The term “kayfabe” has been used for decades in the professional wrestling business, its origins dating to the early 20th century as carnies and wrestlers worked to keep the illusion of what they did hidden from fans.
The last safeguards to the term died as the internet came to life and attitude blurred the lines as smart marks began to catch on to what was taking place.
It’s within that context Matt Polinsky, better known by his stage name of Corey Graves — the same from “WWE Monday Night Raw” and “WWE Smackdown” fame — toes these days. Known for his Savior of Misbehavior moniker, inked-up tattoos, tailored suits and heel persona, the Monroeville native has added a new chapter to his ongoing legacy as the most successful professional wrestling announcer to hail from these parts.
College professor.
And the road traveled to this place in his life is almost as poetic as the struggle and journey that launched his career as a sports entertainment announcer.
“I was invited over the last year or two to speak at Point Park College to their broadcasting students,” Polinsky said. “It was wrestling centric, but there were also quite a few students who were broadcasting specific, not necessarily wrestling fans. It went well; they asked me to come back again, and I did. The second time went better than the first.”
That led to an email exchange with university officials, who asked if he would be interested in teaching a class.
“Which I thought was the most absurd thing I’d ever heard of,” Polinsky said.
Those sentiments were not shared by the chair of the school of communications department. Dr. Bernie Ankney, a Ligonier native who spent 14 years at Samford in Birmingham, Ala., before taking over as dean of the department in the summer of 2020, saw something special in Polinsky that translated into teaching.
“I was really impressed with the way he interacted and mentored 18-, 19-, 20-year-old students and just watching the energy he brought to his presentation,” Ankney said. “I thought it would be worth looking into Corey teaching a class. Somebody like that, if you put him in the classroom, students are familiar with his work.”
Over several months last summer and into the fall, Polinsky and Ankney worked out details of a class, subject matter and curriculum for a finished product called Live Sports Production — a three-hour course on Wednesdays. Twelve students signed up.
Polinsky has put together a decorated resume in wrestling broadcasting. He has called “WrestleMania” eight times, and his voice has been heard on Fox, USA Network, Netflix and Peacock. The 2002 Gateway graduate has traveled the globe broadcasting from England, Germany, Saudi Arabia and other premium events domestically and internationally for more than a decade. He also boasts an impressive following on social media with nearly 1.3 million fans on his Instagram and X accounts.
It created a perfect storm for using what he has learned to teach students a specialized craft.
WWE’s new ownership, TKO Group Holdings Inc., quickly bought into the idea.
“TKO has seemingly been a lot more open to collaboration and allowing talent to step outside WWE, more so than the old WWE regime,” Polinsky said. “Anybody who works for WWE has had an opportunity of some sort that they’ve had to turn down because they couldn’t get permission, or it was a conflict of interest. This really isn’t a wrestling class; it was a broadcasting class. I took it to my manager, and they’ve been supportive to help me with making this happen.”
Polinsky’s rise through the ranks as a top line WWE announcer was a winding one.
Polinsky, along with his brother, Sam, grew up around wrestling, as their father owned a ring and promoted events. Matt began wrestling on the independent circuit in Pittsburgh around 2002, with local stops at Pro Wrestling eXpress in North Versailles, to International Wrestling Cartel in Elizabeth and others. The travel was hard. The money was minimal, but chasing his dream was everything.
In 2010, he stepped away from wrestling, earning a tryout at a new all-sports radio station in Pittsburgh, 93.7 The Fan. He worked mostly overnight shifts doing sports talk, but that dried up after a few months. After turning his attention back to the business he loved, Polinsky found himself packing his bags in the summer of 2011 and heading to Tampa, having signed a WWE contract to work under the banner of NXT, their developmental franchise.
After several injuries, including concussions in the spring of 2014, Polinsky took time away to heal, but WWE doctors concluded that his in-ring work was done. Crushed, he found solace in the news that in December of that year, he would begin his broadcasting journey as a NXT announcer. By July of 2016, he was moved into the lead role as color analyst on “WWE Monday Night Raw,” a position he’s mostly held since.
Now, after all the travel, fame, five children (two with his second wife, Leah Van Dale, who spent 12 years wrestling for WWE as Carmella), this was a chance for Polinsky to give something back to students who may want to be in front of a camera or microphone.
“The big thing for him was this, not every student is going to be interested in wrestling,” Ankney said. “He wanted to do something a little broader for that Point Park student who wants to be involved in a pre-game show for baseball, or a post-game show for women’s basketball. He wanted to create a class that will serve students in what their current interests are, what their professional interests are. He felt Live Sports Production, there are a lot of facets to it.”
Telling a story and pulling emotion from viewers that hook them into what you’re describing is what Polinsky wants his students to learn most of all.
“Vin Scully wasn’t a baseball commentator. He was a storyteller,” Polinsky said. “You didn’t have to open your eyes. You could envision the park and see the sunset and where the players were at. That’s an art and that’s the art of broadcasting.
“I think having a wealth of experience doing that, it’s quite literally what I do. Make you like somebody; make you hate somebody. It’s not exclusive to wrestling, but broadcasting can be anything, online, radio, TV. The business has changed so much.”
This new path he has carved out could be the start of just another chapter in the life of a man living a duality of sorts. Corey Graves, WWE bad boy announcer. Matt Polinsky, family man and professor at Point Park.
Kayfabe, as it seems, is alive and well.