Mace Recalls His Brief Stint Doing WWE Commentary As Dio Maddin

Former WWE Superstar Mace wasn't just a wrestler or a football player, for a time he was the color commentator for "WWE Raw," then known as Dio Maddin. In a new interview with "Wrestling News Co," the former Retribution member explained how the opportunity arose.

"I was with WWE for a few years ... before I even did commentary," Mace said. The former Houston Texan reached out to WWE Hall of Famer Booker T after his football career wound down and asked about getting involved in wrestling, wanting to train with him ahead of his WWE tryout. "I said, 'Hey Booker, can you train me so I don't look like a goof during this tryout?' Trained me so I didn't look like a goof. I looked enough not like a goof to get signed and waited in developmental." According to Mace, the "black and gold" era of "WWE NXT" was very focused on independent wrestlers, leaving him with little to do but wait and train, until the call to do commentary came.

"I got moved to commentary when Paul Heyman was taking over as the lead showrunner of 'Raw,'" Mace explained. "There was a distinct effort to change everything ... but they wanted and all-new commentary team, with me and Vic Joseph." Mace says he had an interesting experience doing color commentary, as he wasn't asked to rely on any kind of wrestling experience, but instead to represent the voice of the young and hip, which was intended to create a new unique sound for "Raw." He enjoyed it, even if he had to run for cover from the pyro before every episode of "Raw."