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Renee Paquette (f.k.a. Renee Young) recently recalled how Booker T, Corey Graves, and Tom Hannifan (f.k.a. Tom Phillips) cried when she left WWE.
Paquette worked for Vince McMahon’s company between 2012 and 2020 in various onscreen roles, including commentator and backstage interviewer. She also hosted pay-per-view kickoff shows and FS1’s weekly WWE Backstage talk show.
On the latest episode of her Oral Sessions podcast, Paquette spoke to Hannifan about their respective departures. Reminiscing about her own exit, she told Hannifan that he was not the only person who became emotional on her final day.
“It’s heartbreaking. That’s the perfect way to put it – it breaks your heart. When I left – and I left the way I wanted to leave – it still broke my heart… You cried when I left and Booker cried. You were the only two that cried… oh, actually, Graves cried too! Graves cried away from everybody, but he shed some tears,” Paquette said.
Paquette started her own podcast and released a cookbook after leaving WWE. She also gave birth to her first child, Nora, with Jon Moxley in June 2021.
Tom Hannifan credits Renee Paquette with helping him in WWE
Like Paquette, Hannifan also joined WWE in 2012. He debuted as an interviewer and worked his way up to become the lead announcer of several shows, including RAW and SmackDown.
With limited experience in broadcasting, Hannifan learned a lot from working alongside Paquette both on television and behind the scenes.
“When I first started I had next-to-no experience in television. I was 23 years old, I’d never used a prompter, I’d never worked in a studio, so they put me with you in Stamford. You literally held me by the hand and took me through stuff, so you and I experienced everything together,” Hannifan said.
IMPACT Wrestling recently announced that Hannifan had joined the company as a play-by-play commentator. He made his debut at Saturday’s Hard To Kill event.
Please credit Oral Sessions and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
