AEW confirmed on Wednesday that former WWE commentator, interviewer and on-air personality Renee Paquette has officially signed with All Elite Wrestling. Tony Khan confirmed the news on Twitter, writing, “Welcome to the team! @ReneePaquette is ALL ELITE!” It’s unclear as of now what Paquette’s role will be with the company, but given her versatility she’ll likely be involved in a number of ways.
Paquette, who is married to AEW World Champion Jon Moxley, was repeatedly asked over the past couple of years if she would join him in the young wrestling promotion. She stayed consistently open to the idea but never outright confirmed it until now. She told Chris Van Vliet back in January 2021, “You look at AEW and I think everything they’re doing is fantastic. I’m not saying I wouldn’t do something there. I for sure would, if the right thing came up, but it’s not the thing that I’m chasing down.”
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Why Did Renee Paquette Leave WWE?
Paquette (fka Renee Young) spent eight years working in a variety of roles with WWE, then announced in August 2020 that she was departing the company. She’d go on to explain in interviews that she felt she had accomplished all there was to do after the cancellation of WWE Backstage, and in the years since she has launched a number of podcasts, published a cookbook, achieved her American citizenship and welcomed her first child, Nora, last year.
“I think my time in WWE was so great and my time in wrestling has been so great, but I don’t want to have that be the only thing I do,” he added. “I don’t want to pigeonhole myself as just being the wrestling girl. I’ll always have that in my wheelhouse and have that be a thing that I lean on, but I think there are so many things that I want to do. That I think just going right into a wrestling company would sort of taking away from of my whole purpose of wanting to walk away,” she said in that aforementioned Van Vliet interview.
Will Renee Paquette Be at AEW Dynamite Tonight?
The announcement didn’t say whether or not Paquette would be debuting on Dynamite tonight, though the odds are likely. Tonight’s episode marks the first international episode of Dynamite, taking place in Paquette’s home country of Canada (specifically Toronto).
The headliner for the episode will be Chris Jericho vs. Bryan Danielson for the Ring of Honor World Championship. Stay tuned for full coverage later tonight!
Update: Paquette opened this week’s Dynamite as an interviewer, speaking with Christian Cage ahead of Luchasaurus’ match with Jungle Boy. She received a massive ovation from her hometown crowd.
