Does Booker T Really Want to Beat Up Corey Graves in the Streets, Or Is This Kayfabe?

" Recent audio from Booker T’s podcast in which he claims WWE let Booker go because of ‘fear of him breaking Corey’s neck’ He also states if he catches Corey ‘outside of WWE’ he will fight him. What a professional. pic.twitter.com/VulGg70A0p — Rachereen Dream. (@Its0nlyRachel) February 4, 2018 "

Recently there was a notable change on the WWE’s flagship program Raw when Jonathan Coachman returned to replace Booker T on the commentary team alongside Corey Graves andMichael Cole.

The WWE had announced Booker would return to WWE’s pay-per-view Kickoff program as a panelist.

The timing for the move was strange, and now we may have a real explanation why (or maybe not). Booker T went on his podcast (audio snippet up-top) blaming Graves for his demotion and claimed the WWE was afraid he would break his neck:

"“If I got Corey Graves into a fisticuffs, I would beat him down like he stole something. I would be whoopin’ his ass all day long.”"

Booker T went on stating he was getting really close to doing so and WWE officials could sense it:

"“Lot of people in the company thought I was going to jump on him. I was gonna do something bad to him. I was gonna drag him. I was gonna take him out to the woodshed. I was gonna beat that man so bad,”"

But he did claim he was not going to do it in a public setting like the media would try to report he said:

"“If I catch Corey Graves on the street, I’m gonna do something to him. I ain’t gonna do it at the office or the airport,”"

Now there are a couple of things to unload here, starting with the fact that this could all be in kayfabe. It could be nothing more than Booker staying in his character in case he one day returns to the booth.

It is often very hard to tell if a WWE employee is acting in kayfabe or not outside of the usual programming.

The other side of this is that it could be Booker not liking how he was treated on-air. Graves, like most heel commentators, will verbally spar and attempt to humiliate the other commentators weekly. Graves does this as much anyone, and not just to Booker, he has picked on Byron Saxton relentlessly.

It is not out of the realm of possibility something he had said set Booker off the wrong way as being belittled on television weekly is not something everyone handles lightly.