Brandi Rhodes on How she Became A Ring Announcer In WWE
In an interview with Bleacher Report, Brandi Rhodes spoke about how she became a ring announcer in WWE, which she says was more of an accident. Here are highlights:
On how she became a ring announcer for WWE: “About a week into training at FCW, I went to one of the local shows, and they were asking who could do the ring announcing since the normal guy wasn’t there. All the girls were freaking out and didn’t want to do it, and I was like, ‘You guys know I am a broadcast journalist, right?’ So I did it, and the next thing I know, [Senior Vice President of Talent Relations] John Laurinaitis called and said, ‘Hey, you’re on the road.’ I told him I only did it one time at this little show in Florida, and he said, ‘It’s OK, kid. You’ll be good.’ The next week I went and announced in front of 10,000 people, which was pretty terrifying.”
On her in-ring training: “My training has been sporadic over the last five years. Over that time span, the most committed is QT Marshall. His school is here in Atlanta, and he would help me and train me. I’m actually getting ready to head to QT’s school right now and train with the guys.”
On working to improve: “It’s great to see people recognizing the hard work I have put in; however, it’s like a flower. You have to water it and nurture it and let it bloom. You can’t expect somebody to go out there their first time and expect them to be The Rock. I’m now part of a family that is awesome and amazing, and everyone is a super athlete. They were born and bred into this. I came in as a Diva, so I have had to work extremely hard. Every week, Dustin [Rhodes] holds a class. I’m there every single time. Jerry Lynn has been amazing when it comes to the matches. After I have a match, I always go to Jerry because he is not going to blow any smoke up my behind. We’re all still growing. I watch Cody go to Jerry or Arn [Anderson] after a match, and he is one of the best wrestlers in the world, so if he is doing that, we should all be doing that.”
