Renee Young

Renee Young

Young in March 2015
Birth name Renee Paquette
Born Toronto, Ontario, Canada[1]
Website www.prettyfunnyblonde.com
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Renee Young
Billed height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Billed from Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Debut March 29, 2013

Renee Paquette is a Canadian sports broadcaster and actress. She is currently an on-air personality with WWE under the ring name Renee Young, where she performs interviewing and commentating duties. She is a former sportscaster for The Score.[2]

Early life

Paquette was born in Toronto, Ontario. She was a child model. After high school, she applied to several colleges and began training in improvisational comedy.[3] At the age of 19, she relocated to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career as a comedic actress, but later moved back to Toronto and auditioned for films, music videos, and commercials.[3]

Professional 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,[4] where she presented alongside Arda Ocal, Mauro Ranallo and former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas.

WWE (2012–present)

Young in April 2014.

"I always wanted to be an actor. Acting is really where everything started for me. As soon as I got out of high school, I went to The Second City and trained in improv comedy. I always wanted to be more of a comedic actress. That was the path I wanted to take. I fled to Los Angeles at 19 without having worked a day of my life as a performer. I came back to Toronto and auditioned for different films, music videos, and commercials... being in Canada, I got stuck not getting lead role auditions, so I switched gears and got into hosting. I just needed a camera and myself to do that."
— Young in January 2014.[3]

Paquette signed with the American professional wrestling promotion WWE in October 2012,[5] where she was given the ring name Renee Young, and made her on-screen debut on the 29 March, 2013 episode of SmackDown, interviewing Randy Orton, Big Show, and Sheamus.[6] Young had previously performed interviews exclusively for WWE Active since February 2013,[7] and had also presented the 2012 Survivor Series pre-show alongside Scott Stanford.[8] Young debuted on the January 23 episode of NXT as a backstage interviewer.[9]

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 The JBL and Cole Show, which was shown on YouTube and WWE.com, until its cancellation in June 2015.[10] It received a Slammy Award for Favorite Web Show of the Year.[11] She also presents WWE Vintage Collection alongside Hall of Famer Mean Gene Okerlund.

In September 2013, Young made her commentary debut on NXT.[12] She began performing color commentary during NXT Divas' matches, before later becoming a full-time color commentator on NXT for several months.[3] From July 3, 2014 to January 9, 2015, Young served as a color commentator on WWE Superstars, alongside Tom Phillips, which made her WWE's first full-time female announcer in more than a decade.[13][14] In April 2015, Young began hosting her own show titled Unfiltered with Renee Young, in which she interviews fellow WWE employees, which airs on the WWE Network.[15] In June, Young served as the co-host of the sixth season of Tough Enough, alongside Chris Jericho.[16]

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.[3] She appeared in a commercial for Oxy, and had a part in a Tom Green music video.[3] Prior to this, she had a cameo in the music video for Kelly Clarkson's 2005 song "Behind These Hazel Eyes".[3] She also appeared in an national Noxzema commercial, and did a photoshoot for Toro Magazine.[17] In 2016, it was announced that Paquette would be appearing as a main cast member for the upcoming sixth season of Total Divas.[18] She had previously appeared in several episodes on a recurring basis.

Personal life

On being a wrestling fan, 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."[3]

As of March 2015, Paquette is in a relationship with wrestler Jonathan Good, better known by his ring name Dean Ambrose.[19][20]

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 Herself Judge, mentor
2013–present Total Divas Herself Guest (Season 1)
Recurring (Season 4–5)
Main Cast (Season 6)[21][22]
2013 WWE: The Top 25 Rivalries in Wrestling History Herself Host
2014 WWE Countdown Herself Episode: "Coolest Catchphrases"
2014–present WWE Music Power 10 Herself Voice-over host
2014–present WWE Quick Hits Herself Host
2015–present Unfiltered with Renee Young Herself Host
2015 WWE Tough Enough Herself Co-host

Web

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

Awards and accomplishments

References

  1. ↑ "Actress Renee Paquette puts laughs ahead of looks". February 5, 2009. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Linder, Zack (January 9, 2014). "Exclusive interview: Backstage with WWE's broadcasting beauty Renee Young". WWE Official Website. Retrieved January 9, 2014.
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ 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 2 December 2013.
  6. ↑ "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.
  7. ↑ "Renee Young Makes Raw Debut on WWE Active". Diva Dirt. February 5, 2013. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  8. ↑ Johnson, Mike (November 18, 2013). "Complete WWE Survivor Series PPV coverage". PWInsider. Retrieved October 15, 2013.
  9. ↑ 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 2 December 2013.
  10. ↑ Layfield, John (August 10, 2013). "JBL and Cole show with a host of WWE stars and why the show exists". Layfield Report. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  11. 1 2 Nissim, Mayer (10 December 2013). "Daniel Bryan wins Superstar of the Year at the 2013 Slammy Awards". Digital Spy. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  12. ↑ Middleton first=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.
  13. ↑ Wortman, James; Pellegatto, Brian (3 July 2014). "Renee Young joins the 'WWE Superstars' commentary booth". WWE. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  14. ↑ Erin (July 3, 2014). "Renee Young Joins WWE Superstars Commentary Team". Diva-Dirt. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  15. ↑ "WWE NETWORK: WWE UNFILTERED WITH RENEE YOUNG: "SETH ROLLINS" SNEAK PEEK (2:22)". WWE. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Hulk Hogan, Chris Jericho, Paige and Daniel Bryan headline new season of WWE Tough Enough". WWE.com. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  17. ↑ Deleo, Franco. "RENEE PAQUETTE – TORO WOMEN". toromagazine. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
  18. ↑ http://www.inquisitr.com/2967477/wwe-news-maryse-lana-and-renee-young-all-added-in-major-wwe-total-divas-cast-change/
  19. ↑ "WWE's Renee Young Confirms She IS Dating Dean Ambrose!". MTV. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  20. ↑ "WWE's Dean Ambrose comments on dating Renee Young". ProWrestling.net. September 2, 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  21. ↑ WWE Staff (April 18, 2016). "'Total Bellas' coming to E!, new 'Total Divas' cast announced". WWE.com. WWE. Retrieved April 18, 2016.
  22. ↑ Petski, Denise (April 18, 2016). "‘Total Divas’ Spinoff Starring The Bella Twins Set At E!". Deadline.com. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved April 18, 2016.

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