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Former WWE ring announcer Tony Chimel has revealed how he came up with the iconic "Rated-R Superstar introduction for Edge.
Chimel served as a WWE ring announcer for many years, and his most famous ring introduction was Edge's. After a 38 year tenure, he was let go in 2020 due to budget cuts.
During his recent appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Tony Chimel opened up about the origins of the introduction, stating that Edge was a big fan of it.
“I used to travel around with Jimmy Korderas, the referee. We would talk and solve the world’s problems or whatever. If someone said something stupid, we would say something like ‘Wile E. Coyote, Super genius!’ So when the Mexicools came to WWE, I started introducing Super Crazy as [high pitched] Super Crazy. Then they left, and when Edge was The Rated R Superstar, I would introduce him as The Rated R [high pitched] Superstar! He loved it every time I did it. I was happy to do it,” said Chimel.
WWE veteran Tony Chimel offers advice for up-and-coming ring announcers
Tony Chimel is one of the most recognizable ring announcers in the company's history. During the same interview, he offered some advice to aspiring announcers.
He stated that higher-ups love it when talent can do more things than one.
“If you are going to be a ring announcer, try to get involved in something else other than ring announcing. They love it when you can do something else as well. I was given a microphone and grew with the job as the job grew. Another important thing is that you are not more important than the talent you are announcing. Put over the talent, not yourself,” said Chimel.
Tony also mentioned that Edge used to show up once in a while after retiring and would ask him to introduce him when he was about to make an appearance.
The most memorable of these incidents happened during his wife Beth Phoenix's Hall of Famer induction in 2017. The latter brought out Chimel to announce Edge's name on stage.
Who is your favorite ring announcer of all time? Let us know in the comments section below.
