If you've been following Corey Graves since yesterday, and you didn't know that he once had a great friend in CM Punk, you know now. You also know that friendship might be close to over, if not over completely. What was once two men who were so close that Punk was holding Graves' newborn baby when born, is now the WWE announcer ready to fight Punk if the invitation were there.
It started with Punk's loss to Mike Jackson at UFC 225. Despite Punk looking way overmatched and his UFC career seemingly done after another embarrassing performance, many WWE Superstars were praising Punk for his willingness to step in the Octagon and chase his dream. Not Graves, who was fairly negative the minute that fight ended. His first tweet set the tone for what was to come.
"Maybe abandoning everybody who stood by your side, even when we weren't supposed to, only to have you turn your back on us wasn't the right move after all?" Graves said in a tweet following Punk's loss on Saturday night. He went on to add with other tweets, "Awww. Seems the 'fans' are disappointed. Maybe you guys should know that 'That Dude' held my first son before I did because I was on tour and I trusted him," and "The first rule of “punk rock” is loyalty, and this guy betrayed it all. I still love you, “friend” and I’m sorry you got lost."
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Many wrestling fans, specifically Punk fans were not feeling the love from Graves and started to question Graves loyalty to his friend. They wondered why now, of all times, would he kick Punk when he was down? Graves responded with things like, "I mean, one can only be sh&^ on by their 'best friend' for so long before they smarten up, no?" and "Dude, I’m far from distraught. I’m in a good place. I’m just really bummed that I had a true friend turn his back on me for no other reason than the company that employs me."
Clearly, there is history between these two guys and Graves is still upset about it. It goes back to 2016 when Graves was first trying to support Punk in his quest to make a name for himself in UFC. He says he tried to reach out to Punk to offer encouragement and got nothing back. This was a man he looked at as a best friend and while he figured maybe it was pre-fight jitters, he was ignored over and over.
Graves disdain comes from the fact that Punk didn't just walk away from wrestling, he abandoned a number of performers in the WWE that thought they had a close friend and they've come to learn that Punk has "disowned" them too as a result of where they work.
As people continued to pick sides, Graves reminded them that he has his own background in fighting that wasn't wrestling related. "Don’t forget ya’ll, I actually knew how to fight BEFORE I got to TV," and when challenged on the fact that Punk would wipe the floor with him, Graves simply said, "I'll fight him," in response.
No one is expecting Punk to respond, but it goes to show that no matter what's going on and no matter how badly Punk shows in MMA, his name will never just disappear. He's burned a lot of bridges and made a lot of enemies. Corey Graves appears to be one of them.