"I was not ready" - Former WWE commentator Renee Paquette claims she was pushed into high profile role unprepared
Former WWE superstar and commentator Renee Paquette, formerly known as Renee Young, has claimed that the company pushed her into a huge role when she was not ready.
Paquette was a trailblazer during her time with WWE, making her commentary debut in NXT in 2013. She was also a color commentator for Superstars from July 2014 to January 2015. She then joined the Raw commentary team in September 2018, a historic achievement, but was out a year later.
In a recent appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Paquette discussed her experience working on commentary full-time for WWE. She explained that she was unprepared for the role and could have used some help or training.
"It's not that there's not enough respect put on what commentary needs and to be good at commentary, they do understand that," Paquette said. "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." (h/t Ringside News)
After her tenure as a Raw commentator ended, Paquette became the host of WWE Backstage on Fox Sports 1 in October 2019. However, she would leave the company just 10 months later. She joined her husband, Jon Moxley, in AEW on October 12, 2022.
Renee Paquette calls out WWE for failing to establish new commentators, praises Pat McAfee and Michael Cole
Renee Paquette also called out WWE during her recent appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet. Paquette was critical of the company for not establishing a new commentator, pointing out Adnan Virk, who was on the Raw commentary team for just six weeks.
Paquette did acknowledge Michael Cole, who has been in commentary for more than 20 years, as well as Pat McAfee, who she called an "anomaly." While Cole has been getting praised under Triple H, McAfee has the gift of gab that many people do not have.
"Michael Cole has been doing commentary for what? Like 20 years or something?" Paquette said. "And I think now he finally does get the credit. ... 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 sh*t."
She added:
"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."
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