Corey Graves States His Opinion On SummerSlam Main Event
When WWE fans were treated to a surprise return of "The Beast" Brock Lesnar this past Friday night on "WWE SmackDown," many were upset when he attacked Roman Reigns, setting up their seventh one-on-one matchup — and their third major program in the last year. Reigns took both previous contests, which occurred at WWE Crown Jewel in October and WWE WrestleMania 38 in April, the latter of which garnered negative reactions from fans and critics. But after an injury sidelined Reigns' next planned opponent, Randy Orton, WWE is going to the Reigns/Lesnar well one more time at this year's SummerSlam, this time in a Last Man Standing match.
Despite the long-running feud's seemingly diminishing returns, there are some who have shared their excitement for the match, and today, WWE "Raw" commentator Corey Graves was added to that list.
"Last Man Standing ... gives me the impression this is going to be the last chapter, no matter what," Graves said during the latest episode of his podcast "WWE After the Bell." "Of course, you've got people whining and complaining, 'Oh, we've already seen this.' You're right, you have seen it, and every time you've seen it, has it not been awesome? Every time Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns are in the same ring, is it not magic? Does the arena, or in this case a stadium, not rise to its feet to watch two behemoths who have proven themselves to be worth every dime because they are box office draws?"
"We're not doing SummerSlam in Barclays Center this year," Graves continued. "We're not doing it in an arena, it's a fricken stadium, now you've got extra tickets to sell. This is feeling already more like a WrestleMania than it does a standard SummerSlam so you need the two biggest guns you can find right now. I don't know if that's what the plan was back at WrestleMania, I don't know that anybody saw that coming ... but injuries happen. We don't have Randy Orton right now, we don't have Cody [Rhodes] right now, Rhea Ripley, another prime example. Injuries happen, that's a part of this game."
Contrary to Graves' statements, loyal WWE fans may be hoping this truly is the last we see of Reigns and Lesnar, but Graves believes the match will deliver.
"If we want to give the WWE Universe something to get excited about, something that they know is going to deliver, you bring out Brock Lesnar," Graves said. "In case of emergency, break glass."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "WWE After the Bell with Corey Graves" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.