According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there are people within WWE who actually consider Corey Graves to be the victim of the recent incident involving Mauro Ranallo.
The NXT announcer has taken a leave of absence in the wake of getting criticized by Graves on Twitter during NXT Takeover: WarGames last weekend and also deleted his account on the social media platform.
Ranallo did not show up to NXT on Wednesday and was said to be in "rough shape," with his manager telling WWE he will return when he feels he can manage. But he did make an appearance on Showtime Boxing this week so he's definitely okay enough to work, probably just not with WWE just yet.
Graves is a pretty popular figure who used to feature on both Raw and SmackDown - nowadays he's just on SmackDown - and is the current host of WWE's first podcast. Per the aforementioned publication, he's viewed as the victim in the situation.
"It was noted to me that logic would have had WWE management trying to reel him in after Ranallo left, but in the strange world of WWE, Graves was considered by many the babyface in the situation, and even the victim," the outlet's report reads.
A Strange Take
This is just a rumor for now and should be treated like one but it would be very strange if it were true. Just how does a man who publicly criticized a colleague who is known to suffer from mental health issues become the victim in such a situation?
Folks obviously have the right to their opinions and if one feels that Graves did nothing wrong, that's fine. But drawing him out to be the victim is a bit of a stretch. Of course, his tweets saw to a backlash from fans, so that could be why he's considered to be the wronged party here. But he's not getting any abuse from fans online if he simply keeps his criticism to himself, right?
It appears that the saga isn't quite dead yet and we hope that it doesn't result in Ranallo quitting as that would be a great loss for NXT. But we will just have to wait to see how the whole thing plays out.
Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Ringside News)