Corey Graves

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Matthew Polinsky
Corey Graves (above) at WWE Raw 2016

Corey Graves (above) at WWE Raw 2016
Data
Surname Matthew Polinsky
Ring name Corey Graves
Sterling James Keenan
Iron City Irvin Ickleman
height 185 cm
Fighting weight 95 kg
birth February 24, 1984
Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania
Announced from The Sunset Strip
Iron City, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Trained by Quinn Magnum
Dory Funk, Jr.
Mad Mike
debut March 22, 2000
retirement December 11, 2014

Matthew Polinsky (born February 24, 1984 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania ) is an American sports presenter and former wrestler . He is better known by his ring name Corey Graves . He currently hosts the two main WWE shows, WWE Raw and WWE SmackDown . During his active ring days he was NXT Tag Team Champion and FCW Florida Tag Team Champion . He is also known by his ring name, Sterling James Keenan , which he wore during his independent stint.

Life

Wrestling career

Matthew Polinsky grew up as the son of a Hungarian couple in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In college he studied marketing .

He began his wrestling career on March 22, 2000. He chose his first ring name Sterling James Keenan as a tribute to American football players Sterling Sharpe and Maynard James Keenan of the band Tool . Keenan competed for Dory Funk, Jr.'s Promotion Funkin 'Conservatory , among others, against Paul London, among others . In 2002 he and Chris Cage won the PhD tag team title.

He then competed in various independent leagues, including the Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South , Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling and Full Throttle Wrestling. On April 26, 2002 he was allowed to win the tag team belt together with Mad Mike at NWA East / Pro Wrestling Express . He held other titles in the Promotion Union of Independent Professional Wrestlers. He was also a regular guest at Ring of Honor (ROH)

In 2002 he joined the International Wrestling Cartel (IWC), for which he worked until 2007. There he became IWC HeavyWeight Champion and IWC Super Indy Champion. He was also allowed to fight against CM Punk and AJ Styles , among others . In 2006 he appeared for the first time for the British Promotion 1 Pro Wrestling , where he was allowed to compete against D'Lo Brown , Sabu , Raven , Doug Williams and Ulf Herman , among others . Abyss was a frequent partner . He held the Heavyweight Championship of the Promotion 554 days, which he holds the record of the now closed promotion.

In 2006 he already appeared in a number of dark matches and as a jobber for World Wrestling Entertainment . In 2011 Polinsky finally signed a development contract with Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) and took on the ring name Corey Graves. He made his debut on September 25, 2011 when he lost to Erick Rowan . He held the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship with Jake Carter in 2012 . After rebranding as WWE NXT , he increasingly competed as a single wrestler. He had feuds against Seth Rollins and his association The Shield and against The Wyatt Family around Bray Wyatt . Together with Neville he held the NXT Tag Team Championship . When the tag team broke up, he had a feud with Neville that resulted in a concussion and pause. During a feud against Sami Zayn in January 2014, he suffered a second concussion that ended his active wrestling career for the time being.

As a moderator

On December 11, 2014, he announced his final retirement from active wrestling at the pre-show for the pay-per-view NXT TakeOver: R Evolution . Instead, the event made his debut as a presenter.

Triple H offered him a two-year presenter contract. In addition to WWE NXT, he was on the WWE Raw Pre-Show Panel and was in charge of the WWE Network series WWE Culture Shock . A highlight of the first year was reporting on BronyCon , an event from the fan scene about My Little Pony - Friendship is Magic who named themselves Brony .

In 2016, he joined the main team of commentators at WWE Raw , which he has been a part of ever since. Since November 29th, he has also hosted the cruiserweight show 205 Live . Since September 24, 2017, he has also been the host of WWE SmackDown , where he replaces JBL .

Private life

Polinsky is with Carmella and has three children. His younger brother Sam Adonis is also a wrestler and competes for the Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).

Polinsky is a trained piercer and has worked in several tattoo and piercing studios in Pennsylvania .

Polinsky currently resides in Connecticut but is proud to have spent much of his life in Pittsburgh. He often mentions this during his moderation.

Achievements and honors

Moderations

Filmography

  • 2011: Kingdom of Gladiators (Kingdom of Gladiators)
  • 2017: WWE: Fight Owens Fight - The Kevin Owens Story (documentary)
  • 2020: My WWE Main Event (The Main Event)

Video games

  • 2015: WWE 2K15 (playable character)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Oliver Hurley: Sterling James Keenan Interview . In: Skin Deep . June 1, 2006. Retrieved May 20, 2011.
  2. ↑ a b c d Sterling James Keenan . Online World of Wrestling. Archived from the original on December 23, 2011. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 9, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.onlineworldofwrestling.com
  3. ↑ PWXTV.com - Pro Wrestling eXpress . Archived from the original on October 26, 2017. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved October 20, 2017. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / prowrestlingexpress.com
  4. ^ A b c International Wrestling Cartel . Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  5. ^ 1-Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling 101 . Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  6. ↑ Sterling James Keenan . 1 pro wrestling . Archived from the original on October 9, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 9, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.oneprowrestling.com
  7. ↑ James Caldwell: Caldwell's WWE NXT Takeover results 12/11: Complete virtual-time coverage of Neville vs. Zayn for the NXT Title, Itami & Balor, Charlotte, Kevin Steen / Owens's debut, Corey Graves retires . In: Pro Wrestling Torch . December 11, 2014. Retrieved December 12, 2014.
  8. ^ WWE Network: Culture Shock - "BronyCon" preview .
  9. ↑ James Caldwell: WWE announces new Raw & SD announce teams, Jerry Lawler bumped from main TV . In: Pro Wrestling Torch . Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  10. ↑ WWE: Behind the Curtain , Episode 60, ESPN , May 5, 2015
  11. ↑ Jeff Harder: MEET THE AMERICAN PRO WRESTLER WHO PLAYS A TRUMP-LOVING HEEL. IN MEXICO. . In: Vice Sports . February 10, 2017. Archived from the original on February 14, 2017. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 13, 2017. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / sports.vice.com
  12. ↑ Desiree Mathurin: Monroeville native, ex-pro wrestler Corey Graves finds new calling as NXT commentator . In: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . June 11, 2015. Retrieved February 13, 2017.
  13. ^ 1PW Heavyweight Championship History . 1 pro wrestling . Archived from the original on May 12, 2011. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 9, 2012. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.oneprowrestling.com
  14. ↑ Champions Roll Call . Florida Championship Wrestling . Archived from the original on July 3, 2012. Retrieved March 17, 2012.
  15. ^ Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2013 . In: The Internet Wrestling Database . Retrieved August 22, 2013.
  16. ↑ ZERO1 United States Heavyweight Champion . Pro wrestling ZERO1 . Archived from the original on February 11, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2012.
  17. ↑ James Caldwell: WWE News: NXT spoilers for summer episodes - first NXT Women's champ, Flair, more, plus NXT TV in the US? . In: Pro Wrestling Torch . June 21, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Graves, Corey
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Polinsky, Matthew (real name); Keenan, Sterling James (another pseudonym)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American sports presenter and former wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH February 24, 1984
PLACE OF BIRTH Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania