When Corey Graves was forced to retire from professional wrestling due to a series of concussions, he thought his career was over.

Sure, performers have transitioned out of wrestling to other aspects of the industry, with IYO SKY's sister transitioning to the role of referee, Robert Stone becoming an (almost) full-time manager, and others still taking their talents even further away from the ring to the role of commentator or even authority figure Adam Pearce-style but those opportunities are few and far between in a sport where wrestlers reign supreme.

Fortunately, Graves was one of the few performers who did find a new home at the commentary table, where he started telling the story of matches instead of working them out inside the ring himself. Discussing his new role in the WWE Universe and how he transitioned into it in NXT after an in-ring career in FCW, Graves gives credit to the entire process for helping to ease his experience, as he explained to Kurt Angle on his podcast.

“No. I wasn’t saying no to anything that was thrown my way at the time. So, while I was learning commentary, I was again learning all these different aspects of the business and TV production. I was like a sponge, and I would just sit down and I would ask people questions. H*ll, I didn’t know. As far as I was concerned, I would have been lighting backstage as long as it meant I could stay in WWE. That was how I looked at this. It was almost desperation. As long as I have a paycheck to feed my kids, if I could do it under the WWE banner, that’d be even better,” Corey Graves said via EWrestling News.

“But as far as commentary goes, I never had any sort of confidence that I would ever make it to RAW or SmackDown. I remember getting actually to the point where in NXT, I was frustrated because I went, ‘This is as good as I’m going to get here. I need to work with a Michael Cole or a Jerry Lawler or whoever that may be’ because ask Kurt, the only way in this business you get better is to work with someone better than you are. And I felt like I was treading water. But again, at the end of the day I was still getting a paycheck so that was okay. And I remember thinking, ‘God, let me just give me a chance, give me a shot at Raw, let me do SmackDown once, let me fill in for somebody, I’ll set the world on fire.’ And it has since been relayed to me several years down the line that they knew I was ready back then, and they said they’d rather I’d be a little bit overprepared than to come up and underperform. Which now, I’m grateful for. At the time, I wanted to swing at anybody who told me no, but now I’m grateful it worked out that way.”

Though he may not be the most popular commentator in wrestling today, as he has been named the worst commentator on three separate occasions at the Wrestling Observer Awards, it's clear Graves has plenty of fans within WWE, which, for someone in this situation, is all that really matters.

Mr. Stone explains why doing commentary is harder than people think

Speaking of former indie wrestlers who transitioned out of the role when they came to WWE in the style of Corey Graves, Mr. Robert Stone went from a fun indie performer under the Robbie E moniker to a manager in NXT who has helped along performers like Chelsea Green and now Von Wagner.

Discussing his transition from wrestling to managing and the newest arrow added to his quiver, commentary, Stone noted that WWE has given him all of the tools to call good matches, which is a whole lot harder than some may assume.

“All the tools are there for anyone to learn anything they want to. As far as when I actually did it. A lot of people think commentary, you sit down, you put a headset on, and you talk. It’s so much more difficult than people think it is if you want to do it the right way,” Robert Stone said on Notsam Wrestling via Fightful. “You’re getting two talents over in a short period of time while you’re calling the action, while you’re telling the stories, while you’re telling other stories on other shows. There is so much to it, but it was exciting to learn because I’m always interested in wearing a new hat or learning something different. I have enjoyed the journey, and I think I’ve done a good job when they’ve asked me to fill in or do it, and I look forward to doing it again in the future. Way harder than people think. So much more to it.”

Should Corey Graves be on the lookout for Mr. Stone stealing his job? I mean, probably not, as Stone will likely have his hands full with Wagner moving forward but hey, who would expect to see Sterling James Keenan calling SmackDown a decade ago?