Corey Graves Matthew Polinsky ( February 24 , 1984 ) is a retired American professional wrestler , better known by his ring name Corey Graves . He is currently signed to WWE and works in its developmental territory , WWE NXT and currently in its 3 - hour wrestling show , Monday Night Raw , as a color commentator . He is a former NXT Tag Team Champion with Adrian Neville . Polinsky is also known for his work on the independent circuit under the ring name Sterling James Keenan . Professional wrestling career . Independent promotions ( 2000 – 2011 ) . Polinsky chose his ring name the night before his first professional wrestling match , and picked the name " Sterling James Keenan " as a tribute to Sterling Sharpe , Polinsky ' s favorite American football player as a child , and Maynard James Keenan of the band Tool . Keenan debuted on March 22 , 2000 . Throughout the next few years , Keenan appeared for various promotions , including Dory Funk Jr . ' s " Funkin Conservatory " , where he competed with wrestlers including Paul London , Adam Windsor , and Onyx . In 2002 , Keenan teamed with " Dreamachine " Chris Cage to win the Funkin Conservatory Tag Team Championship by defeating the team of London and Windsor . Keenan also made appearances for NWA Upstate , Independent Wrestling Association Mid - South , Cleveland All - Pro Wrestling , and Full Throttle Wrestling . On April 26 , 2002 , Keenan and Mad Mike won the NWA East Tag Team Championship by defeating The Premiere Players . Keenan was part of the Union of Independent Professional wrestlers promotion in both of its incarnations . He won the UIPW Keystone Cruiserweight Championship . Beginning in 2005 , he appeared regularly for Far North Wrestling ( FNW ) , and on November 2 , 2007 , he won a Battle royal to win the FNW Heavyweight Championship . He defeated Samoa Joe and Rikishi by countout on August 23 , 2007 to win the Ballpark Brawl Natural Heayweight Title . On February 24 , 2008 , Keenan won Absolute Intense Wrestling ' s Heavyweight Championship by winning a 30 - Man gauntlet match . Keenan competed for Pro Wrestling Zero1 , and has won the Zero - One United States Heavyweight Championship on two occasions . On March 8 , 2008 , Keenan defeated Mr . Wrestling 3 in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania to win the championship for the first time . He only held the championship for a week , before dropping it to Dr . X on March 15 in Morganville , New Jersey . On May 9 , Keenan won the championship for the second time , defeating Jake Manning in Limerick , Pennsylvania . He held the championship for just under a month , before losing it to Rick Landell on June 1 . Throughout the years Keenan has also made sporadic appearances for Ring of Honor ( ROH ) . His debut appearance for the promotion was at " Round Robin Challenge II " on April 25 , 2003 , where he teamed with EZ Money in a Tag Team Scramble match won by The SAT . He returned to ROH over two years later at " Redemption " on August 12 , 2005 , where he participated in a Four Corner Survival match won by Ace Steel . In October 2005 , he lost a singles match to Claudio Castagnoli and a singles match between Keenan and Steel at " Tag Wars 2006 " in January 2006 ended in a no contest due to interference from Chris Hero and the Necro Butcher . Six months later , at " In Your Face " , Keenan and Jason Blade lost a tag team match to the Briscoe Brothers . He made a single appearance in ROH in 2007 at the " Fifth Year Festival : Dayton " event , losing to Jimmy Rave and another appearance in March 2009 at " Steel City Clash " , losing to Delirious . He also appeared on the " Ring of Honor Wrestling " television show on the April 4 , 2009 episode , losing to Erick Stevens . International Wrestling Cartel ( 2002 – 2007 ) . Keenan debuted in the International Wrestling Cartel ( IWC ) on October 19 , 2002 , defeating Troy Lords . On the following IWC show , Keenan defeated CM Punk , before losing to Shirley Doe on two separate occasions but defeating Josh Prohibition . On December 28 , Keenan teamed with Dustin Ardine to challenge the Devil ' s Advocates for the IWC Tag Team Championship , but were unsuccessful . In May 2003 , Keenan participated in IWC ' s Super Indy tournament , defeating BJ Whitmer in the first round , but losing to Colt Cabana in the second . At IWC ' s " Revengeance " show in September , Keenan defeated Al B . Damm to earn a match for the IWC Heavyweight Championship . He received his championship match on November 1 , 2003 , and defeated Dennis Gregory to win the championship . At " Rebirth of Extreme " on November 22 , Keenan successfully retained the championship in a rematch against Gregory , and made further successful defences against Punk on December 12 , Dean Radford on January 31 , 2004 , and February 24 , and against Super Hentai on March 6 . Two weeks later , on March 20 , Keenan lost the IWC Heavyweight Championship to Radford , and failed to regain it in a rematch on April 3 , and on April 17 , when he lost a Tables match to Radford . In July 2004 , Keenan unsuccessfully challenged Chris Sabin for the IWC Super Indy Championship . That December , after Sabin had vacated the Super Indy Championship , Keenan won a four - way match against Petey Williams , Josh Prohibition , and John McChesney to win the vacant championship . He made a successful defense of the championship against AJ Styles on February 24 , 2005 , and Claudio Castagnoli the following night . In April he retained the championship against Nate Webb , before losing a championship match to Justin Idol by countout in final championship defense on April 29 , 2005 . That same night , McChesney won the Super Indy Tournament , winning the championship as part of his victory , despite having not beaten Keenan . The next night , a match for the championship between Keenan and McChesney ended in a double countout . In March 2006 , Keenan unsuccessfully challenged Doe for the IWC Heavyweight Championship . That September , Keenan was part of a tournament for the vacant IWC Heavyweight Championship , but was eliminated in the first round after losing to Ricky Reyes . On August 4 , 2007 , Keenan lost another match for the championship , this time to long - time rival Dennis Gregory , in what proved to be his final match in the company . One Pro Wrestling ( 2005 – 2009 ) . Keenan made his debut for the United Kingdom - based 1 Pro Wrestling ( 1PW ) at their inaugural show , " A Cruel Twist of Fate " , on October 1 , 2005 , defeating D ' Lo Brown . He quickly formed an alliance with Abyss , and the pair defeated Sabu and Ulf Herman in a hardcore tag team match on January 7 , 2006 . In March , Keenan competed in a tournament to determine the inaugural 1PW Heavyweight Champion , but was defeated by AJ Styles in a quarter - final match . He moved on to feud with Spud , defeating him on May 26 at " Know Your Enemy Night One " . At " Fight Club 2 " in July , Keenan defeated Spud in an Iron City Street Fight . Three weeks later , Kennan replaced Matt Hyson in a tag team match , where he and Spud challenged Jody Fleisch and Jonny Storm for the 1PW Tag Team Championship . They were unsuccessful after Keenan attacked Spud during the match . At " Invincible " in August , a tag team match featuring Keenan and Hyson versus Spud and Teddy Hart ended in a no contest after several other wrestlers interfered , prompting a 10 - man elimination tag team match , which Keenan ' s team won . At " Resurrection " in April 2007 , Keenan challenged Romeo Roselli for the Nu - Wrestling Evolution Heavyweight Championship , but was disqualified for using the championship belt as a weapon . He then began challening Ulf Herman for the 1PW Heavyweight Championship , but was unsuccessful in a four - way match on June 29 when Herman retained the championship . Keenan failed to win the championship again on June 30 and August 18 . On October 13 , at " 2nd Anniversary Show " , Keenan defeated Herman to win the championship in a steel cage match . Keenan successfully defended the championship against Doug Williams on January 25 , 2008 , and Martin Stone , Darren Burridge and Abyss in a four - way match the following night . His next defense was on October , when he lost to Johnny Moss via disqualification , and retaining the championship as a result . At the " 3rd Anniversary Show " that same month , Keenan retained the championship against Raven . Keenan eventually lost the championship to Martin Stone on April 18 , 2009 at " To The Extreme " , ending his championship reign at 554 days . He continued to feud with Stone in an unsuccessful attempt to regain the championship throughout 2009 , and made his final 1PW appearance at the " 4th Anniversary Show " in November . WWE . Before signing a contract with WWE , Keenan made several appearances for the company . On April 26 , 2006 , Keenan and CM Punk lost a dark match to The Gymini prior to the " SmackDown " taping . On June 6 , 2006 , Keenan teamed with Jon Bolen in a loss to Jamie Noble and Kid Kash . Keenan appeared on an episode of " WWE Heat " that was taped on August 6 , losing to Val Venis . Keenan appeared on the August 10 , 2007 , episode of " SmackDown ! " , where he was easily squashed by Mark Henry . Developmental territories ( 2011 – 2014 ) . In August 2011 , it was reported that Polinksy had signed a developmental contract with WWE . Polinsky announced that he would be performing in WWE ' s developmental territory , Florida Championship Wrestling ( FCW ) , under the ring name Corey Graves . He debuted at the FCW television tapings on September 25 , losing to Erick Rowan . The following year , on March 17 , 2012 , Graves won the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship with Jake Carter by defeating Bo Rotundo and Husky Harris . When WWE rebranded FCW into WWE NXT , Graves and Carter participated in the inaugural tapings in June 2012 . They defeated CJ Parker and Nick Rogers in match aired in July . Graves was re - established as a singles wrestler on November 14 with a win over Oliver Grey ; Following a submission victory over Yoshi Tatsu in December , Graves attacked the NXT Champion Seth Rollins , and was awarded a title match on the January 2 , 2013 episode of " NXT " . Graves failed to capture the championship despite winning via disqualification following interference from Rollins ' associates in The Shield . After singles victories over former partner Carter and Alex Riley , Graves faced Conor O ' Brian in a number one contender ' s match ; the match ended in a no contest after The Shield attacked both men , and Graves later lost in a triple threat number one contender ' s match . Graves transitioned into a feud with The Shield , challenging them to a match for costing him title opportunities . He faced Rollins in a Lumberjack match , which he lost when the other members of The Shield interfered . In May , Graves began feuding with The Wyatt Family following a confrontation ( and later match ) with leader Bray Wyatt . After being eliminated by Wyatt in a battle royal , Graves teamed with Kassius Ohno to unsuccessfully challenge Luke Harper and Erick Rowan for the NXT Tag Team Championship , and Graves , Ohno , and Adrian Neville lost to The Wyatt Family in a six - man tag team match . After the Wyatts injured Ohno in storyline , Graves began regularly teaming with Neville , and on the July 18 episode of " NXT " , they defeated Harper and Rowan to capture the NXT Tag Team Championship . The duo held the championship for nearly three months , before losing to The Ascension in September . After failing to regain the title , Graves attacked Neville to provoke a feud , thus turning heel . They traded victories , before Graves suffered a legitimate concussion , rendering him temporarily inactive . He returned in January 2014 , to enter a feud with Sami Zayn . Graves defeated Zayn on April 3 but was defeated in a 6 - man tag team match teaming with The Ascension against Zayn and The Usos . Graves then suffered a second concussion , causing him to be absent from television for several months . Pre - show panelist and return to NXT ( 2014 – 2017 ) . Graves returned on the pre - show on December 11 , where he announced his official in - ring retirement due to his concussion issues . He also announced that he would be joining NXT ' s commentary team with immediate effect , with his duties beginning at that event . Graves was then offered a two - year commentary contract by Triple H , and was later added to the pre - show panel for " Raw " . He is also the host of " WWE Culture Shock " , a WWE Network original series . In August 2015 , following Dolph Ziggler ' s 2014 shout - out to the " My Little Pony : Friendship Is Magic " fandom , March ' s reveal of Xavier Woods as a member of said fandom , and Sheamus being shamed in April by Ziggler about Bronies on TV , he attended BronyCon at the Baltimore Convention Center to investigate the fandom , where he dressed in an Applejack costume and interviewed Bronies . WWE released a free preview of the episode on August 26 , 2015 following the August 22 event and the August 23 SummerSlam event . Despite being drafted to Raw , Graves continues to provide color commentary for NXT . On the pre - show for , Graves announced he would be leaving NXT after that event , with Nigel McGuinness taking his place at the NXT broadcast booth . Color commentator of " Raw " ( 2016 – present ) . Following the 2016 WWE draft , it was announced that Graves would be joining the " Raw " commentary team . On July 25 , on the first post brand split episode of " Raw " , Graves began serving as a color commentator alongside Michael Cole and Byron Saxton as a heel . Other media . Polinksy , as Corey Graves , made his video game debut as a playable character in the " WWE 2K15 " video game and has his own path in the " Who Got NXT " mode for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game , documenting his matches in NXT . Personal life . Polinsky is a professional piercer , after training as an apprentice at the request of a friend of his who needed a piercer in his tattoo shop . He has worked in the Naughty Vibrations shop in Greensburg , Pennsylvania and in a shop named True Image in New Kensington , Pennsylvania . Polinsky is known for his tattoos . He got two of them before the age of 18 with his parents ' permission , and after turning 18 , got sleeve tattoos on both his arms , made up of several clearly visible and separate tattoos tied together with designs . He also has tattoos on his neck , and has the words " stay down " tattooed across his knuckles . Polinsky attended college and got a degree in marketing . Polinksy is the son of former wrestler Dan Polinsky and has a brother who wrestles as Samuel Elias .