SI Media Podcast: Featuring WWE broadcaster Renee Young
Welcome to episode No. 48 of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch. In this podcast, which is published weekly, Deitsch interviews members of the sports media about their work and interesting people about the sports media.
This week’s podcast guest is WWE broadcaster Renee Young, who works in a number of on-air positions for WWE, including anchoring pay-per-view Pre-Show panels on the WWE Network and hosting WWE Unfiltered. Prior to her WWE role, Young—whose real name is Renee Pacquette—worked at the Score Network out of Toronto as an anchor and host. Young will be part of WrestleMania 32 coverage on the WWE Network, which airs on that channel on April 3 at 7 p.m. from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
In this episode, Young discusses how she became a WWE broadcaster, how much of her role is scripted vs. improv, the surreal nature of changing her name for a broadcasting job (including providing an alternate name while applying for her green card), auditioning for SportsNation after Michelle Beadle left ESPN for NBC, whether she fears getting typecast as a WWE-only performer, the blurring lines of having a relationship with someone in the company (she is currently dating the wrestler known as Dean Ambrose), why she considers Paul Heyman and Stephanie McMahon are genius on-air performers, whether she hopes to be on WWE Raw in the future, if she would be willing to take part in an in-ring storyline, the best dishes to eat when in Canada and much more.
A reminder: you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher, and you can view all of SI’s podcasts here. If you have any feedback, questions or suggestions, please comment here or tweet at Deitsch.
