Jonathon Coachman brings his two passions together at ESPN.
His Sportscenter segment Off The Top Rope has featured Dean Ambrose, Daniel Bryan, Enzo Amore and Big Cass among other WWE wrestlers. Coachman appeared on The Ric Flair show to talk about the two worlds colliding.
"I don’t think wrestling fans understand how much sports means to people like me. It’s been amazing, almost 9 years I have been at ESPN, just flying by. And everyday I try to grow the brand; and the reason why I do this the way that I do it is because I want to bring my two worlds together that I love so much, and we’ve been starting to do that with the WWE and the different things we do together; I’ve never been as happier as I am now, and professionally it’s a big reason, and things are going real well for my life right now," said Coachman.
After nine years on WWE television, Coachman had a difficult decision to make about staying or leaving WWE. He said Vince McMahon handled his leaving well.
" I left in 2008, my contract was up in August. There are so many little stories that I like to tell; I guess I am very protective of Vince and very protective of the WWE brand. I always like people to know the positives, and what he has done for me. One of the things that Vince did for me was, it was not a secret that I had an opportunity with ESPN. I went up to the interview with ESPN in April; so people knew I was on campus, and with the rumors going around, they called me straight up, which is another thing that I love about Vince and Kevin Dunn is that they talk like grown men. If you have something to talk about you come in and talk about it. They looked me straight in the eye and asked if I was going to ESPN or was I going to stay with the WWE, " said Coachman.
On Wednesday, Coach interviewed Charlotte Flair on Off The Top Rope. Past segments can be found at ESPN.com.
More of the interview is transcribed at 411Mania.com and Wrestlezone.com.
