Big NXT Changes, Renee Young Disliked RAW Announcer Role

Look for some big NXT changes as All Elite Wrestling continues to win the war on Wednesday nights. And, Renee Young was the first full-time RAW announcer, but she did not enjoy the position.

Big NXT Changes

The NXT brand has been on TV for less than a year and big changes could be coming. Apparently, Vince McMahon is not pleased with how the yellow and black brand is performing. 

According to Wrestling News, the changes will not be happening immediately. A big idea is to change creative and bring in talent from RAW and SmackDown.

“I was told that McMahon has been frustrated with NXT ratings as well,” according to the report. “But, right now it doesn’t look like there are changes coming for that brand on the creative side. But, there has been talk of using more talent from Raw and SmackDown on that show.”

Recently, WWE has lots going on. Days after Takeover In Your House, Paul Heyman was removed as RAW Executive Director. 

Plus, WWE has already tried brining main roster superstars to NXT. So far, Finn Balor has been a success story.

Although, they had Charlotte Flair also return. That was supposed to see more viewers tune in, but that did not work.

Instead, Charlotte has dropped the title and seems to be headed back to RAW on a permanent basis.

Renee Young Disliked RAW Announcer Role

In less than a decade, Renee Young has made major strides in WWE. She has several accomplishments, including being RAW’s first and only full-time female announcer.

In August 2018, Young filled in for Jonathan Coachman. On that evening, she became the first female to host an entire episode of RAW.

The following month, Young officially started calling RAW full-time. When SmackDown moved to FOX, there were several changes made.

That meant Renee would be off RAW and become special contributor for SmackDown. Apparrently, Young never felt comfortable in the position of full-time announcer.

While speaking to the Gorilla Position podcast, Young noted how the pressure with the job was too much. Also, she was quickly pushed into the spot with no preparation.

Meanwhile, the constant travel and preparation also took a tole.

Young Felt Pressured And Rushed

“I definitely wanted to be the woman to step in and do it,” said Young. “It just wasn’t the job for me and I didn’t enjoy it.”

“I really felt stressed out about it. I always felt that I didn’t know what I’m doing.”

“I’m over my head which maybe made me perform not the best that I could in that circumstance. But, you know then you have a bad show and you just want to throw everything against the wall.”

“Yeah, it was just tough. It was tough and it was a long year. I went into it very unprepared. Did commentary in NXT once, years prior to that and it was fairly short stint. I was not getting in reps. It just sorta happened.”

“They’re like ‘Hey we want you to fill in on RAW because Coach was doing something’ and he wasn’t able to be there. I was like ‘Hell yeah I’ll step in and do that.’ It went well, everything went well.”

“Of course, the bar was set low because nobody knew what to expect. It was like, she did fine. Then, I get offered the full-time job with it and that’s when the pressure started to mount.”

For now, Young seems pleased with the weekly format of WWE Backstage. The announcer role might have been too much, but WWE found the right gig for a fan favorite.