Vince McMahon reportedly asked former WWE announcer to tone down John Cena's introduction
Vince McMahon directed former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts to tone down the introductions of John Cena and The Undertaker.
Justin Roberts, who worked for WWE from 2002 to 2014, was known for his extravagant introductions. The current AEW announcer used to introduce superstars based on their ability to draw large crowds. As a result, wrestlers such as John Cena and The Undertaker got bigger and better introductions than the rest of the locker room.
However, on the Talk is Jericho podcast, the former WWE announcer revealed that Vince McMahon asked him to tone down his introductions for people like John Cena and The Undertaker.
“You go back to how Vince thinks vs. how I think. I got called literally out of the ring before we did the biggest Royal Rumble in history in Boston. I think he had just seen UFC, this is what I was told, that he had just seen UFC and he did not like Bruce Buffer and thought he was too over the top. So he talked to me about toning everything down. Which, once in a while I would have that conversation with him, ‘Tone it down, don’t give Sabu that big introduction, don’t give John Cena that big introduction, don’t give The Undertaker the big– And it’s like, I didn’t do it for everybody, but I did it where I needed to make something feel special. And it was always something that was built organically." [H/T 411 Mania]
Justin Roberts further stated that the John Cena introduction was good because he gained experience working on house and TV shows. He added that the introduction was special to the former WWE Champion, who was the company's top guy.
He also further narrated an incident when Vince asked him to introduce everyone the same way right before the Royal Rumble match.
Check out some of Justin Roberts' best ring announcements here:
Vince McMahon ordered another WWE announcer to be more hispanic
During the "Cheap Heat Productions Podcast," Ricardo Rodriguez, Alberto Del Rio's personal ring announcer, revealed that Vince McMahon ordered him to "be more hispanic."
"The only real advice that he gave me was, and I quote, ‘No, not like that. Be more Hispanic.’ I still don’t know what that means! The very first time that I did the rehearsal for the intro thing, I was thinking very formal, very Tony Chimel, Justin Roberts… formal… Howard Finkel.” [15:06-15:34]
You can check it out in the video below:
Vince McMahon was notorious for making erratic changes right before going live. As a result, these requests aren't out of the ordinary for the former Chairman.
What do you think of Vince McMahon asking Justin Roberts to tone down his introduction? Let us know in the comments section.