Jackie Redmond went straight to one of WWE’s most respected legends when she needed insight on Oba Femi ahead of his showdown with Brock Lesnar.
While speaking to Awful Announcing, Redmond explained how much freedom she is given while working on WWE countdown shows. She said WWE may assign her a match or storyline to cover, but she is able to determine how she builds the report and what voices she brings into it.
Redmond used her coverage of Brock Lesnar and Oba Femi as an example. After being assigned the match, she spotted The Undertaker backstage and realized he could offer valuable insight into why Oba had connected with fans so quickly.
Even though Redmond admitted she was intimidated to approach The Undertaker, she decided to treat the situation like she would in hockey, where she would seek out a respected legend or Hall of Famer for perspective before a major game.
“So the reports that I do on the countdown shows, like those are like I’m told, ‘Hey, we want you to cover, you know, Lesnar, Oba Femi.’ Right? Like, give us a report on that. So I’m told that. But much like in hockey, like if I’m told to go do a report on Nick Suzuki, I’m going to go try to figure out what’s interesting about Nick Suzuki going into this game and I’m going to put something together.”
“So it is me on the countdown shows. I am like—I think—let me think here. What did I do for Brock, Oba? So, for Brock, Oba, I’m walking around, I see The Undertaker hanging out backstage. And by the way, I’ve only met him once. And he’s around, but like, you know, he’s The Undertaker. I’m intimidated. I’m not just like going up to him and having convos all the time.”
“But I was like, you know what? Like, if this is a hockey game and there was some legend or Hall of Famer like hanging out, like I would go ask him, like, ‘Hey, what do you think about Nick Suzuki?’ Like, let me get someone else’s—someone who’s very respected’s—opinion.”
“So, I was like, wait, this is perfect. I’ll ask Undertaker about Oba Femi and like why he has connected so quickly with the fan base. And like, how rare is that? How often does it happen? Whatever. And ’Taker was amazing, so gracious with his time. I was like, ‘Can I have 30 seconds?’ And he’s like, ‘Is it going to be 30?’ I was like, ‘Okay, no, like three minutes. Give me like three minutes to talk to you about Oba.’”
“But yeah, like we are putting—myself, Rosenberg, Cathy, Byron—we are giving those reports, but we are, you know, sometimes we work with other people behind the scenes that are in charge of putting the show together about, ‘Hey, does this make sense? Is this a good way to go?’ But we are given some freedom in terms of how we want to cover those matches and those stories. So, that’s been really cool.”
Redmond’s story provides a behind-the-scenes look at how WWE countdown reports are assembled. While producers may choose the match she is covering, she is still able to seek out sources and build the report around genuine conversations backstage.
In this case, approaching The Undertaker gave Redmond a unique perspective on Oba Femi’s rapid connection with the WWE audience, while also showing how much respect Oba has already earned behind the scenes.
What do you think about Jackie Redmond going directly to The Undertaker for his thoughts on Oba Femi? Let us know in the comments.
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