Corey Graves was the latest guest on Prime Time with Sean Mooney and the WWE color commentator shared how he got his start in the squared circle. It involved a heartfelt conversation with his father at the age of 14 which as Corey claims, was going “a mid-life crisis at 14.” Graves’ father did not want him to get his tongue pierced and Corey thought the decision was extremely important, so he and his pops had the following chat, which led to Corey getting his start in pro wrestling:
“And my dad said, ‘There’s no way in hell that you’re getting your tongue pierced.’ And I remember having this tearful conversation, I remember like it was yesterday, I was sitting on his bed in his bedroom, he’s standing in the door doorway, he was like, ‘Do something creative, get a hobby, join a band,’ (I still have no musical talent or anything), but he’s literally just throwing out ideas. ‘Go learn to be a boxer, go learn to be a pro wrestler!’ And the tears dried up instantly and I went, ‘Okay.’
“So luckily, he was a fire chief, it was outside of Pittsburgh, and he had done some fundraisers with a local wrestling company. So he had friends in the independent scene there, mainly the promoter, and he made a few calls and they bent the rules a little bit because I mean was 14 years old and I really had no business near or in a wrestling ring, but they made it happen. So that was how my training started.
“As much as I have modified my body to this day, tattoo everywhere that I possibly could, I have never pierced my tongue.”
More will be transcribed from this episode but you can listen to the entire interview below:
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