Former WWE ring announcer Justin Roberts has revealed why Vince McMahon wanted him to tone down the entrance of John Cena and other stars.
Now the AEW ring announcer The Dapper Yapper spent many years introducing the men and women of WWE to the ring in his own unique way. Never was Roberts more at home giving a big introduction than when it came to WWE icon John Cena, however, then-WWE Chairman Vince McMahon soon developed other ideas.
Speaking on the Talk Is Jericho podcast, Justin Roberts explained to Chris Jericho that he was told to tone down his ring introductions even for the biggest stars in the company and why Vince McMahon was supposedly influenced by watching UFC:
“You go back to how Vince thinks vs. how I think. I got called literally out of the ring before we did the biggest Royal Rumble in history in Boston. I think he had just seen UFC, this is what I was told, that he had just seen UFC and he did not like Bruce Buffer and thought he was too over the top.”
“So he talked to me about toning everything down. Which, once in a while I would have that conversation with him, ‘Tone it down, don’t give Sabu that big introduction, don’t give John Cena that big introduction, don’t give The Undertaker the big–’ And it’s like, I didn’t do it for everybody, but I did it where I needed to make something feel special. And it was always something that was built organically.”
“The John Cena didn’t happen overnight, it was from doing it at house shows, doing it at TVs. And over time it’s just something that built up. It was a big introduction, right? It was special to John, and John was the top guy.”
“And he called me into his office right before this Royal Rumble. And I go, ‘So you want me to introduce John, Undertaker, and everyone the same way that I introduce everyone else?’ And he said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ And you know, his company, it’s what he wanted.”