After Talking Smack was cancelled, former host Renee Young has tried new ways to bring audiences behind the scenes of WWE shows. As a guest on the In This Corner podcast, Young discussed one of her most recent endeavors, Backstage Pass.
Young uses Instagram Live prior to RAW or SmackDown Live to give fans a look at what goes on prior to the shows. She then posts the videos on her YouTube page. She said she hopes to make Backstage Pass a consistent pre-show and to do other things to get more people to tune in.
“I was doing ‘Backstage Pass,’ which was something I was doing on my own because there’s something there of using Instagram and being able to go live because I have 2+ million Followers on Instagram, but why not be able to broadcast to them on the type of content that I want to do, but it’s a tricky thing,” Young said. “I feel like there is definitely something there that I want to sort of flush it out, maybe get a logo made, maybe some merchandise, but I’m going to continue to work away at it.”
One of the most famous moments in the history of Talking Smack was a shoot interview between Daniel Bryan and The Miz. Bryan told Miz he wrestles like a coward, and Miz went on a tirade lambasting Bryan for his inability to return to the ring at the time. The Miz’s rant was so scathing that Bryan got up from the table and walked away before Young could try to calm down the situation. The moment is considered one of the best things The Miz has ever done in his career, because the intensity with which he delivered the promo made fans respect what he brings to the table. Young said the segment was a launching pad for Talking Smack and it generated a lot of fan interest in the show.
“That was such a pivotal moment for the show of course. That is what set the tone for what ‘Talking Smack’ could be, also kind of opening up that space for people and being able to turn it into whatever they needed to. That really breathed a new life into The Miz’s career from that point. It did stem from obviously so much truth from The Miz – if he doesn’t feel he is being used, or if he feels that he is not being used a certain way, he is very vocal about that, and if you give him a live show it’s like, ‘Here we go. We’re going to do something, what are you going to do?’ He was like, ‘Alright, I’ll be on there.’ I wasn’t sure where that was going to go,” Young said. “I wasn’t sure how to navigate it. Him and Daniel Bryan, when they were face to face and some of the stuff that they were saying to Bryan at the time was such a sensitive subject of Bryan being unable to wrestle, and seeing that look in Bryan’s face when Miz was telling the truth about where he was currently at the time, it was like a real heartbreaking moment, and that was when I knew I had to get in because I realized that either somebody is going to cry or get a punch to the face. You’ve got to imagine at some point these two have to have something.”
If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit In This Corner with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: In This Corner
