Renee Young might not be lauded for her in-ring work, but her work as an interviewer and announcer is just as important when it comes to the WWE women's evolution.
On Sept. 10, Young was promoted to a full-time announcer on WWE Raw. The move was met with universal praise after Young handled herself nicely while filling in for Jonathan Coachman in prior weeks. Speaking to Anthony Sulla-Heffinger of Yahoo Sports, Young discussed wanting more from her job and how that helped open new doors.
“I have been dying for more to chew on,” she said. “I want to work and I want to be busy. There’s always more research to be done, always more conversations to have with people to help them tell their story and keep things interesting and fresh. I’m just so happy that I get to do that.
“I feel so proud, really, getting to help lead that march,” Young said. “I know there’s a long road ahead of me and there’s a lot of work that I need to do to really do this justice. It’s a big job, and I’m so excited to do that work.”
Before she moved to the Raw commentary booth, Young made her name as a backstage interviewer. Her show Unfiltered on the WWE Network became appointment programing as it took fans behind the scenes and gave fans a glimpse of what makes WWE superstars tick.
Prior to Sept. 11, Young interviewed Zelina Vega, who told the heartbreaking story of how she lost her father during the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001. Young believes those kind of stories will always have a place in the WWE.
“These are important stories to be told,” Young said. “They are important for other people to hear because we see all of these larger-than-life characters on television, but these are real people who have had real journeys to get to where they are.
“To be able to sit down with Zelina and hear her story, it struck such a chord with me, because you have to be a strong person to get through something like that,” she said. “It adds this other element and respect to the woman that she is.”
While Young does not have a background in journalism, she did state that her work in improv helped her prepared for life in WWE.
