Renee Young

Renee Jane Good (née Paquette) (born September 19, 1985) is a Canadian sports broadcaster. She is currently signed with WWE, where she appears under the name Renee Young as a special contributor (color commentator) on Friday Night SmackDown. She is a former sportscaster for The Score Television Network.[1]

Renee Young
Young in March 2015
Birth nameRenee Jane Paquette
Born (1985-09-19) September 19, 1985
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
ResidenceLas Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Spouse(s)
​
(
m. 2017)
Professional wrestling career
Billed height5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Billed weight121 lb (55 kg)
Debut2012

Early life

Renee Jane Paquette[2][3] was born in Toronto on September 19, 1985.[4][5][6] She was a child model. After high school, she applied to several colleges and began training in improv comedy.[7] At the age of 19, she relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a comedic actress, but later moved back to Toronto and auditioned for films, music videos, and commercials there instead.[7] After becoming frustrated with her lack of auditions, she became interested in broadcasting instead of acting.[7]

Career

The Score Television Network (2009–2012)

Paquette began working for The Score Television Network in the later months of 2009 on the program called Right After Wrestling, later to be renamed Aftermath,[8] where she presented alongside Arda Ocal, Mauro Ranallo and former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas.

WWE (2012–present)
Young in April 2014

Paquette signed with the American professional wrestling promotion WWE in October 2012,[9] where she was initially given the ring name Renee Sterling[10] before choosing the name Renee Young (a nod to Neil Young).[11] Her first appearance was as a co-host on the 2012 Survivor Series pre-show alongside Scott Stanford.[12] Young then debuted on the January 23, 2013 episode of NXT as a backstage interviewer.[13] She began performing interviews exclusively for WWE Active in February 2013.[14] Renee made her SmackDown debut on the March 29th episode, interviewing Randy Orton, Big Show, and Sheamus.[15]

Young confronting The Miz in December 2016

Young began co-hosting the World Tour segments, which was a segment detailing the city they were filming in, showcasing various tourist attractions, before later being promoted as a third main presenter on the JBL and Cole Show, which was shown on YouTube and WWE's website, until its cancellation in June 2015.[16] It received a Slammy Award for Favorite Web Show of the Year.[17] She also presents WWE Vintage Collection alongside Gene Okerlund.

In September 2013, Young made her commentary debut on NXT.[18] She began performing color commentary during women's matches, before later becoming a full-time color commentator on NXT for several months.[7] From July 3, 2014 to January 9, 2015, Young served as a color commentator on Superstars, alongside Tom Phillips, which made her WWE's first full-time female announcer in more than a decade.[19] In April 2015, Young began hosting her own WWE Network show, Unfiltered with Renee Young, in which she interviews fellow WWE employees.[20] In June, Young served as the co-host of the sixth season of Tough Enough, alongside Chris Jericho.[21]

On the December 20, 2016 episode of SmackDown, Young interviewed Intercontinental Champion The Miz following his successful title defense against Apollo Crews. After Young asked Miz about his "obsession" with Dean Ambrose, Miz sarcastically responded by revealing Young and Ambrose's real-life relationship, prompting her to slap Miz.[22] On December 27, Young was confronted by The Miz's real-life wife, Maryse, backstage on SmackDown.[23] Maryse slapped Young the following week in retaliation, for which she was fined for.[24]

Young filled in for Jonathan Coachman as a guest commentator on the August 13, 2018 episode of Raw, making her the first woman to call an entire episode of Raw.[25] Her debut coincided with her real-life husband Dean Ambrose's return from a lengthy injury.[26] On September 10, 2018, Young joined the Raw commentary team full-time.[27] Beginning in October 2019, Young moved to SmackDown as a "special contributor" and began co-hosting the new studio program WWE Backstage on Fox Sports 1 with Booker T.[28] On November 1, 2019, Young filled in as commentator on SmackDown, as Michael Cole and Corey Graves missed the episode due to travel delays returning from Crown Jewel.[29]

Other media

Before joining The Score, Paquette worked for BiteTV, where she presented a show about extreme sports and music called Rippin' It-N-Lippin' It during 2008 and 2009.[7] She appeared in a commercial for Oxy and had a part in a Tom Green music video.[7] Prior to this, she had a cameo in the music video for Kelly Clarkson's 2005 song "Behind These Hazel Eyes".[7] She also appeared in a national Noxzema commercial and did a photoshoot for Toro Magazine.[30] In 2016, Paquette began appearing as a main cast member for the sixth season of Total Divas.[31] She had previously appeared in several episodes on a recurring basis. Young has hosted the podcast Regular Girls with Stacy McGunnigle since December 2016.[32]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2020 The Main Event Herself

Personal life

Paquette began dating wrestler Jonathan Good, better known as Jon Moxley and formerly Dean Ambrose, in 2013.[33][34] They were married at their Las Vegas home in an impromptu ceremony in the early hours of April 9, 2017.[3][35][36][37]

On being a wrestling fan in both her childhood and adulthood, Paquette said, "I attended a few events and WrestleMania VI. My dad is a concert promoter, and he'd get me into the events. I remember being backstage and meeting Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Chyna, and Trish Stratus as a kid, so it's really funny to me that I ended up here. I went on a different path than wanting to become a WWE Superstar."[7]

Paquette is a fan of the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights.[38]

On June 24, 2020, Paquette announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19.[39][40] She had reportedly recovered the following month.[41]

Filmography

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2007 The Smart Woman Survival Guide Cute Intern Episode: "Go Big or Go Home"
2010 Gotta Grudge? Herself 8 episodes
2011–2012 Gillette Drafted Judge, mentor
2013 WWE: The Top 25 Rivalries in Wrestling History Host
2014 WWE Countdown Episode: "Coolest Catchphrases"
2014–present WWE Music Power 10 Voice-over host
2014–present WWE Quick Hits Host
2015–2018 Total Divas Recurring (season 4 & 5)
Main cast (season 6)
Guest (season 7 & 8): 37 episodes
2015–2017 Unfiltered with Renee Young Host
2015 WWE Tough Enough Co-host
2016–2018 WWE Talking Smack Host
2016–2018 WWE Raw Talk Host
2017–2018 Total Bellas 4 episodes
2018 Miz & Mrs. Episodes: "A Simple Mizunderstanding" & "Proud Papa"
2019–2020 WWE Backstage Co-host

Web
Year Title Role
2013–2015 The JBL and Renee Show Herself
2013–2015 After Total Divas Herself

Awards and accomplishments

References
  1. Byer, Matthew (August 30, 2012). "Some thoughts on The Score/Rogers deal and how it affects WWE shows". Canadian Online Explorer: Slam Wrestling. Retrieved October 5, 2013.
  2. "Wrestling Podcast 172 – Renee Young". Retrieved February 11, 2018.
  3. "Washoe County Search Results". Washoe Clerk Search. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  4. "Actress Renee Paquette puts laughs ahead of looks". February 5, 2009. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  5. "Toronto's Renee Young says being WWE's first full-time female commentator a 'cool opportunity' | Toronto Sun". September 14, 2018.
  6. "Actress Renee Paquette puts laughs ahead of looks". DurhamRegion.com. February 5, 2009.
  7. Linder, Zack (January 9, 2014). "Exclusive interview: Backstage with WWE's broadcasting beauty Renee Young". WWE. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  8. Murphy, Jan (February 10, 2012). "Aftermath's Paquette blazing a trail that started in grade school". Canadian Online Explorer: Slam Wrestling. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  9. Dave Meltzer (October 13, 2013). "Sat. Update: First Punk vs. Ryback match, Rutten Box Office, 69-year-old legend still packs a whallop, previews of tonight's Bonnar & Fitch matches, WWE signs new announcer, new WWE DVD". Wrestling Observer. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  10. Edge & Christian (May 11, 2018). "E&C's Pod of Awesomeness" (Podcast). Event occurs at 30:05.
  11. Chris Jericho (June 19, 2015). "Talk is Jericho – EP153". Talk is Jericho (Podcast). PodcastOne. Event occurs at 14:33. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  12. Johnson, Mike (November 18, 2013). "Complete WWE Survivor Series PPV coverage". PWInsider. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  13. James, Justin (January 25, 2013). "James's WWE NXT results 1/23: Tag Tournament begins, HBK appearance, Big E. in main event". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  14. "Renee Young Makes Raw Debut on WWE Active". Diva Dirt. February 5, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  15. "WWE Names 10 Stars Who Were Ahead Of Their Time, Renee Young On Her SmackDown Debut". Wrestling Inc. March 29, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  16. Layfield, John (August 10, 2013). "JBL and Cole show with a host of WWE stars and why the show exists". Layfield Report. Archived from the original on April 8, 2014. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  17. Nissim, Mayer (December 10, 2013). "Daniel Bryan wins Superstar of the Year at the 2013 Slammy Awards". Digital Spy. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
  18. Middleton, Marc (September 13, 2013). "Antonio Cesaro's Swing Featured On The Soup, Renee Young Does Commentary, Next NXT Tapings". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  19. Wortman, James; Pellegatto, Brian (July 3, 2014). "Renee Young joins the 'WWE Superstars' commentary booth". WWE. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  20. "WWE Network: WWE Unfiltered With Renee Young: "Seth Rollins" Sneak Peek (2:22)". WWE. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  21. "Hulk Hogan, Chris Jericho, Paige and Daniel Bryan headline new season of WWE Tough Enough". WWE. May 7, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  22. "Intercontinental Champion The Miz def. Apollo Crews". WWE. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  23. "12/27 WWE Smackdown LIVE – Parks's Complete, Real-Time Report, including three title matches, John Cena's return". Pro Wrestling Torch. December 28, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  24. Parks, Greg. "1/3 WWE Smackdown LIVE – Parks's Ongoing, Real-Time Report, including Miz vs. Ambrose for the I.C. Title". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
  25. Staff, WWE (August 9, 2019). "Renee Young to step in on Raw announce team as guest commentator Monday night". WWE. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  26. Renee Young makes history on Raw commentary: WWE.com Exclusive, Aug. 13, 2018, retrieved August 14, 2018
  27. "Renee Young joins Raw announce team full-time". WWE. September 10, 2018. Retrieved September 10, 2018.
  28. "WWE shakes up announce teams for RAW and SmackDown as details of FS1 studio show WWE BACKSTAGE emerge". Awful Announcing. September 26, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  29. "WWE Sets Announcers for 'SmackDown' in Wake of Saudi Arabia Delays". TheWrap. November 1, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  30. Deleo, Franco. "Renee Paquette – Toro Women". toromagazine. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
  31. "WWE News: Maryse, Lana, And Renee Young All Added In Major 'WWE Total Divas' Cast Change". Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  32. "Regular Girls with Renee Young and Stacy McGunnigle". audioboom.com. Retrieved June 5, 2018.
  33. "WWE's Renee Young Confirms She IS Dating Dean Ambrose!". MTV. Retrieved March 5, 2015.
  34. "WWE's Dean Ambrose comments on dating Renee Young". ProWrestling.net. September 2, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  35. "WWE's Renee Young and Dean Ambrose recently got married". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  36. "Washoe County Search Results". Washoe Clerk Search. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  37. Wortman, James (April 12, 2017). "Renee Young and Dean Ambrose get married". WWE. Retrieved April 13, 2017.
  38. "Dean Ambrose and Renee Young spotted at NHL game". WrestlingNews.co. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  39. Treese, Tyler. "Renee Young Reveals She Tested Positive For COVID-19". Wrestle Zone. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  40. Reuter, Sean. "Renee Young tweets that she has COVID-19". Cageside Seats. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
  41. https://www.news18.com/news/wwe/wwes-renee-young-and-aews-jon-moxley-test-negative-for-coronavirus-report-2711353.html
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