Former WWE announcer Jonathan Coachman spoke with Chris Van Vliet, explaining why he felt “screwed over” by Vince McMahon during his second WWE run in 2018.
“I felt like I got screwed over. And then also the five or six months that they put me on Raw and SmackDown, I didn’t like how I was treated and they can say what they want, but that’s that’s the truth. I would actively every week ask Michael Cole, can you talk to Corey about us working together? I have nothing against Corey Graves. I’ve known Michael Cole since 1999, but if they don’t want to work with you, there’s nothing you can do. And Corey never wanted to talk to me. I never had one conversation with Corey Graves, and I tried, and that’s okay, because that’s kind of how the business is. I call it boxing out your pension when you’re at ESPN, if you don’t want somebody to step in and take your spot. And I was never going to take his spot. He’s amazing doing Raw or Smackdown. It was about that’s what Vince wanted. I didn’t come in and go, I’m stepping into that spot. So it was really frustrating, because I felt like I could have really helped.
But also now I’m much more vocal about knowing, and this is the other thing is, with the whole ESPN situation because I work for the PGA tour now too, so there’s not too many golf announcers that wear backward hats and sunglasses, but I do it. Because now they just had a tournament with YouTubers. PGA Tour is embracing YouTube. Everything has changed. And so now I realize that back in 2018 maybe that wasn’t the time, but in 2024 there is no more. Oh, he’s a wrestling guy, or he’s a YouTube guy. We’re all in the same bucket, and however you can get views, and however you can get people to watch and listen and be funny, entertaining and also credible, that’s what we’re trying to do. So that’s kind of the lane I’m in.”
You can check out the complete interview below:
(quote courtesy of ChrisVanVliet.com)
