Corey Graves has confirmed that has been cleared to compete, although stated wrestling is “not an immediate goal.”
In January, it was first reported by Sean Ross Sapp at Fightful that Graves was no longer on the WWE’s “no contact” list and had been cleared at some point in 2021.
Graves confirmed the status change while speaking to TMZ and promoting the new Corey & Carmella reality series:
I went and spent some time with doctors middle of last year. I kinda got the itch. This is one of the first times I’m saying this publicly. I have been medically cleared to compete.
It’s not an immediate goal of mine, it was just something I needed to know for my own sanity. My journey in the ring got cut short and it’s kinda eaten at me for years, always wondering what if, what if there’s a chance, what if there’s an opportunity … so I went and did the necessary steps and it turns out I’m more okay than I thought I was.
It was notable last November when Graves got involved physically during a 24/7 title segment, where the announcer rolled up Akira Tozawa and briefly won the title before being pinned by Byron Saxton.
Graves’ in-ring career ended in 2014 after a series of concussions and was moved to a role on the NXT broadcast team and eventually, was called up to the main roster in July 2016 as one of the members of the Raw team.
Graves turned 38 years old this week and the reality series with his partner Carmella will premiere this Monday on the WWE’s YouTube channel.
