Corey Graves
Matthew Polinsky[1] (born February 24, 1984)[2] is an American wrestling color commentator, columnist, and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE as a commentator and analyst for Monday Night Raw under the ring name Corey Graves. 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.
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.[7]
Keenan debuted on March 22, 2000.[2] 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.[2] In 2002, Keenan teamed with “Dreamachine” Chris Cage to win the Funkin Conservatory Tag Team Championship by defeating the team of London and Windsor.[8]
Keenan also made appearances for NWA Upstate, Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South, Cleveland All-Pro Wrestling, and Full Throttle Wrestling. On April 26, 2002, in NWA East / Pro Wrestling eXpress, Keenan and Mad Mike won the NWA East Tag Team Championship by defeating The Premiere Players.[9] 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.[2] He defeated Samoa Joe and Rikishi by countout on August 23, 2007 to win the Ballpark Brawl Natural Heavyweight Title.[10] On February 24, 2008, Keenan won Absolute Intense Wrestling’s Heavyweight Championship by winning a 30-Man gauntlet match.[2]
Keenan competed for Pro Wrestling Zero1, and 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.[11]
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 S.A.T. 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.[12] He also appeared on the Ring of Honor Wrestling television show on the April 4, 2009 episode, losing to Erick Stevens.[13]
