Corey Graves Walemania
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Isenberg Reacts: The Evolution of Corey Graves

It was announced at NXT Takeover: San Antonio that NXT’s born and bred Corey Graves will be moving on from the brand that he made so exciting and memorable over the years. We have the pleasure to see Corey Graves each week on WWE RAW, 205 Live and Pay-Per-Views and I can say that I am a huge fan of his work. It did not start just a few months or years ago, but actually in 2010. I was able to develop a short, yet memorable friendship (for me at least) with him when he was known as Matt Polinsky, in our hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Graduating in 2010, I had the fantastic opportunity to work for CBS-Radio in Pittsburgh. I was able to spend two years at 93.7 The Fan doing production for many of their sports talk shows. I was the jabroni that would work 10p-6a and love it, especially since I was able to get plenty of air time with some of the hosts. Some of the guys I remain close with, but I will always remember 1-2 nights on the weekends working with Matt Polinsky. Now known as Corey Graves, Polinsky became an on-air host talking about Pittsburgh sports. I can recall one night he had a caller call him “Sterling James,” which spiked my interest. This led to me finding out about his independent wrestling background and we immediately started talking about pro wrestling. At this time, Chair Shot Reality was still in its infant stage. So, instead of talking about my venture, we talked about the WWE and what he wanted to do. Being only four years apart in age, we connected on those few nights about what we loved the most. He only worked at that radio station for a few months, but it was enough to realize that the guy is talented on the mic.

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