Velvet Sky discusses her transition to commentary with the NWA.
Sky debuted in 2003, and she had two prominent runs with TNA throughout her career. She won the TNA Women's Knockout Championship twice, and she also captured the Knockouts Tag Team Championship. Skye was memorably featured as a member of The Beautiful People alongside Angelina Love and eventually Madison Rayne and Lacey Von Erich. She left the company in 2016 and announced her retirement later that year. Skye had a brief run with Ring of Honor, but she left the company in 2020. She then joined the National Wrestling Alliance as a commentator in March 2023.
Speaking on MCW Backstage Pass, Sky discussed her transition away from her career as an active wrestler. She noted that she retired in 2016 because she felt like her time was up. Sky emphasized that she wanted to stay involved in wrestling, and the NWA presented her with the opportunity to do commentary in 2021.
“I retired from in-ring action in 2016. I just had felt my time in the ring was up. As wrestlers, we have a shelf life. You just gotta know when enough is enough on your body, gotta listen to your body, and I felt pretty good in 2016, but I felt like I did all that I had set out to do. But I knew I wanted to stay involved in the industry and just kind of branch out or transition into a different role, just not in the ring. So in March 2021, totally unexpected, I get a call from the NWA, and they told me that Billy Corgan, and I worked with Billy Corgan in IMPACT, specifically requested that I come in and do commentary. I was like, ‘Wait, what?’ No [I hadn’t done commentary before], but I thought it was super cool. First of all, I was a huge and still am Smashing Pumpkins fan growing up, and I’m like, ‘Wait, Billy Corgan?’ So it wasn’t Billy that called me. It was Pat Kenney, and he’s like, ‘Yeah, Billy wanted me to call you and offer you this. We think you’d be great," Sky said.
Sky went on to describe how she was excited, but she was also somewhat hesitant, as she had never done commentary before. She stated that the transition was smoother than she expected, and she credited NWA commentators Joe Galli and Tim Storm with helping her. Sky made it clear that she feels more confident now, as commentary is like second nature to her.
"I was so excited, but at the same time, not to doubt myself, but I’ve never done anything but wrestling. I’m confident in my ability to transition into any part of the business, but Pat was just like, ‘Don’t worry. We’re never gonna set you up to fail. Joe [Galli] and Tim [Storm] are pros, they’ll guide you right through.’"So I’ve been there now for about a year and a half. The transition was actually smoother than I had anticipated. At first, it was a little nerve-racking because I didn’t know a lot of the faces in the NWA. But there were a lot of familiar faces that I had come up with in IMPACT and on the indies. I knew their names, their move set. But there was a whole roster of new faces that now I had to learn their names, their move set, their back story. But for me, it was kind of like clockwork. Once I got in the seat, Joe and Tim, they would guide me, and I would chime in here and there. But now I feel so much more confident than I was a year and a half ago. I still have a lot to learn, obviously, but it’s like second nature with commentary, and I love it. I love that I’m able to still be involved in the wrestling industry," Sky said.
Sky also shared her mindset regarding commentary. She noted that being able to call the moves makes it easier to get the hang of it. Sky then stated that she is happy with her work in the NWA, as she is enjoying her role as a commentator.
“It is an acquired skill. I feel like as long as you know the move sets, you might not know somebody’s name at first, but you can call moves as you see them. So that’s kind of what I was doing at first, just chiming in with ‘Oohs’ and ‘Ahs’ and ‘oh, big suplex.’ Then after a while, it’s just second nature. So I’m really happy with my role in the NWA," she said.
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