Rich Brennan Discusses Vince McMahon Being In His Ear, Mauro Ranallo, Lawler

Former WWE announcer Rich Brennan appeared on The RCWR Show, here are the highlights…

On Working With Booker T’s Promotion Prior to WWE: “No, no in a lot of ways that was you know that was my entry into the company or my connection with the company. You know when I started doing Booker’s show, I never you know and I’ve said this before, I never had any intention whatsoever of going after pro wrestling as a career. You know I always thought that I would be calling, you know as I said calling hockey games. You know I remember going to the Dell Center in Montreal, Madison Square Garden…You know some of these buildings that were just kind of like these iconic buildings. You know Boston Gardens and you know going there to call stuff for WWE and it was just kind of interesting because you know again I always thought that if I got there to call on something I’d be calling hockey games.”

On Working With Vince McMahon in Your Ear: “You know it wasn’t as bad for me. I read Mick’s book and laughed when I read the whole thing about you know the Mr./Mrs. Magical and the magical headset and all that stuff. You know I think because in some ways Cole was there as the producer, I know a lot of things got filtered through him, so I’m sure he was getting an earful and it was probably watered down and given to us. You know I do remember doing a Madison Square Garden show for the WWE Network and Cole wasn’t there that night. That’s the reason that I was told to be available. “But you know Vince was in my headset that night and every now and then you would hear him if you were talking at a point he didn’t want you to talk as he’d tell you. If you said something he didn’t like, he’d let you know but it wasn’t abusive to me it and it wasn’t over the top. I’ve heard the stories as well about Vince getting upset and giving it to the announcers and I think a lot of that is a product of the fact that he was an announcer for so long and you know at the end of the day everything begins and ends with Vince and he knows what he wants. It’s his product and he knows exactly what he wants and he has very expectations because he wants the product to be as good as it can be. So you know in a lot of ways I think that you understand that and just knowing that live TV is a–it can be a very stressful and intense environment to begin with. You know I’ve heard stories of producers and directors flipping out on camera guys and talent like outside of wrestling. You know in baseball or hockey or you know you name it. You know even in live TV news I’ve heard that so it’s not uncommon. You know that said at times it can be a little much to be produced so much. Sometimes I think if you hold the reigns on too tight it really stifles the announce team because you’re worried about what you’re saying or you’re worried about saying the wrong thing. You know at times it would’ve been nice just to you know “Hey just go call the match” and that did happen from time to time. So you know it wasn’t as bad as I think a lot of people make it out to be. At the end of the day if you understand going into it the reason and you don’t take it personal, because it’s not personal usually, you know sometimes it might be, but if you understand gong into it I don’t think you have as hard of a time with it. It’s still not easy to have somebody in your ear while you’re trying to focus on five different things to begin with. But you know it is what it is, that’s part of the job and if you don’t like it you don’t have to be there.”

On Working With Jerry Lawler: “Yeah, Jerry is obviously a legend. He’s obviously a legend in the business. He’s seen so much and understands so much about the business and he has the ability to just kind of see what’s presented in front of him without having done a tone of prep work or whatever. You know he can literally walk out there to the announce table, put on the headset, and call the show, and have it make sense. Yeah he is one of a kind; he’s amazing.”

On WWE Hiring Mauro Ranallo: “Yeah I wasn’t really expecting it but in other ways maybe I was. You know when they did the move to USA, I guess I kind of figured that they were going to put Cole back on in that spot. You know at least for the first little bit but they had the opportunity to go and get a guy who’s very well respected, a well-regarded combat sports announcer and I was disappointed for sure but I also understood why they wanted to do and it made sense. You know WWE in general wants anything that gives the company–what’s the word I’m looking for…Anything that legitimizes the company from the outside the world, as well as legitimate sports, or you know entertainment, or anything like that. To bring in Mauro, who again you know showtime boxing, MMA, all that stuff. He was very well respected. New Japan Pro Wrestling, very well respected so I understood it and you know my attitude was there’s plenty of work here for everybody and there was. He did Smackdown and I did Main Event and Superstars. Got to do some backstage stuff as well on RAW and Smackdown. So you know Mauro’s a good guy, excellent play-by-play announcer, and that’s kind of where we at. ”

On His Release: “When I was told that I was getting released there really wasn’t any talk of anything like that. It was literally just post-WrestleMania budget cuts, we’re releasing you from your contract. That was that. You know in this business you never say never about anything. I don’t know. You know I’m still not really sure what the reason was. I’m trying not to look too far back. I’m trying to look ahead. I have my thoughts on potentially why I was released but you know it is what it is. I’m trying to take the high road with things and you know move forward. You know if there’s an opportunity down the line, who knows? But I mean I’m not holding my breath for that.”

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