Top 7 Wrestling Interviewers

Like most entertainment entities, WWE likes to shake things up from time to time in matters regarding presentation. It’s important to keep things fresh, and a good way of doing so is by presenting new faces to viewers. Or, in some cases, presenting familiar faces in a new light.

Those of you that love WWE pre & post shows are already familiar with the work of Jackie Redmond. As hockey fans know, Jackie is also one of the stars of the NHL Network & the league’s coverage on TNT. She’s been promoted to Monday Night Raw interviewer duty, which will give her even more exposure to the unwashed masses. Frankly, I think she’ll provide a breath of fresh air to the show, even if she’s “just interviewing wrestlers”.

So I guess Mondays just got a little Feistier! 😛😉🔥

So pumped to join this incredible show every Monday with @WWE ! #WWERAW #WWE https://t.co/K5IWQFL6De

— Jackie Redmond (@Jackie_Redmond) June 27, 2023

Jackie’s promotion got me thinking about the role of the interviewer. We usually spend way too much time worrying about who sits at the announce desk for a wrestling show, but the interviewing job is one that often doesn’t get enough credit. Some people just stand there and hold a microphone, but others make the role their own. Here’s a look at seven of the folks that did that job as magnificently as anyone.

7. Renee Paquette

Jackie’s career has in many ways paralleled Renee’s. Renee started out on Canadian television as a sports broadcaster & ended up hosting a wrestling recap show called “Aftermath”. (Jackie would end up on this show after Renee’s departure.) Renee ended up in WWE & worked her way up the ladder from NXT to the main roster as a backstage interviewer & eventually a commentator. It was the interviewing work where Renee shined, especially on shows like “Talking Smack” that seemed to fly under the radar and were less produced than most WWE programming. The scripted nature of WWE television interviews makes it tougher for the interviewer to stand out, but Renee’s personality allowed her to overcome it.

Renee has since moved on to the podcasting world where she’s allowed to showcase her interviewing talents in a longer presentation. She’s also moved on to AEW, where at least she gets to yell at Jon Moxley & Eddie Kingston. Some might suggest that my inclusion of Renee here and the column’s conception being due to Jackie would indicate my affinity towards beautiful women that know their hockey. My response to that would be “Duh”.

6. Tony Schiavone

It was easy to take Tony for granted back in the 20th century. Almost anybody could have held a microphone for Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes & the other tremendous talkers in Jim Crockett Promotions. Then he got burnt out in WCW, which most people seemed to do. By the time he disappeared in 2001, he was largely forgotten and/or despised by hardcore fans. Then he came back full of life in All Elite Wrestling, and we remembered why he was called the voice of our childhood.

Tony’s interactions with the young stars of AEW have allowed them to grow more in the eyes of fans. Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D.’s AEW career was unsteady until she started verbally berating Tony and made him her simp. MJF & Adam Cole seem to be developing a friendship over their mutual hatred of Schiavone. The 2020s have given us the greatest Tony Schiavone in the history of our sport.

5. Jim Cornette

For years, Cornette had been among the best at answering questions from interviewers while serving as a manager. When he got to Ohio Valley Wrestling and became the lead announcer, it was his turn to ask the questions and react to what the wrestlers had to say for themselves. As one of the top students of the game, Cornette knew exactly how to perform the role in a way that got his wrestlers over whether or not they were the most experienced public speakers.

I always thought Cornette’s interviews with Kenny Bolin were a hoot on several different levels, the main one being that Cornette would find himself in the same position that he had put countless people in during his managing career. Whether he was outraged by the lies or offended by something ridiculous, Cornette did a great job of letting OVW viewers know how they should feel about things.

4. Roddy Piper

You can’t talk about wrestling interviewers without talking about the man that created an entire genre. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper was a man that could be relied on to make an entertaining segment with anybody. His insults/questions were likely to get a rise out of the interviewee, leading to some shenanigans later on. It’s a format that’s been done over and over again ever since, never to the same degree of success.

Piper’s Pit might not have been the first interview segment hosted by a wrestler, but it was definitely the most significant. The memorable moments that took place in the Pit were countless, from Piper smashing a coconut over Jimmy Snuka’s head to the build for Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III. If you were going to talk to Roddy Piper, people were going to listen to whatever you or he said.

3. Jim Ross

JR will be most remembered for his play by play work & countless phrases that he turned into household words. Also, his cowboy hat. We should also remember Jim Ross for his work as an interviewer, especially during his time in the mid to late 1990s WWF. Ross took part in a couple of the most memorable interviews of the era that were able to give people a different look at wrestlers. One was with Mankind. WWF fans were introduced to the different faces of Mick Foley and were made to feel sympathetic to a wrestler that hadn’t engendered a ton of sympathy at that point. If JR doesn’t play his role there and bring out the best of Mankind, it’s tough to say where Foley’s career would have gone.

JR had an amount of gravitas that most other announcers lacked. Wrestlers talking to him meant something.

2. Lance Russell

Most people that have gone back and watched Memphis wrestling would tell you that Lance Russell was one of the top highlights of the show. Russell was given the responsibility of hosting the shows and trying to keep things under control every week, which was pretty difficult given the disposition of most of the wrestlers. Russell’s reactions to the wrestlers were always quite entertaining and gave the Memphis show a feeling of unpredictability.

Lance could also do one of the most important jobs an interviewer can have: lead an interviewee without making them look like an idiot. Young wrestlers & managers that were unsure of themselves and nervous didn’t need to be, as Lance was able to point them in the right direction and accomplish the goal of the segment.

Honorable Mention: Gordon Solie

Gordon would probably be near the top of this list if there was more Championship Wrestling from Florida available via streaming service, or if I found more on my own. I’ve mostly seen his later work, which while effective in its own way is said to pale in comparion to his earlier contributions. I might be an old-ish man, but there are only so many hours in the day, you know?

Honorable Mention: Bill Apter

This isn’t so much for Bill’s television work as it is for his interviews with wrestlers conducted in Pro Wrestling Illustrated & other magazines through the years. As those of us that have tried to write fake interviews know, it’s a lot tougher than it looks! Apter’s ability to inhabit the minds of wrestlers over the years deserves recognition.

Honorable Mention: Maria

Most WWE fans had noticed that the interviewers in the late 90s & early 2000s came off as goofs that didn’t add much to the equation. They leaned into that with Maria, who did a good job of portraying somebody that had no clue what was going on and would ask the silliest questions. It wasn’t the most groundbreaking television, but few were complaining too much about having Maria on their screen.

Honorable Mention: RJ City

RJ is mentioned here as a plug for “Hey (EW)”, a YouTube series that I was late to get into and is usually pretty hilarious. Probably wouldn’t translate well to TV, but it’s fun content for us non-casuals.

1. Gene Okerlund

We tend to give Hulk Hogan the lion’s share of the credit for the worldwide expansion of the WWF during the mid-1980s. Hogan was the guy on the top of the card dropping legs on evil-doers and fighting for the rights of every man. While Hogan’s importance to the WWF killing off the territories & taking over the world is indisputable, we need to give more credit to the folks around him that helped make it happen.

One of those men was somebody that followed the Hulkster from the AWA to the WWF and helped tell the story of Hulkamania. “Mean” Gene Okerlund was at Hogan’s side for nearly all of his major accomplishments from the AWA to the WWF & finally WCW. Gene was at the side of all of the other tremendous characters from that era, from Randy Savage to Ric Flair & everybody in-between. He knew how to get the best out of an interviewee and not take the spotlight off of them. He also had the most hilarious bloopers when something went awry.

Greatest Interviewer of All Time? It’s probably Mean Gene or Barbara Walters. Both peaked right around the same time, oddly enough.

Thanks for reading! Hit me up at [email protected] or on the social media with thoughts, comments or suggestions. Until next time, true believers!