18 Things We Learned From Former Ring Announcer Justin Roberts' AMA
Backstage bullies, getting chewed out by Vince, and much more.
Former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts is back in the news with the release of his new book, Best Seat In The House: Your Backstage Pass Through My WWE Journey.
In order to promote his new memoirs, Roberts recently took to Reddit to host an AMA ("Ask Me Anything") addressing his time in WWE, both positive and negative.
Shortly after his release, he made numerous accusations regarding the company. Chief amongst them, Roberts claimed WWE co-opted his friendship with terminally ill Connor 'The Crusher' Michalek for their own philanthropic efforts, when in Justin's words he was the one responsible for the late youngster's connection with the organization.
Roberts has also been outspoken about backstage bullies and the misery of dealing with management. The AMA provided fans the perfect opportunity to question the former announcer on many of the inflammatory statements he's made since his departure, and for his part, he was quite candid and open in his answers.
Let's take a look at the juiciest stories to emerge from the session.
18. Did Wrestlers Ever Make Special Requests?
One fan asked if any of the wrestlers ever made special requests to Justin, such as how he would pronounce their name to make it stand out, alluding to the over-the-top way he was known for introducing John Cena.
Justin said that in all the years he was with WWE he never once had someone ask him to say their name a certain way. He does admit they'd request that he'd change their weight if they'd lost or gained a few pounds, or even adjust their hometown when they were in certain cities.
When someone asked for clarification on whether or not their announced weights are legit, Roberts said they aren't, but that Vince did go through a short-lived phase where he wanted to use the talent's actual weights before quickly returning to kayfabe weights.
He replied that he never really received any feedback from the talent, although they were all big fans of his closing line of, "I hope you had a great time!" that he'd deliver at the end of each show.