WWE Commentator Corey Graves recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. The former Sterling James Keenan discussed a number of topics during his time on the show. These would include Roman Reigns’ run at the top of SmackDown, working commentary during the pandemic and Drew McIntyre’s rise to the main event of RAW.
Discussing working commentary during the COVID-19 pandemic, Graves would say “at first it was jarring. It was really bad. We were in the Performance Center for the first few months of the pandemic. Just like the talent? We feed off of the crowd in a different way, more so for our tone and when we need to push the excitement and accentuate certain moments. We as commentators feed off the crowd as well.”
“So to have that completely gone? We become just narrators” Corey Graves would continue. “We’re just telling the story that’s supposed to be told. [That’s] without the variable that is the WWE Universe, or a live crowd, that can sway things and change things and even turn things completely around. So to have that sterile environment? It was very jarring at first.”
Corey Graves would then discuss how much of a change the ThunderDome setting has made to WWE programming. WWE will be leaving Amway Center for Tampa’s Tropicana Field in December, it is not yet known how the ThunderDome will change in its presentation. “Now that we have the ThunderDome? We actually have some crowd noise piped into our headsets for Cole and I. So we kind of know when we need to exaggerate or speak up or slow down. It’s not perfect.”
Graves would finish by saying how WWE’s ThunderDome concept has been groundbreaking and on par with anything else in entertainment. “I think with the ThunderDome? We’ve taken some amazing steps and it is truly state of the art. As far as live entertainment goes around the globe? I challenge you to find anybody doing better than what WWE is doing right now. But, there is no valid replacement for live fans.”
Do you agree with Corey Graves? Do you think that the ThunderDome is at the pinnacle of television production right now? Let us know in the comments
