Corey Graves On Which Tag Team Is Being "Wasted" In WWE, Criticizes Rusev - Lana Storyline Again

Outspoken on-air personality, Corey Graves hosted another edition of WWE's After The Bell podcast this week. During his review of this past Monday's RAW, Graves opened up about how frustrated he is at the booking of current WWE RAW Tag Team Champions, Erik and Ivar of 'The Viking Raiders'. Graves thinks that the duo should be allowed more time to put on outstanding wrestling matches that he knows they are capable of.

"What I took out of [RAW] was the waste that has become the RAW Tag Team Champions, The Viking Raiders. That's right, I am calling it a waste – I am not calling them a waste. I am calling what I see of The Viking Raiders on my television is nothing but a massive missed opportunity," Graves said. "Yes, they are the RAW Tag Team Champions. I have known Erik for probably fifteen years; we came up on the independents together in the Cleveland area and [he's] one of my favorite people in the business. I've gotten to know Ivar fairly well. There are two outrageously talented dudes.

"If you're not familiar, jump on WWE Network and take a look at their time in NXT. Should you be so inclined, get on YouTube and look at their stuff from New Japan or anywhere else they've done it because The Viking Raiders are one of the best tag teams on Planet Earth," Graves continued. "They are capable of awesome matches night, after night, after night, and I don't think it's doing them any favors or the RAW tag team titles any favors having them beat the Long Island Polo Boys, or it was whatever baseball team – The Cubs a few weeks ago. It's cartoony, it's silly; you have got two legitimate badass athletes. Ivar especially is over 300 and something lbs., he can do stuff that men of that size should never be able to do. Let them shine."

Graves mentioned on last week's episode that he is dreading the current Rusev, Lana, Bobby Lashley affair angle that has been featured on WWE TV as of late. This week, Graves admitted that perhaps he's wrong and the storyline is intriguing others based off the high viewer count that the Lana segments are receiving online.

"I'm going to look at it for what it is – somebody's watching this stuff! These segments have been doing massive numbers on social media, on YouTube, so, somebody wants to see this. Maybe I'm missing the boat," Graves admitted. "All I know is that when I watch these three incredibly talented performers, I want to see Bobby Lashley fight. I want to see legitimate badass Bobby Lashley, MMA fighter, former champion in WWE. I want to see Lashley do that. I want to see 'The Bulgarian Brute'; I want to see Rusev, who is exceptionally entertaining in just about every aspect of his life. I'm glad he's getting to show what he can do in front of the camera instead of being a stoic monster."

Corey hopes that the storyline will reach a place where the characters shine at their best, whether it be Lashley as an MMA badass, Rusev as the Bulgarian Brute, or Lana as an ice cold heel.

"And Lana is outrageously talented. I miss the days of ice cold, manipulative, uber b—h Lana. I miss that! That was awesome," Graves stated. "I will never forget – I think it was the first time I had a conversation with Lana was after WrestleMania when Rusev and John Cena did battle for the United States Championship. And Lana looked like the Ice Queen coming to the ring with the fur, and the all white, and the soldiers. and the tank which apparently Rusev had just tried to conceive in which is clearly why he lost the US Championship. But regardless, that was money to me. That was awesome. So, in no way am I speaking ill about the people involved in this. Maybe it's just not my flavor of ice cream. I guess a lot more people enjoy car crashes than I do."

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You can listen to the full interview above.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit After The Bell with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.