Jimmy Korderas Recalls Advice He Gave To Renee Young When She Signed With WWE
Former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas returned to chat with Wrestling Inc.'s Nick Hausman on The Wrestling Inc. Daily to talk about the rumor of Renee Young leaving WWE. Korderas gave his quick thoughts on her future career moves.
"Yeah, it's very interesting. Obviously, we're waiting for confirmation from either her or WWE about this," Korderas noted. "You know what, good for her. She's a very talented individual and I know a lot of people out there are speculating, 'oh, what would be next for her,' and, 'would she follow in the footsteps of her of her husband Jon Moxley?' But her roots are in sports.
"She began as a sports broadcaster and who knows whether she goes back into it. I know she loves hockey. She's a good old Canadian girl so maybe a little bit of hockey's in the future for her. Hey, maybe she has a little cooking show on the Food Network."
Korderas and Young had worked together at The Score on the show Right After Wrestling, later renamed Aftermath along with Arda Ocal and current NXT commentator Mauro Ranallo. Korderas spoke on what it was like to work with Young at The Score.
"She was very new to the business, but not only was she new, she picked it up so quickly because she was willing to learn and she asked questions, and I'm positive that's the way she was when she was there at WWE," Korderas said. "Obviously, we didn't cross paths there, but that's just the way she is. That's her nature. She wants to constantly improve and constantly get better, and she does it the right way. She asks questions, and she asks for feedback and what could I do better.
"She was always like that, and on Aftermath, at least, she would always say, was that OK?' Yeah, that's your opinion. That's what you want. Everything's OK. Nothing is off the table and she was always concerned. Well, the wrestling fans might know that I'm still new to this game, and this was way back when she first started with Aftermath, and Arda and I were like, 'don't worry about that. You're getting it. You got it. You got this.'"
Korderas noted that Ranallo was also a MMA guy working on the show. He talked about the transition the show went through and Young, Ocal and himself carrying the mantle Ranallo had established.
"Yeah, Mauro was one of the originals when it was Right After Wrestling, but he was also a big MMA fan as well, big combat sports guy. He had other issues that he was dealing with. I don't want to get into his personal stuff, but that opened the door for people like Renee, Arda and myself to kind of carry on the mantle of what started off as Right After Wrestling and became Aftermath."
Korderas recalled Young's reaction to being signed by WWE. He talked about their reaction in wondering how much WWE was paying attention to Aftermath, but he said that the signing was well deserved since WWE recognized the talent Young has.
"You know what, I'm trying to think. I know she was excited and she didn't expect it, and I didn't expect it either, but at the same time, I wasn't surprised because I saw the talent there," Korderas said. "It was easily recognizable. I mean it wasn't a secret how good she was, but your thinking, 'well, WWE, are they paying attention to our show up here? How much do they pay attention to Aftermath or Right After Wrestling?' Apparently they were and they recognized, hey, let's be honest, they recognize the talent, and it's well-deserved. Let's put it that way, in my opinion."
Korderas spent over two decades with WWE, and the one piece of advice that he gave to Young when she was headed to WWE was to always listen and pay attention to what's going on. He said he warned her that sometimes people in wrestling may take a respectful question the wrong way and to be wary of that.
"Just just told her to keep her eyes and ears open and always be a sponge, like always listen, and if you have any things you want to question, just do it in a respectful manner," Korderas said he told Young. "That's all, which I didn't have to worry about with her. She's always been very respectful in the way she presents herself, but it is the wrestling business.
"So how you present your questions, or listen, 'would it be better if I do this?' Some people take it differently, and I just told her sometimes, some people may misunderstand your question or what you're trying to get at and take it the wrong way, and it just happens. But just be yourself basically."
Korderas said that he and Young sometimes catch up every once and a while. He was not able to confirm on The Wrestling Inc. Daily if Young was indeed leaving WWE.
"We don't chat, but every once in a while, I'll message her, she'll message me or something and just more fun," Korderas admitted. "Like, 'hey, I saw you did this, and this was kind of cool.' Not a whole lot. I haven't messaged her about this rumor yet, which I'm thinking of reaching out and saying, 'hey, can I break this?'"
While in WWE, Young served many roles including as a backstage interviewer and as the first female full-time commentator on RAW. However, she admitted that the role was overwhelming for her due to the backlash on social media. Korderas was mixed on whether she was taken out of her role as RAW commentator too early, but he talked about how she could always switch from different roles so easily and take on any challenge.
"Yes, and no. As you know, it works a little different in the wrestling industry," Korderas pointed out. "Perception is reality and she doesn't originate from the world of pro wrestling if that makes sense. So maybe that one of the reasons why she was taken out of that role so quickly, but man, she is so good at adapting and picking up things so quickly.
"Like even when we started at The Score with Right After Wrestling, she was basically doing the reports and stuff like that, and then all of a sudden she got the host chair and man, just like a fish in water. How else would you put it? She just took to it so quickly. I hate to say it sounded effortless for her, but she just adapted so naturally to everything. Every challenge put in front of her, [Korderas snaps his fingers] she got it."
It is known to everyone that Young's husband is AEW World Champion Jon Moxley. Korderas gave his thoughts on whether Young would be AEW bound and gave his idea of the role he would put Young in if he had the power to do so.
"There's obviously a possibility," Korderas acknowledged. "I mean sure, but in what type of role? If it was me, and again, I'm just talking about me, I would possibly look for a role for her, like if you're looking to do a show outside of a wrestling show, like a post-show, a pre-show or something like that, where you can capitalize on her wonderful hosting abilities.
"As opposed to oh, she's going to be an in-ring interviewer. We're going to put her on commentary. Yes, she would excel at commentary, but you already got a bunch of people on commentary that are pretty good. I think that's, not to say in her wheelhouse, I think that would be the best utilization of her."
You can following Jimmy on Twitter @JimmyKorderas. Jimmy's full interview aired as part of a recent episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.