t hold a grudge against him for that and said that he’ll always be happy for him. “Punk, like you heard with a lot of people who were on the active roster, just didn’t talk to a lot of people on the roster. To me, we spent so much time together, I’ll always consider him to be one of my brothers.”
Fans are well aware of how much Punk hated his time working in WWE. Understandably, he doesn’t want to do anything with them, but at the same time, Graves’ disappointment also makes sense. While Punk may not have many friends from WWE anymore and has gotten on many of his current colleagues’ bad side as well, he still has people who are super close to him and want the best for him.
