Renee Young is WWE’s first female full-time announce team member

Starting today on WWE’s flagship show Monday Night Raw, the talented Renee Young joins the announce team as the first full time female commentator in WWE history.

After filling in for Jonathan Coachman a couple of times as what we might now be able to say was a test run, Renee Young has also been honing her skills as an announcer as a part of the Mae Young Classic, the women’s tournament that kicked off just last week on the WWE Network. She will now replace “Coach” permanently, with him moving to an announcer role on pre-shows for events.

While she was rough around the edges at first and is still definitely finding her feet, she shows a passion and understanding for the business that makes her an engaging voice to call the action on Monday nights.

Young shared her excitement on her Twitter shortly after the announcement was made official:

I am so so so insanely excited about this! To be the first woman to take over that chair that so many amazingly talented voices and personalities have sat in before me! Thank you to @VinceMcMahon @StephMcMahon @TripleH @MichaelCole and @WWEGraves (and MANY others) ❤️⚡️⚡️ https://t.co/fOKRKlheHE

— Renee Young (@ReneeYoungWWE) September 10, 2018

In fact, the entire locker room is pretty stoked about the news, including upper management, commentary peers and wrestlers alike:

Every evolution needs a voice to tell its story. Incredibly proud of @ReneeYoungWWE – welcome to the #Raw commentary team! https://t.co/2uiTaFdoqS

— Triple H (@TripleH) September 10, 2018

CONGRATULATIONS @ReneeYoungWWE ?? this is so awesome! Proud of you woman! https://t.co/WTypijBFyH

— Charlotte Flair (@MsCharlotteWWE) September 10, 2018

The new role for Young comes at a perfect time, promoting WWE as something much more diverse and welcoming than it was in the early 2000’s where women were often given the role of *shudder* “Bra and Panties” matches and “Paddle on a Pole” matches, which are about as inappropriate and absurd as you’d expect.

It’s certainly been an interesting time for WWE recently when it comes to women’s wrestling. What used to be an afterthought that often was only given a few minutes per week to show off their talents, the last couple of years have seen women main event pay-per-views, take part in risky gimmick matches such as “Hell in a Cell” and “Money in the Bank”, and even had the first ever Women’s Royal Rumble back in January this year that completely stole the show.

The Women’s Evolution in wrestling is only set to continue, with special event WWE Evolution taking  place on 28th October 2018. It will be the first ever pay-per-view to feature only women in the company’s long history, and as one of the biggest entertainment corporations in the entire world, it’s great to see this push for women who are competing on the same level as the men when it comes to talent.

UFC Hall of Famer Ronda Rousey has brought even more eyes to the division in recent months, now the WWE Raw Women’s Champion herself after her surprisingly successful debut at Wrestlemania 34 earlier this year.

A huge congratulations to Renee Young, who is more than deserving of this opportunity and can only grow in this role as part of the most important announce team in the business. This can only mean great things for women everywhere, who continue to break through in what has always been viewed as a male dominated industry.

For more wrestling goodness, check out my interview with WWE Champion AJ Styles and (former) WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion Carmella from a couple of months ago.

The WWE Super Show-Down is taking place in Melbourne, Australia at the MCG on October 6, with WWE 2K19 launching on PS4, Xbox One and PC on October 5.