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Several fans don't realize that Byron Saxton has been in WWE since 2007. The former NXT rookie rose through the company's developmental territories before beginning commentating on WWE's now-defunct ECW brand.
During his appearance on Ryan Satin's Out of Character podcast, Saxton revealed that he was not comfortable during his time in ECW. The WWE announcer was grateful to get a role on television but admitted to being a little too cautious in his approach.
Byron Saxton couldn't showcase his true personality in the ECW commentary booth, as he stated below:
"So, I was really; I was so thankful to have the chance to be on there. But man, like, every week was so nerve-wracking. I just didn't want to mess up, and by trying so hard not to mess up, I wasn't comfortable. I wasn't able to tap into who I am." [24:00 - 24:19]
Byron Saxton says he made the mistake of copying other announcers
The 40-year-old personality didn't have a memorable run in ECW even though he'd previously worked hard on his craft at Florida Championship Wrestling.
Byron Saxton explained that he drew inspiration from veteran announcers instead of developing his original style on the microphone. However, Saxton eventually found his groove on-air and has since been one of WWE's go-to broadcast personalities in recent years.
"Scared to death! I talked about finding myself in FCW," said Saxton. "I've had to find myself in WWE as well. I remember when I first got called up in 2009 to ECW, you know, you just want to do a good job, and so, it was a natural tendency probably to a fault of mine to go, 'Okay, let me try to be like this person because that's who they have had here in the past. Let me try and announce like that person.'" [23:33 - 24:00]
The iconic Dusty Rhodes played an important role in helping Byron learn the ropes in professional wrestling. The RAW color commentator also revealed details of his career-changing chat with The American Dream, and you can read more about it here.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Out of Character and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.
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