could open this article stating a fact like, “It was four years ago today that Renee Young made her Monday Night Raw commentary debut.” I could open this article with a personal statement like, “I remember it like it was yesterday.” I penned many, many introductions for this piece and toyed with several different perspectives and couldn’t come up with something that would do Renee and her commentary run any ounce of justice. So here’s where we’re at:
Four years ago today Renee Paquette- then Young- made her WWE Monday Night Raw Commentary debut. I do, in fact, remember it like it was yesterday.
Paquette was the first woman to call Raw full time. The first. It was one of those, “Well it’s about damn time,” moments. At this time, WWE was in the height of their “women’s evolution,” a movement designed to better showcase their women’s superstars. It was great, more women’s matches began appearing on shows and they were given more time than ever before to shine. But for the women in the company who didn’t wrestle, the opportunities to make their mark on the women’s evolution were pretty slim. Now let’s be clear, Renee never needed to do commentary to make her mark- she made it simply by really being the first woman in the company to do what she did. Half of the work she did just simply didn’t exist for a woman before. But the commentary thing was really important. Renee has inspired a whole generation of girls who found their place in wrestling because of her. There’s more to wrestling than just the in-ring action. We can be in the booth, we can call the action, we can hold the live mics…. Because of her. Paquette has gone on to say she didn’t feel the best about her commentary stint, and I think that makes it even more important to remember and celebrate. She went out every week, sat for three hours, and performed a job she was never fully comfortable in. She went out every week and did commentary with very little training under her belt. When people were saying truly terrible things about her, she continued to go out every week. She called Wrestlemania. She was among the first women in the company to perform on a show in Saudi Arabia. She did it. Not much else really matters.
Four years ago today Renee Paquette- then Young- made her WWE Monday Night Raw Commentary debut, and I remember it like it was yesterday because Renee was (and still is!!!) a game-changer for me. I’ll never forget those moments watching Raw in my room by myself focusing more on her commentary than anything else on the show. I’ll never forget those moments of watching her and feeling like I could do anything. Could you imagine being in her shoes? Being the first woman to step into an extremely male-dominated role, underprepared, a little insecure, and way out of your usual role? She’s an absolute superhero to me.
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