Jimmy Smith isn’t quite sure why one of his WWE co-workers is getting so much criticism.
Before episode 5/16 of Monday Night Raw airs, WWE Women’s Tag Team champions Sasha Banks and Naomi have pulled out of the arena due to… An issue has been reported with their creations for display.
During episodes of Raw and SmackDown after Banks and Naomi exited, leading to an unspecified suspension, commentators Michael Cole and Corey Graves declared that Banks and Naomi “disappointed millions” with their “unprofessional” behavior.
Cole and Graves’ comments didn’t mesh well with the WWE world, which led to a backlash to Graves online, something that Graves’ on-air partner Jimmy Smith didn’t fully understand. Smith decided to address the matter in his own country Opening the Cage with Jimmy Smith Podcast, He says that Graves is simply a mouthpiece on the air as he works and says whatever is fed to him.
Smith noted that “Michael Cole and Corey Graves don’t make these things.” “People get mad at them as if they’re enjoying free stuff, they’re not. They’re broadcasters, if Vince [McMahon] He said, “Here, read this,” I was going to do exactly what Michael Cole did. Vince could have said, “Hey, Jimmy, I want you to read that,” and I’d go, “Ah, OK! Sasha Banks and Naomi let us all down. I was going to read the same thing.”
“It’s a weird thing where, in my view, on Monday Night Raw, Corey Graves gets all that shit. Corey Graves didn’t make up that statement, he’s a broadcaster and he’s been asked to read it and read it. So, I understand maybe the crowd’s wrath but the misdirection of that outrage. Weird. People who get upset with me or Corey Graves, you get angry at the wrong people. I don’t get it. Graves has been told what he said and said.”
Prior to signing with WWE in May 2021, Smith was a professional mixed martial arts fighter, racking up the 5-1 record before retiring in 2006 after a three-year career to accept a role to host Discovery Channel’s Fight Quest. He stayed there for two seasons before getting MMA play-by-play with M-1 Global.
Smith would then become the host of American Ninja Warrior before moving back into the MMA world and becoming the voice of Bellator MMA. The 44-year-old left with Bellator after a seven-year stint with the company and signed with the UFC, but will leave after just one year with the Las Vegas-based promotion and end his career as a commentator for women’s MMA with the full Invicta FC promotion prior to signing with WWE. .
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