Ian Riccaboni Praises ROH Broadcast Partner Caprice Coleman

– During a recent appearance on this week’s edition of AEW Unrestricted, ROH broadcaster Ian Riccaboni discussed working with Caprice Coleman for ROH TV. Below are some highlights (via Fightful):

Ian Riccaboni on Caprice Coleman: “I can’t talk to you about him being a partner without talking to you about the man he is. We couldn’t be more different, yet we’re the same. He gets up in the morning and he calls his wife because he wants to, not because he has to. He FaceTimes his kids because he wants to see what’s going on, not because he feels like he has to. He is connected with his community, he volunteers, he’s a preacher. Every other day I’m asking him about something and he’s doing something, he’s installing a handrail somewhere for someone that needs it. He’s helping build something, he’s helping raise money for this.”

On Coleman’s work as a trainer and commentator: “Caprice is the man that I think everyone should want to be and he’s doing that on top of helping out at the wrestling school, he’s training some of the young up and coming stars. He’s a world class commentator, so he’s burned the candle at all ends, but he’s still making it happen for this family and the folks in Charlotte. He will take calls from folks he doesn’t know just to reassure them about life, that’s how connected he is. I’ve seen him before Ring Of Honor pay-per-views say, ‘Excuse me Ian, I have to take this call, someone from my parish asked to call me, they’re in a rough spot right now.’ He will drop everything and take that call and make sure that they are okay, even though in an hour and 45 minutes, he has to walk through that curtain and be electric and be animated and be the Caprice that we all know. He’s that kind of guy. When they said shirt off your back, he’s like shirt, shoes, pants, and he’ll let you drive the car. He will give everything and expect nothing in return.”

On how he views Coleman: “I want to be Caprice Coleman when I grow up. We’re not that much different in age, but that’s how I view Caprice. Coming in from that perspective, what you see is what you get. The label of preacher is not a facade, it’s not a gimmick, he lives and breathes that kind of attitude, that positivity and that hope. That is so fun and freeing to be next to because in wrestling, when the good guys are on a roll so much and when the bad guys are on a roll so much easier to go hellfire and brimstone. There are elements of that that I feed into and really enjoy broadcasting with from a performance element because what you see is what you get.”

On Coleman being the same guy off camera: “He’s the same guy off camera that he is on camera. We get along so well, we have the same frame of reference. My brother was eight years older than I am, we grew up on MTV raps. I was three or four years old watching Kid N’ Play, Vanilla Ice and Hammer but then quickly Public Enemy. I was seeing it all unfold so we have a lot of the same kind of influences of what we saw growing up, which I think we’re eight years apart, maybe nine years apart. That’s kind of interesting too because he’ll say something, he referenced PM Dawn the other day on Ring Of Honor. He was like, ‘Were you alive yet?’ We’re friends first and that makes it so much easier to go out and have fun and do a wrestling show.”