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What's the story?
According to PW Insider, Corey Graves did not provide commentary on the July 23 episode of WWE SmackDown Live because he was filming a movie in Vancouver.
In case you didn't know…
The first hour of this week’s SmackDown Live featured Big E, Xavier Woods and David Otunga alongside lead commentator Tom Phillips at the announce desk, while Michael Cole replaced the New Day members for the second hour.
It was explained midway through the broadcast that regular SmackDown commentator Byron Saxton was absent due to the death of his father, but no reason was given as to why Graves did not appear.
The former NXT Superstar later took to Twitter to say that he quit his job as a commentator on SmackDown. However, as regular followers of Graves' social media antics will know, his comment was most likely a joke.
The heart of the matter
PW Insider’s Mike Johnson is reporting that Corey Graves is among a group of WWE stars in Vancouver this week to film WWE Netflix movie “The Main Event”, which explains why he was not able to commentate on SmackDown Live.
Kofi Kingston, Sheamus, Renee Young and The Miz are also due to shoot scenes for the movie this week.
This could also explain why Sheamus showed off a new look and posed in a referee’s shirt in a social media post on Tuesday.
What's next?
“The Main Event”, a film about an 11-year-old aspiring wrestler who discovers a magical mask and enters a competition to become the next WWE Superstar, is due to premiere on Netflix in 2020.
As for Corey Graves and his hectic commentating schedule, we will have to wait until next week’s episode of SmackDown Live to see whether he will return to the desk.
