Tommy Dreamer Claims WWE Disliked Corey Graves’ Resemblance to CM Punk and Randy Orton

Published 06/14/2021, 12:01 AM EDT

Everybody knows that Corey Graves is the current color commentator for WWE’s Monday Night Raw. He is a former NXT Tag Team Champion with Adrian Neville as well. But not many people know that WWE almost didn’t hire him based on his looks.

In an episode of “House Of Hardcore Podcast“, Tommy Dreamer explained how WWE would make excuses to not hire Corey Graves. They would compare Corey’s looks with CM Punk and Randy Orton.

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Dreamer stated, “I remember, Corey Graves looked too much like CM Punk and then they said, ‘Change your hair.’ He shaved his head and looked too much like Randy Orton. These are the things they would think about and you can’t win with these guys. Happy they all got signed.” (H/t Fightful)

Thankfully, WWE looked past Corey’s appearance and hired him for his talents.

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WWE had the same problem with Darren Young

In the episode, Dreamer revealed that Darren Young had to go through something similar as well. He said that he tried to get Young hired for ages. Darren was one of those guys that were always on the bubble. According to Dreamer, WWE officials were always like, “Hey man, you have to get in better shape. Hey, you’re a little chubby, you’re a little this, you’re a little that.”

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Dreamer reported that Young wrestled for a long time before he got signed, but he was always so good. He recalled the time WWE officials told Young that he looked too much like John Cena. At this point, Dreamer retaliated, “He’s black, how can he look like John Cena?”

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WWE also mentioned this fact in a hilarious segment with the Primetime Players and John Cena. In 2013, during the build to WrestleMania 29, the then debuting Pancake Patterson alongside Darren Young interrupted John Cena. Pancake cut a promo towards Cena in relation to the Primetime Players and how they should feature on WWE merchandise just like Cena.

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What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you think they look similar at all? Comment down below and let us know!

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Written by:

Aditya Pran Mahanta is a WWE and AEW author for EssentiallySports, who is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Arts degree. Being a sports fanatic, he has played at the state level badminton in his younger years but his love for WWE overtook all other passions. Being a decade-long wrestling fan, he relishes the older wrestlers and wishes that the newer generation had the same Edge. He is a passionate fan of Rey Mysterio for his high flying style, Edge for being The Ultimate Opportunist, and Razor Ramon because nobody messes with the Bad Guy!

Tommy Dreamer Claims WWE Disliked Corey Graves’ Resemblance to CM Punk and Randy Orton

WWE had the same problem with Darren Young

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