Former WWE broadcaster Renee Paquette (known in WWE as Renee Young) has spoken out in defense of Raw's new lead announcer Adnan Virk.
In a recent interview with WrestlingInc, Paquette provided some unique insight and explained how difficult it is to begin a career as a WWE announcer.
“You’re thrown in, and it’s either sink or swim. And it can just be really difficult. I think even from the commentator standpoint, it’s funny because everyone assumes that, well, you should just be good at. Well, no, it’s not that. You’ve also got someone talking in your ear the whole time. There’s all these crazy expectations. The fans can be voracious when it comes to that. It’s a really tough spot to be in. It’s a really tough spot to succeed in," she said.
Paquette then urged fans and critics to cut Virk some slack.
“I don’t want to do a disservice to a story that is being told on television. Everyone’s putting in so much hard work. So everyone just wants to do a good job, and everyone’s just really mean to everyone on commentary," she said. "Give the guy a break. He’s figuring it out. It just sucks. There’s no way around it. Also, everyone just lives in that mind frame of ‘oh, we just want JR. We just want Jerry The King Lawler.’ People want what they’re familiar with. As much as we crave change and we’re looking for change, we also are freaked out by change."
Paquette's comments come just a few weeks after another former WWE announcer, Jim Ross, shared his opinion on Virk's performance so far.
In case you missed it, Adnan Virk's first day on the job was the Raw after WrestleMania.
“I'm elated to be joining the premier sports-entertainment company in my new role with WWE,” Virk said in a WWE press release when he was revealed as Raw's new lead announcer. “As a kid who grew up idolizing WWE Hall of Famers like Bret Hart and Ric Flair, the opportunity to call modern legends like Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton, Charlotte Flair and so many others alongside Corey Graves and Byron Saxton is truly humbling."
Adnan Virk's WWE stint hasn't been perfect, but he is an experienced sports broadcaster who's still settling into his new gig. He was thrown in at the deep end, and deserves more time to prove himself.