Last Updated on April 6, 2024 by Avik Das
In professional wrestling, backstage interviews help to ignite more fire in storylines, allowing a wrestler to take shots at opponents without even standing in the ring in front of thousands of people. A good interviewing personality can add realism to rivalry by asking in-depth and relevant questions. In addition to that, conference could also start fights and new feuds with wrestlers attacking each other.
The commentators get plenty of attention on TV, but the same can’t be said about interviewing personalities. Hence, it’s an underrated position in wrestling that needs to be highlighted. With enough experience in this field, many talents also switch companies to explore more options. Besides wrestlers, the such interviewers also jump ship. These are some greatest interviewers who have done an excellent job backstage.
#5 Michael Cole
The wrestling fans of the present generation are well familiar with Michael Cole, who is the voice of SmackDown. Cole has been doing the commentary job for two decades, hyping up great feuds, helping to sell picturesque moves, or ingraining the greatest WrestleMania moments in our memories. However, Michael wasn’t an elite commentator in the past, especially in the Attitude Era. Back then, Jim Ross was the main voice on commentary. Before switching his roles on the microphone, he was a prominent backstage interviewer. Cole was part of some stupendous backstage promos from The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin. While standing with the microphone, Cole would make these interviews funnier with his untimely and awkward laugh. Had he stayed in that role for more years, he would have been among the greatest interviewers of all time. Nevertheless, he is arguably in the top five of this list.
#4 Cathy Kelley
Cathy Kelley joined WWE in 2016. She primarily worked in NXT. But she was mainly responsible for covering stories or giving recaps on the social media platforms of the company. Due to her presence on largely followed social media platforms, Cathy Kelley’s popularity soared. However, WWE released her in 2020, ending her tenure with the company for four years. Cathy was brought back two years later in 2022. This time she was represented as a backstage personality. In a couple of years, Cathy Kelley has done a phenomenal job with her confidence and amazing facial expressions while talking with Superstars. There is no doubt that she is going to stay in this position for a long time.
#3 Lilian Garcia
Lilian Garcia was a ring announcer for a large part of her WWE career, but she didn’t shy away from talking with wrestlers backstage. Her experience and understanding of the business made her a top-quality interviewer, as she knew how to ask the right questions. During the Attitude Era and Ruthless Aggression Era, she would occasionally take backstage interviews. Her most famous one was with The Rock, who cut one of his most hilarious promos while Lilian was taking The Great One’s interview. Lilian’s soothing voice and the proficiency on mic employed her for over two decades in WWE.
#2 Renee Paquette
Renee Paquette, previously known as Renee Young, is one of the elite interviewers in the business today. In her eight years of WWE career from 2012 to 2020, Renee served as a commentator as well as backstage interviewer. She was also a pre-show and a post-show host, showing her diversity in this profession. Besides, Renee starred in a popular reality show, Total Divas. At one point, she became the RAW commentator. Renee finally jumped ship in 2022 by signing with AEW. The decision probably had to do with Jon Moxley, who is a top AEW star and Renee Paquette’s real-life husband. As always, her skill of taking backstage interviews is incredible. She hosts a YouTube podcast named ‘Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette’, where she hosts eminent wrestling figures.
#1 Gene Okerlund
Gene Okerlund, better known as ‘Mean Gene’ to wrestling fans, was considered the greatest backstage interviewer in history by a myriad of wrestling experts. Mean Gene’s name would be put in the same bracket as Hulk Hogan in terms of the chemistry of the dynamic duo during backstage interviews in old-school WWE. Mean Gene’s credibility as a backstage interviewer helped to put over Hulk Hogan on many occasions. He did the same to many other wrestlers. He was another wrestling personality who jumped ship. He made a similar impact in WCW, especially in the early 1990s when that company needed the reliability of an experienced and well-spoken backstage interviewer. WWE inducted Mean Gene into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006, and it was Hulk Hogan who did the honor.
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Avik Das is the founder of Sportsheed. He is a sports lover with broad knowledge of Professional Wrestling, MMA, Football, and Cricket. He has an English major and has previously written articles for various sports and entertainment websites
