For more than a decade now, Renee Paquette has been one of the most popular personalities in pro wrestling, thanks to stints in both WWE and AEW as a commentator and interviewer. Paquette has been so natural in her wrestling roles that many have often wondered why she didn’t pursue more avenues outside of the wrestling business. As it turns out, that’s what she did before getting into wrestling.

On the latest of AEW’s “Who is..?” YouTube series, Paquette went through her origin story. Initially, Paquette tried to make as an actress, and even appeared in popular music videos such as Kelly Clarkson’s “Behind These Hazel Eyes,” before getting into hosting. That would then give way to her career in wrestling, and Paquette admitted that it was through that, and continuing to work in the industry, that ultimately led to her falling in love with the business.

“I fell in love with wrestling when I started working in wrestling,” Paquette said. “It was such a different perspective to cover professional wrestling and talk about wrestling on TV. But then, to actually work for a wrestling company and see, like, the belly of the beast, and see the way things worked? 

“I think for me to understand and get that full respect for everybody that works in this industry, from top to tail, I think what’s really made me fall in love with it. Especially since I came from more of, like, an entertainment background. But I played a ton of sports growing up, so to see those two things come together, it’s a match made in heaven for me. I would not want to cover another sport. Like, this is the world that I’m meant to be in, and I love it. But I think it was actually doing it and getting to fall in love with it in real time.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Who Is..?” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription