I was a freshly turned 12 year old when I watched my first wrestling pay-per-view. It was Hell in a Cell 2014. I had been watching wrestling for a few weeks at this point, but until this PPV, it was nothing more to me than a way to keep my mom company after my dad’s death- I wasn’t actually paying attention to what I was watching. Then, it became something much more to me, very, very quickly.
It’s funny, isn’t it? The things, the people that catch your attention. The moments that seem so ordinary, so insignificant in real time, but later transform into something bigger than you ever would have imagined. I remember so vividly seeing then known as Renee Young on that Hell in a Cell kickoff panel. I remember my mom briefly mentioning how when she was a kid watching wrestling, there wasn’t a woman in a role like that. I didn’t know it at the time, but right then… right then something in my young mind shifted. Oh I was hooked.
Maybe it was a slow burn from there, maybe it wasn’t. I don’t have any answers or any way to describe it. I was captivated in a very strange, very strong way. And from that moment at Hell in a Cell on, I didn’t miss a single Renee Young segment. Man I idolized her, I still do. She is the coolest person in the world to me. Watching her so much is what got me into…. whatever this is… in the first place. There was a time when all I wanted to do was land that role she had in WWE, and now in AEW. Overtime, I realized my strong suit is writing and not everyone is made to be in front of the camera. But this passion? This dream of doing interviews and being involved in the wrestling world in someway? It all came from her.
Renee has worn too many hats, has done too many exceptional things for me to even try and do her career any justice. But think about it for a minute: she was truly the first woman to do what she does. No one else had a role like that at the time. She took what she was given and forged a path so strong other women were able to follow in her footsteps. And now, she gets to do it again in AEW. There is no discrediting all that she has done in the last two years. Her podcast, The Sessions, has been, by all accounts, a major success, garnering listeners and guests from all walks of life. She recently launched a show with the Cincinnati Bengals called Renee All Dey, and alongside , Meisha Tate, she hosted Sirus XM’s first woman-led combat sports show. She also worked with Jackie Redmond during last years NHL season. And while she never left the wrestling world, there was a Renee-sized gap in the television wrestling broadcasting world that couldn’t be filled. Until this past Wednesday.
It was the definition of “And the crowd goes wild,” in Toronto, Canada for AEW’s Canada debut. Renee-destined to get this kind of reaction regardless of where the show was broadcasted from- had the proud crowd jumping on their feet and screaming their hearts out within the first 15 seconds of Dynamite. She was trending number three on Twitter, and a day later is still the talk of the wrestling world. So in the breath I use to say she never left, I’m going to say she’s back. The sky is the limit for her in AEW. She brings a different voice, a different personality to their broadcasting team, and her organic chemistry with her coworkers is going to benefit every single person in that company.
I was 12 when I watched Renee for the first time. Today, I’m about to turn 19 and I’m so grateful that watching her is still my favorite thing to do.
