Vic Joseph believes the chemistry between him, Booker T, and Corey Graves is only going to get better with time.
The Saviour of Misbehaviour made some headlines earlier this year when he was taken off the SmackDown commentary team and re-assigned to NXT. Graves saw the move as a demotion and vented frustration at being replaced by Pat McAfee on the main roster in a social media outburst. Things seem to have settled down since then, however, and Corey is now focusing on making the most out of this new opportunity.
During a recent interview with Getting Over podcast, Vic Joseph was asked about the Corey Graves situation and how big of a personal hill he thinks Graves needed to overcome to accept his new reality. Joseph explained that Corey needed to look at the whole thing from a different angle:
I think he had to have a new set of eyes and you know, take a deep breath. [It\'s] something we’ve always talked about…we used to travel in the car together. [It] was [like], ‘Hey man, it’d be cool to call the shows together one day.’ I think once he and I had the talk, like, ‘Dude, this is what we’ve always talked about.’ He was kind of like, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’\
Now He Can Take a Deep Breath: Vic Joseph
Vic Joseph then detailed an incident highlighting his long-term friendship with the fellow announcer. Speaking on the transition of going from a two-men booth on SmackDown to a three-men booth in NXT, the broadcast personality explained that it took a while for Corey Graves to get comfortable in the new dynamic:
\"I always wore a bow tie, every WrestleMania. It\'s a velour bow tie, people forget. I think I\'ve told this story one time but Corey Graves gave me that as a gift at my very first WrestleMania. So we have that personal connection.
I think the difficulty [is] for Corey, and I think this is where you start to see that seamless transition. Now, he doesn’t have to do as much. Now he can take a deep breath. Now he can take a step back and understand that it is three of us, three unique individuals, three distinct personalities for one goal for one show. So it\'s been getting better each and every week. And it\'s only gonna get better.\
