Tag: cathy kelley

WWE announces backstage interviewer shakeup for Raw and SmackDown

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE is making a couple of changes to its broadcast teams for Raw and SmackDown.

It was announced via Variety today that Jackie Redmond, who has been with WWE since 2021, will now serve as a backstage interviewer for Raw. Byron Saxton will also continue to do backstage interviews on the show.

With Redmond joining Raw, Cathy Kelley is moving to SmackDown. Kelley and Kayla Braxton will be the backstage interviewers for the brand. After leaving WWE in 2020, Kelly returned to the company last October.

Braxton and Redmond will be the co-hosts for WWE PPV pre-shows. Booker T and Peter Rosenberg will continue to be pre-show panelists.

Redmond started with WWE as a co-host for Raw Talk and Talking Smack. Variety notes that she’ll continue to do studio work for WWE. Redmond is also a hockey broadcaster for the NHL Network and WBD Sports and will continue in those roles during the hockey season.

Megan Morant, who had been on SmackDown, will now host Raw Talk, The SmackDown LowDown, international shows for television, and digital shows. That includes hosting WWE’s Twitch sidecast during Raw.

Cathy Kelley departing WWE after NXT TakeOver: Portland

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A member of the WWE/NXT broadcast team is departing the company after this weekend.

In a statement that she posted on her social media accounts today, Cathy Kelley announced that she’s come to the decision to leave WWE. Her final day for the company will be NXT TakeOver: Portland on Sunday.

Kelley wrote:

I’ve typed out and deleted this about 20 times over the past few days, still unsure what to write… I have come to the decision to leave WWE, with Sunday’s NXT Takeover being my last day. If you know me, you know this was more than a job, you know how much I loved it and how difficult this decision was. But sometimes in order to have room for growth, you have to step away.

‪I am so thankful for getting to live out a crazy dream the past four years. Thank you to the WWE digital team for being a platform that never stifled creativity. Thank you to Stephanie McMahon for being a mentor and inspiration in every way. Thank you to Triple H for heading up the best wrestling show ‬currently on tv and letting me be a part of it. And thank you to everyone who has supported me, whether it’s watching a video I’ve done or sending a tweet of encouragement. Words cannot begin to express how much it means.

I’m not sure yet where my next chapter will take me, but I am damn excited for it. And I promise this isn’t a goodbye, it’s just a see you later – CK

After Sunday’s TakeOver event goes off the air, Kelley will interview Triple H on his Facebook page and WWE’s YouTube channel.

Kelley joined WWE in 2016. This week, she appeared in her backstage interviewer role on NXT and also interviewed new WWE signee Simone Johnson about joining the Performance Center.

NXT Women’s title match set for TakeOver: WarGames

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Kairi Sane and Shayna Baszler will go at it once again at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, this time under a new stipulation.

Baszler, flanked by friends Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir, was being interviewed by Cathy Kelley. She brought up Sane possibly invoking her rematch clause, which Baszler didn’t seem fazed by. NXT GM William Regal then came came in, which caused Duke and Shafir to be on guard. Regal said that in fact Sane had in fact invoked her rematch clause, and this time it would be contested in a 2 out of 3 falls match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames.

Sane lost the title to Baszler at WWE Evolution last month after passing out from the kirifuda lock. The loss wasn’t without controversy as Duke and Shafir made their debut on television, attacking Sane and helping Baszler score the submission win.

NXT TakeOver: WarGames will take place on November 17 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.