Corey Graves has opened up about the terrifying consequences of taking not one, but two F5s from Brock Lesnar.
Graves was the victim of an unprovoked assault by Lesnar on the September 19, 2025 episode of WWE SmackDown. The segment began with Lesnar confronting Michael Cole, who was heading backstage for an interview with The Beast.
Lesnar then carried Cole to the ring and threatened to attack him, prompting Graves to step in and defend his colleague. However, his intervention only intensified Lesnar’s anger, as the former WWE Champion delivered back-to-back F5s to the color commentator.
In a recent interview with The Sportster’s Adam Barnard, Graves described the experience of Lesnar’s brute strength as being like falling into a tiger enclosure at a zoo.
“I would liken experiencing the power of Brock Lesnar to what I would imagine you would feel like if you fell into the tiger enclosure at the zoo. As soon as you realize you’re in trouble, it’s already too late. I went from looking at Brock to approximately 12 feet in the air in what felt like a fraction of a second. It was a true force of nature just ripped me up, and I’m not a small guy. I mean, I’m 6’1″, 200 pounds, and I felt like a baby. He launched me so high, so fast.”
Corey Graves reveals the aftermath of taking two F5s from Brock Lesnar
“I’m going, ‘Uh oh, he’s coming back.’ I was looking in one direction, and he came from behind me, and I just see this bear paw just come across my face, and again, I went from what I thought was a seated position to, once again, about 12 feet in the air. The landing on that second one was absolutely brutal. My hip was messed up for about 2 weeks after that.”
Corey Graves revealed that he pitched the angle to write himself off television, as his wife, former WWE Superstar Carmella, was preparing to give birth to their second child. He added that Carmella wasn’t particularly thrilled that he needed assistance to walk properly at a time when she was about to give birth.
“My wife was not real happy with the fact that I couldn’t walk around the house for a couple of days because she’s going, ‘I’m going to have a newborn baby and you’re going to be couch-ridden.’ That could have really been disastrous. I had tickets for my family to the Pirates game two days after, and I had them at PNC Park on crutches because I couldn’t put any weight on my hip.”
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