Jonathan Coachman, who now works as a sports anchor for ESPN, says his past history as a WWE commentator and wrestling villain affected his initial credibility with the sports television network.
“It really held me back for a while. There were certain people (ESPN executives) that were fearful of some negative backlash that they hired a guy best known for wrestling,” he tells The Hutchinson News.
“It was frustrating. I knew where I should be, at and I knew where I wasn’t. But I also knew the reason.”
Coachman also recalled sports reporting at Kemper Arena when Owen Hart died at WWE’s Over the Edge pay-per-view event.
“There were no cell phones back then,” he said. “Everyone back at the station was going nuts. I worked all night. The next morning, I was on ‘Good Morning America’ and ‘Mike and Mike in the Morning.'”
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