Performing commentary in the world of professional wrestling isn’t as simple as it looks on television. Not only do commentators have to walk the audience through the in-ring action play-by-play but they might also have to put up with an angry boss screaming in their ear from time-to-time. Needless to say, it isn’t everyone’s cup of team.
Renee Paquette knows about the challenges a commentator faces all too well. During her stint in WWE, Renee performed in various on-screen roles for the company which also included “WWE RAW” commentator for a brief period.
Renee Paquette recently appeared on “Insight with Chris Van Vliet” where she discussed about her experience in the commentary booth while also criticizing WWE for failing to establish new announcers over the years.
“It’s not that there’s not enough respect put on what commentary needs and to be good at commentary, they do understand that,” she stated. “But a lot of times they’re like, ‘Okay well, put Renee on, she’ll be good! She’s good in these other things, let’s put her on commentary.’ I was not ready to do commentary.”
Paquette also pointed to Adnan Virk, who she recalled was a “fantastic broadcaster” but he wasn’t well-versed in the world of professional wrestling and hence, his WWE run lasted only six weeks. She also added that everything changes when you have Vince McMahon’s voice in your headset which was something he used to do for RAW and SmackDown.
Renee admitted that it takes a long time to become a great wrestling commentator. However, she also admitted that Pat McAfee is the rare anomaly that bucked that trend.
“It takes a really long time to become a great wrestling commentator … I mean Pat McAfee is such an anomaly … he’s just a huge personality.”
Despite the difficulties of the role, Michael Cole has been a WWE commentator for 20 years. Renee was quick to credit Cole for his 20 years in the commentary booth. She also added the Cole doesn’t get rattled anymore when “people wanna talk a little s**t.”
“Michael Cole has been doing commentary for what? Like 20 years or something? And I think now he finally does get the credit,” she added. “…He’s so great and he’s got such thick skin. I assure you it does not rattle him when people wanna talk a little s**t.”
Now that Renee Paquette has switched over to All Elite Wrestling, it looks like she doesn’t have to worry about doing commentary again if she doesn’t want to since AEW already have a pretty solid broadcast team. Stay tuned to Ringside News as we bring you similar stories.
What are your thoughts on Renee Paquette’s comments about the challenges of being a WWE commentator and the lack of new talent in that role? Do you agree or disagree with her views? Why or why not?