Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Austin Romero - WWE's Mike Rome On Ring Announcing, Tattoos, Comics & Geekdom

Episode Date: April 25, 2023

Austin Romero (@austinmromero) aka Mike Rome is a WWE ring announcer. He joins Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood, CA to talk about how he got hired by WWE, his approach to ring announcing, memorizing everyone's name, weight and hometown, working at Universal Studios before his WWE job, his love for comics, the meaning behind his tattoos, his favorite wrestler to announce and much more! For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: http://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.  Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are good. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Bleed! Oh, it's so good to see you here, my friends. Welcome back to another one on Insight. I'm CBV, Chris Van Fleet, and, man, we've been on a roll lately. I mean, come on. The Undertaker, L.A. Knight. Yeah.

Austin Theory, Will Saso, Natalia, so many great episodes, and so many new listeners who have joined us over the last month or two because of those. big names. So I appreciate you and for all the OGs who have been around since the very beginning and here we are in episode number 464. I'm so grateful for you. So thank you. It would mean the world to me if you clicked follow or subscribe on the app that you're listening on right now. It really does mean a lot. I know you hear a lot of podcasters talk about that. Yes, it does mean a lot. But I also want to make sure that you don't miss out on any of the big episodes that we have coming up, including some big guests, like this Thursday's episode with Stone Cold Steve Austin.

What? I said Stone Cold Steve Austin. What? You know what I'm doing here. Big guest today as well. You know him as Mike Rome. You see him, you hear him every single Monday night on Raw, and of course during the premium live events.

He is the voice that brings your favorite superstars to the ring. Mike Rome, though, is simply a version of Austin Romero. That's his real name. And while you're usually used to only hearing him announce names, weights, and hometowns, there is so much more to Austin and everything that he does. So it was great to be able to dive into his process and do this in person, by the way. We got into so many things, and there's so much of Austin Romero that you don't see when you see him on Ross.

So I know you're going to enjoy this episode. Please share this with a friend who's going to love it as well. Take a screenshot and share it online so that we can share it out as well. Tag us. He's at Austin M. Romero. I'm at Chris Van Fleet. And here we go. I hope you enjoy this conversation with my friend, Austin Romero, aka Mike Rome.

I feel like this is going to be a competition of who has taller hair. I lowered mine today. Your hair is so tall. Look at this. This is my same hair from yesterday. So no joke. Me too. Yeah.

See? I've been going to bed pretty early. I have a pregnant wife, right? So we're going to bed normally at like 830 or 9. The show we were part of last night. Yeah, not same up mania. Didn't start until 8 o'clock. Right.

I didn't get home until almost midnight. It was like a full raw. That was amazing. It was like almost three hours of wrestling. It was. It was stacked. It was fun. But I didn't get home until almost midnight.

Then I woke up at 4.30 this morning because I was driving back into L.A. to do the junk. I woke up. And I looked in the mirror and I went, my hair hasn't moved. This is great. You're like, my hair hasn't moved. This is. All right.

It saved me like, you know, how long does it take you to do your hair? It depends. Honestly, it really depends. Like, when I'm like that, when I have my hair like spiky, you're like kind of like just brushed over and it's a little less like five minutes. Like not even. Like I can kind of get it going. When it's long, like this hair is actually super long.

It's longer than it looks. It takes a while because you know that texture. it and like add stuff to it to give it body because like I you know I've always I don't have thinning hair but I've always had thin hair like my whole life it's always been thin straight hair I just that was kind of the curse but whereas like my brother's hair is all thick and he's like oh yeah whatever I have to add body into my hair yeah things things that you learn uh when my hair gets really tall people start leaving comments about me looking like jimmy neutron yeah no I get that all the time all And I used to work with Nickelodeon, so it was kind of like, you know, I was like, yeah, cool,

Jimmy Neutron, whatever. Yeah, you could be. Yeah. There was like an old promo photo of you from WWE that makes the rounds. And I'm like, that doesn't even look like you. Is it talking about the one in the gray suit? Yes. I don't even know if I, I don't even know if I can say this.

I, that they filmed, uh, it was before I moved up to Maine Ross. They were still in NXT. They filmed Raw and Tampa. It's raw or Smackdown. I don't know. They're like, come on down, drive and like hang out. It was my, you know, my first experience going to TV and like, you know, I walked backstage and, you know, to Rio's there.

Like, this is like an old school, like older school than what is currently there. You're walking right. Like, oh, my God. The night before, I didn't know I was supposed to go there. So I was out and I was partying and I was having a great time. And then, you know, get that phone call. And then I was like, oh, no. You know, get up the next day.

I've got like bags and dark circles under my eyes. I'm trying to make myself, I've grabbed the suit that I had available and then I went over there. They're like, you're doing promo photos today. I was like, cool. of all the days. That photo has stayed with me forever. I've taken at least 20 photos since then. At least 20.

Every pay-per-view, they're like, just come in and take photos. So anytime I get a new suit or new talks, I go and take photos, guess what photo they use? The first one. Dude, my trading card, I shaved my beard for one week. One week in the seven years I've been at WWE. One week, my trading card is me, beardless. Oh, why? I'm like, who hates me?

Beards are like makeup for men. Yeah. And when you get rid of that, everybody gets to see what you're working with here. Yeah, nobody wants to see that. Why'd you do it? I was doing, I was playing The Grinch at Universal. So I was doing it on like a side thing.

Yeah, I think you told me this. So I was doing that at the time and I decided to go back and do one. But you can't put all that stuff on with a beard. So like, I'm like trimming it down. I was like, oh, I don't like my face like this. You played so many characters. A lot of characters. What were the other ones?

Beetlejuice, Frankenstein, Grinch, Shaggy, tons of, like, random characters that were created by them, a character called Jack the Clown for Halloween Horn Nights. What else? What else? I did Hosted Fear Factor. I did their, like, Celebration of Harry Potter. I did so many things there.

Like, it was, wow. I played a wizard in the wizarding world at one point. Wow. So did you always think when you were a kid, you were going to do something performance-related? I think, like, as a, At a young age, my mom was like, you know, you're going to do stuff. So I was like modeling and like doing acting.

And like I, I shot a film when I was still in like middle school. So like I was homeschooled for a while and did this whole like future film. And I was doing a lot of acting. Can we see this film? You know, I don't, I have no idea. It was about, it was a ghost story about this thing, something called The Pink Lady. And it was like this, I don't think it was a Memphis. It was filmed in Tennessee.

I don't think it was a Tennessee thing. But I think they filmed it there. But it's some urban legend somewhere about the pink lady and like, just kids, very stranger things-esque. Someone's going to go look for this. Yeah, please find it. I think it was like Malavista Productions. I don't even know. Oh, yeah, there we go.

That's all I remember because I found, my mom sent me a bunch of stuff and I found that in there. I was like, man, I forgot about that. But I played this little nerdy kid, had glasses. And then halfway through the filming, I hit a gross spurt. So I grew like two feet. So like they had to use a stunt double for me in close-up scenes and film me from behind. and all the long, like the faraway scenes, whenever they were running,

they would run ahead of me. And I'd be like, wait, guys. And I'd be running in the back just so that you couldn't tell how tall I was. That has cursed me forever. The same thing. Same reason I don't get in the ring. Too tall.

How tall are you? Without the hair. Without the hair? Only seven feet, no. Six two. Yeah. With the hair, you're right up there. Yeah.

So what happened to the acting dream? You know, I don't think it was ever, it wasn't, it was something I enjoyed. But it wasn't something that I was like, yeah, I want to be an actor. I was just like, I want to do things. Like, I want to go out there and like, I don't know, be funny, get on camera and whatever. But I don't necessarily want to be an actor. Like it's that weird, like halfway point.

And then I remember stumbling into kind of the wrong audition. And I stumbled into like Nickelodeon on accident and then started hosting. And I was like, oh, this hosting stuff's great. I want to do this. And then that's kind of how I went down that route and was like, you know what? This is what I was trying to do this whole. time and didn't know what it was called. I had no idea.

I didn't realize what the difference between acting and hosting was. I just thought it was like, oh, you're an actor if you're on TV. But then you're like, oh, okay, cool. You can host. And now, WWU could be a ring announcer and all this stuff, which I'd never done before. So you ever think about how different your career path might be if you were growing up in the generation now? Like, because you have so much access to media now.

Yeah. Whereas when we were about the same age, I'm 39. You're 41. You look great. Thanks. Wow. Thanks. You don't have to lie to me.

No, you do. When we were growing up, if you wanted to be on camera, you had to like either own a camcorder or borrow one from your neighbor or your aunt or something. Now you take your phone out of your pocket and you're on camera. It's, it is wild to think about that because when you look at, especially like celebrities in general now, it's such a different vague term. Like, you know, we were growing up, celebrities were like so far away. And like there were these movie stars, whatever. And now it's like, you know, you have reality TV celebrities, internet celebrities, you know, YouTube.

Like people can literally put themselves out there and do all these things. And it's a great thing. Like it's so cool to be able to see people who, you know, may not have had the means or may not have access to some of the things that other people had or new people can now literally just go, hey, look, this is who I am. This is what I'm about. And then somebody watching in Ohio is like, oh, I love this person. This is great.

And then you start building an audience. I think that is so awesome. I feel like I missed that wave as far as the want to do that stuff. I just like doing stuff to do them, like, and not. Well, now you're doing it. Yeah. But it's a whole different thing. Like, I feel like there's this like weird blur between, what is it like, what are they

called? This is a word this gave me influencers. Oh, yeah. And people who are like in the industry, there's like this weird blur. So like people reach out to me and they're like, can you come do this thing? And I'm like, I'm not really an influencer. But yeah, you have some influence.

So does that make you an influencer? I don't see. That's what I don't know. It's such a like weird. In the like toy world and like the nerd culture, like you definitely have. And like when it comes to Disney and Universal, you definitely have some. Yeah, but see, on my end, I'm just going and doing these. You know what I mean?

But that's just, that's what makes it so good. That's why you are so good at it. Okay. Because it's authentic. And I think that if it's, if it's interesting. If it's put on, that's when it's not good. Yeah, that makes sense. It's also so interesting that, like, someone who can have millions of followers on, be it YouTube or TikTok or whatever, doesn't have the same notoriety as someone like an old school, like a George Clooney or a Brad Pitt or something like that.

Yeah, but it's that air to them. Like, there's this weight to it. Like, it's just different because what they went through to get to where they are and what's like what the current. world is kind of doing with their like influencing that kind of stuff. It's just different. Like you've seen millions and millions of people have seen them on big screens around the world. So they always have that. Now eventually I feel like those as a generations change will get further,

probably further away from that. I feel like as the internet and all that goes, I think all the people that are famous now, I think it'll start the line will start to level out. But as of now like, you know, your grandparents, alive and that kind of stuff. People who grew up in the old Hollywood and that kind of thing, I think that right now it's still there. But eventually, I think those lines are just going kind of blur and eventually everybody will be the same, especially because you have like influencers

doing movies now when you have people who are famous on TikTok or YouTube and they're doing stuff. And it's just kind of like, I mean, at some point, I'm going to have to open up the arms and accept everyone. I would think so. It's still fascinating. It's such an elite club. Is it? I don't No. Not, I mean, not the other side. The Hollywood, they, they can, like, it's like an elite club. Yeah. It's still so strange to me, like, when I explained to someone who Mr. Beast is. And I'm like, you, you haven't heard of Mr. Beast. Like, no, I'm like, he's, you know, the biggest YouTuber. I don't know who he is. Yeah. Wow. That's crazy to me, but I get it. Bro. Honestly, like, I missed that whole YouTube phase. And one of my, one of my closest friends,

I've known him for years. We used to be lifeguards together, uh, Swozy. He started in, YouTube back when like nobody was really posting on there and he was all day, every day and people were like, dude, what are you doing? Why are you vlogging yourself? Like this is dumb. And he's like, no, no, it's cool. And he, you know, did all these videos and was doing all these video game things. And like he blew up and he's got, you know, millions upon millions of people watching his videos. And he does all this animation and stuff. But he pushed past all these things. And he's the only YouTube I knew for like the longest time. because I never, I just kind of missed,

I was, you know, doing Nickelodeon stuff at the time, and I was touring and on the road, and I just wasn't watching YouTube stuff. And so through him, I've, you know, stumbled on to these other people. And I was like, wow, wow, this is so vast. There's so many people out there. There's so many things to watch. There's just not enough time.

And whatever niche you want to go down, whatever rabbit hole you want to dive down, you could be there for days. Yeah. And TikTok makes it worse because you just go down the rabbit hole. of just, ha ha ha ha. And then TikTok goes,

oh, you liked that? Here's 30 more. There you go. It's genius. How did you even find out about the WWE audition? So,

first of all, before we do that, it's nice to actually sit down with you in person. I want to say this because the first time you and I ever sat down was during 2020.

It was. Yeah. And it was all digital. It was like the very start of the world shutting down, too. Yeah. It's like right in the beginning.

Yeah. So it's nice to actually sit in front of you. Thank you. I forgot to say that. I appreciate that. So I used to work at Disney doing American Idol, which was Fremantle's thing, and they were like Disney World. Yeah.

And I hosted over there and I was a warm-up host. And as that was going on, Greg, who was here before me, he had ended up getting a job when Idol kind of like was closing down. His agent got him an audition for the WWE. And he was like super hush, hush about it, like super KFib. I can't talk about it, whatever. And then, you know, he got the job. And then he was posting all this stuff.

And he kept hitting me up. He's like, dude, you'd be perfect here. You need to come here. And I'm like, well, I'm still over here. There's, you know, whatever. And he goes, dude, they're hosting. Like, you can do all this stuff. And I was like, oh, okay, cool.

So I think it was roughly 2015 at some point. I think it was like the beginning of 2015. I'd heard about that. And I'd gone through this process of showing up to tapings. I'm like, hey, guys. It's me. And then, you know, nothing. And then, hey, guys, it's me.

And then finally I got an audition. Just showing up just to be there. Like, you were Greg's guest. I was Greg's guest. And he could, like, introduce me to people. And then he's like, you know, when something pops up, whatever. And I'm like, okay, cool. So I, you know, whatever you text me.

Hey, we got a taping and say, I put my suit on. I'd run down there. I'm like, hey, guys, what's up? How's going? Hey. Were you a wrestling fan at all? So when I was growing up, yes. But at that point, I hadn't watched in years.

It's funny how wrestling fan, like, it's very cyclical. Yeah. Being a wrestling fan, like you can be a huge fan when you're a kid, then find it again in your 20s or something like that. Yeah, I mean, listen, I Undertaker, you know, Ultimate Warrior, rock and wrestling, like, Hulk Hogan, like, you know, a junkyard dog, I grew up in that era. So it was, you know, Andre the Giant was still doing his thing. That's the stuff I grew up with and that's the stuff that's near and dear to my heart. And obviously, you know, when I was a teenager-ish, you know, Stone Cold, the Rock, like that kind of stuff. Like, you're like, oh, yeah.

And you knew about DX and suck it. Like, there's so many things that, like, crossed the boundaries in pop culture. So even if you weren't watching, it kind of brought you back in. I kind of missed like, I don't, I didn't, I knew nothing at the time of the CM Punk era. Like I didn't, I, I kind of tapped out before that. So I didn't know anything about any of that time frame. Obviously, I've gone back and caught up. And when I was trying to get the job, I was like, all right, let me go back and catch up what I missed on.

And then go back even further and make sure I knew what I was talking about from before because I didn't want to step into something and be like, yeah, I'm here. What's up? How's it going? Were you also studying the ring announcers? where you're going, oh, that's what Lillian does. That's what Tony Chimel does. Yeah, definitely. I mean, Howard, Chimel, Justin Roberts.

I did watch Lillian and Brandy even. And Jojo, I think Jojo kind of slid into it when I first started, like a little but before. But I was listening to all that stuff. Obviously, because I'm a male announcer, I'm going to pick up more from those. But there's cadence things that I've picked up from Lillian. And it's interesting where you can kind of like, when you depends on what era and wrestling you came from,

on who you tie your ring announcer to. If you were like a huge edge fan, obviously, you're like, you're like, oh, you know, Chimels my guy. Rated our super star. Yeah, that's fantastic. Love that thing. Couldn't do that now if we wanted to. And then, you know, Justin Roberts obviously has tons of announcements.

He was a voice of an entire generation, and still is. still doing his thing. Yeah. And obviously Howard, like, just the little microphone coming down, his announcements, you know, MSG, like the things that he did. He was a lovely human meeting him. He was just one of the nicest, most genuine guys. Getting to pick his brain when I first started was really, really cool.

But, like, he's got such a unique voice. Everybody had these unique things. So, like, there's just little bits and pieces, you know, like any, you take the things and you make them into your own thing and then you go on there to it. I remember maybe it was about a year and a half ago. I went to a Smackdown and Samantha was kind of, it looked like she was like training under you. Like she did a few,

but you did like the main show. Yeah. And now she's like, Oh, she's killing it. Absolutely killing it. She's totally found her voice. So she, when she came up, I was kind of doing both shows and just kind of training her in the process

and she would come to Raw and watch me and do the, you know, main events and then whatever. But it was, it's not, it's not necessarily about like, like training her voice because her voice is phenomenal and she's a trained singer. And she had that in her the whole time. It's all about learning how to do it for our TV and understanding the ins and outs of what they want from us, what we can do, what we can't do and the parameters to keep those in. Yeah.

But I think once, you know, when she first started, obviously, and it's the same for all of us. Like, we're very like, okay, I'm going to get in and get out. Because there are times where, you know, especially on Raw, where we'll go, we'll start out and we'll do an announcement, but you throw to an AR graphic, then we go to commercial, which means you have 10 seconds to get that announcement in. So it's funny because somebody will be like, oh, you didn't do that announcement good. And it's like, well, I had like three seconds to get it in before. Like sometimes if you hear me rush, it's because I'm on TV time frame. You know what I mean? Like Smackdown's a two-hour show. So a lot of stuff, they don't go to commercial break the same way we do at Raw. So there's a lot of ins and out. So it's cool for somebody when they're first coming in to see how Raw fun. as opposed to SmackDown, how it works at commercial breaks, how we do certain things. And it's super, it's great. And the fact that she was able to kind of do that. But once you get out of that first month of like,

once you get comfortable and you start like, whatever, and then she started like, well, letting loose. I was like, go, get after it. Let's go. She's awesome, dude. I was so excited for her and I was like really, it's like my little sister. I was just like, dude, once she unleashes, it's over.

It's over. Do you remember what your actual audition looked like? Like? I 100% do. I remember it like it was yesterday. So when I finally got the phone call, it was a guy named Johnny Greco, who he's a master of, he wears a lot of hats. He's been everywhere. He was working for the Las Vegas nights. Is that what it is? Is that the hockey team? And then he's kind of been around. He puts together these programs for in Arena host. He's just, just a great guy. And so he's in there and we're doing this process and Greg's there and, you know, they have me ringing out something. They give me the stats ahead of time. You have to memorize them? Yeah.

They memorize him. You turn around. They give you a couple seconds and then you do that. And then we did a whole thing where I was backstage and because at the time in the PC, you know, like they're doing classes in there. So you're doing your audition when classes are in there and Triple H is working out inside the thing next door and he like walks out. I was like, don't mess up. up. Like, it's a crazy during that time, it was just kind of crazy because the PC was so small and it was whatever. So they grabbed Bull Dempsey at the time. And he came over and we did a backstage thing. And I was supposed to talk to him about his thing with Tyler Breeze. And they're like, hey, hey, you need a stall. And so they're telling me any of stall. So I'm like stalling, trying to ask him questions. And then they're like, all right, we're going to go.

And like, all right, thank you for your time. Back to you guys. Like, it was that kind of stuff. Oh, wow. So it was a lot of like intensive, like whatever. And then we did an arena thing where I like walked down. I'm like, what's up? WWU universe. You know, tonight you're going to see this. The Intercontinental Championships on the line.

The WWE championships on the line. And then kind of putting over the audience, talking to them a little bit, and then throwing to a video package. So it's like little stuff like that. I don't know what the process is now, but I did, that was what it was. Yeah. There's a lot of people that are going to be listening to this that have been working their ass off as a ring announcer on indie show.

was going, all I got to do is work at Nickelodeon to get an audition? What have I been doing? Yeah, it's so fun. So like, that's the thing that I tell everybody. A lot of people have asked me, they're like, hey, I'm doing this. I'm whatever. I'm like, look, the only thing I can say is that it's all timing in a lot of those things. Like it just had, like it was timing for me. Like my process took almost two years from start to finish from when I auditioned to when I first showed up to to when I actually got the call. Because even after I audition, they're like, oh, we love you. You're great. Whatever. And then I never got a phone call. It was one of those. things where you're like, I nailed it. It's great. Let's go. And then it didn't happen.

And then they'd actually hired somebody else before I came on. And there was a break in communication, I guess. And so I didn't, you know, I was just kind of sitting there like, well, I guess I'm not doing this. And then, you know, right before Mania in Dallas, I get a phone call. And they're like, you still want it. And I'm like, yeah. Like, of course I do. Yeah. I was actually sitting in Batman the movie I'd been waiting for forever. And it's like a four. I'm so sorry about it. I know. I know. God. It was like a three and a half hour. It was just long.

Yeah. And I remember my phone just kept ringing. And I'm like, stop, stop. Stop. And then I looked at the number and I go, wait. And I'm like, oh no. And so like, I left. And they're like, hey, we're getting on a plane.

We wanted to reach out to you real quick. But if not, we'll talk to you tomorrow. And I'm like, no. It's like, wait, I missed it. Great. But yeah, it all came around eventually. The thing is, go out there, learn as much as you can about the business. Do indie ring announcing if you can.

get your chops in, put together a package of your self-hosting. And like, you know, you've put together packages before. It's not just you going, doing the same thing over and over again. And it's not this like 10 minute long video, put together something like two minutes, three minutes, something short, just shows your range, something. A lot of times we'll get videos and it's like, I'm, I'm, uh, hello, I'm, I'm down here, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, da, da, da, back to you. And then in the next one's like, hello, I'm back here, back to you.

And it's the same thing over and over again. And like, you know, if you're, if you're into comics or you're into food, like, hey, I'm over, blah, blah, I'm doing this thing and check this out. And now do something else that's over here. And then show your reporter side or show your fun loving side or show your hosting side or your Q&A side, whatever it is. Just give range in it. Because that's the thing, especially in now, like our current generation, your attention spans so short. So when you open something, if it's not, you're like, okay, it's the same thing, you know, next. Put together and then, you know, try to submit the package.

We have websites you can submit stuff. There's no guarantees on anything, but sometimes we hire. Well, and it also seems like WWE will put you in a bunch of different roles to see where you shine the most. So maybe you're ring announcing one show, maybe your backstage announcer at another show. Maybe you're doing play-by-play at another one. And it's interesting that they just test you out to go, all right, where do you fit the best? That is, it is true. It's more like, I feel like it's not so much as a test.

It's just kind of like, hey, you can do all these things. all these things, whichever one, like, kind of pans out goes. Like, I mean, I did a ton of stuff. And then, you did a lot of backstage interviews that I don't think people even remember a lot of no, no, no. I think the one everybody, Jericho is the only stuff that like people really, really remember from that. But I was backstage starting in 2016. Yeah. Through the time that I took over ring announcing, I think at the beginning of 2019 or 2018, I don't remember what year it was. It was whatever year, Jojo got pregnant. Because I remember getting the call and they're like, hey, you're going back to raw. And I'm like, yeah. And they're like, you're going to be ring announcer.

They're like, it's temporary. I was like, oh, okay, cool. It's just temporary. It's temporary and I'm still here. You've been doing it seven years? You've been in WWE seven years? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Time flies.

Dude, that's amazing. It's wild. And it was so exciting to see you in the WWE 2K 23 game. Dude, it is wild. Wild. Like, little kid me, still to this day, I actually went down a rabbit hole the other night because I finally got my code.

I got it when the launch party happened here. But I was out of town. So I couldn't use this. When I got home, I put it in. I loaded it up. And I downloaded myself off the creative playlist or characters from the community. I think, what's your status? Put it together.

Like, took it down. He put it up there. And it's just me and it's like black suit. And I'm like just wailing on people. And I went down this long rabblehole and I built this announce team. And then like five hours went by. And I was like, dude, I've been on this game forever. Your voice had always been in the game.

No. No? No. So Greg had been here the longest. Greg had been doing it. And so when Greg left, I took, this is my first game. Wow. But for a lot of times, it was just the voice.

Now it's like, we see you. Yeah. They do a full digital scan. They put your entire likeness in there. Your entire bite's crazy. So you were in, like, you got the scan with all the camera. Oh, wow. Yeah.

Dude. Yeah. Look at you, man. Make a frowny face. I'm like, am I doing it right? But they show you what it's supposed to look like. then you have to like match it and then they take photos and they match every little bit. It's pretty wild to see your face in there.

I look jacked in the game. I look huge. You look really much bigger in that game than I am in real life. I feel like your hair is taller in person though. It is. It is a different haircut though. That's true. I had spiky hair at the time.

Yeah. I'm growing my hair out now. It's like, is long. Are you going to keep growing this? I'm going to try. I'm going to try. I've got a haircut in like two days. So I'm not going to cut any length of it.

Wasn't your hair like a different color there for about like? four days. It was a week. Yeah, no, it was white. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. I remember seeing that and going, wow. Yeah, it was white.

I want to go back to that. I love that. Could you? I mean, I'd have to get it approved if I did it. I'd have to ask ahead of it. It's probably more important things to ask for permission for it. It's kind of one of those things where like, you know, when you start with some accompanying, you know, you get hired a certain way.

So when you change that, they're like, right. That's not how we hired you. You just got to make sure that, like, you get approval for all that stuff. So, like, if I wanted to do it again, I would just ask and go down that process. And I just haven't gotten around to, like, wanting to actually do it bad enough to where I asked. But there's been, like, you get a lot more screen time now, which is cool. For the most part, so, like, we don't, we used to get in the ring all the time. Now, for the most part, we stay on the side unless we're doing old school announcements.

And now we do kind of like how we used to do them in NXT where the lights shift and change. and then the spotlight comes down, which is that old boxing, like, ladies and gentlemen, like, it's super, it's kind of cool how they, like, set that up. But that's, that's kind of the only time,

unless we're at a pay-per-view than we're in, like, every match. But I messaged you a few weeks ago when Sina made his return. Oh, yeah. Because your announcement punctuated that moment so well. Thank you. And I know that for you,

this is just something that you do all the time. But that made that moment, to me, as a fan. feel that much more special. And I wonder for you, if you realize the importance of that moment as it was happening. I think in the moments,

like, as they're happening, we're just kind of like, I'm going from segment to segment and whatever. But obviously, it's John Cena. You know what I mean? Like, he's this, he's larger than life. Like, he's this, and he's just a really,

he's a cool guy, like, in general. And, like, he's somebody that I've actually learned a lot off of through the years of the company. And I was fortunate enough to cross over with him. while he was still active there before he kind of stepped away. But he always, you know, I want to make sure that I give respect to him. And that's kind of the one way I can do that is just trying to help. But he's also, so it's interesting because like John is a big guy on, he's so smart, dude.

He's so smart about wrestling. But he's very much like, all right, you know, don't push the crowd too far here because it takes away from the pops in the match or whatever. Like he's very like, he'll ask music. sit down before like house shows and he would be like, oh, what do you see out there? And I would look at the shirts in the audience. Because I told him, you know, one of the things I worked, when I was working with Nickelodeon, I was really good about looking on the audience and kind of gauging how I was going to do my show based off of what I saw out there. And he's like, okay, what do you see? And I was like, all right, well, at that specific town, the first time he

ever asked me that, I think we were in like West Virginia or something like that. And I was kind of looking around. I'm like, all right, I see DX. I see prototype. I see really old shirts, like older shirts. And he's like, oh, what does that tell you? And I'm like that it is an audience that is familiar with our brand, familiar with the superstars of before, and not as familiar with what's going on currently. He's like, okay, so what are you going to, how do you adjust to that? And it's like, well, when I'm putting over the beginning of the car, because in the house shows, we basically host the whole thing. Premium, what are they like?

Not premium live events, but live events, basically. I would go out there and kind of put over the reason. who they're facing, why they're facing them. Like, it would be more of me telling a story, as opposed to me just going, hey, the champions here, there are titles on the Lions Night. It can be very vague on some of that. So it was really cool. And he would look around.

He's like, how many, how many kids are out there? I was like, it's a kid-heavy audience. He's, okay, cool. And he would talk about how, you know, there's psychology to wrestling and all that. And he would just talk, I asked him, I was like, because in the, you know, performance center when you're learning things, they're like, all right, cool, you know, you start out, the baby face is hot, and then, you know, there's a cutoff, and the heel kind of lays down.

And I asked him, I'm like, why do you typically do that? And he just kind of said, everybody knows what I'm about. Everybody knows me. They know what they're getting with me. They know once I go into my thing, they know everything that's going to happen after that. He's like, my job in the beginning of that match is to put over the other person, to let them show what they've got to get everything in there. Because once I go, it's over.

Yeah. And he's like, it doesn't hurt me at all. but I want to help them like it's a point and it was just his the way he looks at and the guy like he knew everything he was he's invested in every portion of that business and it's just it was really cool wow would he say that he's the person that you learned the most from I think between um I learned obviously in the performance center there's guys like um coach bloom and Terry Taylor uh those guys obviously a lot of out of there, Coach Smiley, Robbie. The coaches down there I learned a lot from. And then,

obviously, Scotty, too hotty, one of my neighbors, like, talking to him a lot and kind of learned a lot from him. But as far as, like, on the road road learning stuff, I definitely learned a lot from him as far as, like, using what I know and then, like, what he knows and kind of helping my psychology as far as, like, working with the audiences and stuff. Because So, like, I, as an arena host, you want to, when you say thank you, you want to, you know, get the crowd crazy and you want to whatever. And like, thank you, thank you, whatever. And to his point, he says, you know, because he looks at it from whatever, you watched, you know, six matches maybe. And that's seven matches, the big match is the one they've been waiting for all night.

But the audience is gasped, obviously, at that point because they've been cheering all night. They've gotten these crazy matches. So me pushing them one more time before that, he's like, there's ways you can do that and still get, what you're trying to get without having to get that, you know, response back. And I'm like, you know, you're right. Because as a host, you want, obviously you want people to like chair and clap and whatever, but there are ways to do those things without sucking the energy out of the audience before they're about to get these, you know, big things.

So he helped me think in different ways on how to do things to where I'm not affecting anything, if that's the case, if that was one those things. So that was really cool. And also big show. Big show was another one. Big Show was another guy when I was on tour who really kind of helped me out and did that and Michael Coles helped me out and just a lot of learning from a lot of people. Give Michael Cole all the flowers. Oh, dude, he's fantastic.

He's so good. I think Michael Cole and Pat McAfee, my favorite combo ever. What a combo. And it's very obvious, but Pat McAfee has brought something out of Michael Cole. Oh, yeah. This excitement. Dude, Pat is like, Pat, what you see there is Pat. Pat is, he's just this larger than life, happy.

Like, he's just a cool guy. Like, you just like, I want to be friends with that guy. Did you get to be friends with that guy? I am friends of Pat. Oh, look at you. That's great. He's a nice human. Do you look at other ring announcers, like in boxing or UFC, and kind of study what

they're doing? Or do you just critique maybe what they're doing? I try not to do any of that stuff. Obviously, like, the buffers, like, legend. Like those guys are like and they're legends on all a completely other ends of the spectrum. Yeah. It's wild. Like those guys will always be there will never be another version of that.

Yeah. And they have their like they each have their own like thing. Like they don't say. That's so cool. Obviously like I watch stuff like that and I mean we can't we can't do that because of our constraints or whatever. But I try to watch as many people as I'm out there. I've noticed that there's a lot of people that I've talked to when I first started who are actually breaking into other industries or other companies and other things. So I try to watch little bits and

pieces of what they do. I never, I will never critique somebody, never. Because the thing is, is like, I can't tell you how to do job. And the same thing I told Sam was like, I can't tell you how to do this. I can show you what it is. You've been a fan for a long time. You understand how this works. I can give you the parameters. But you ultimately got to be yourself in this and find your way. You're not going to be me. You're not going to do my thing. You're not going to do Greg's thing. You're not going to do your own thing.

So it's the same with them. Like, I can't tell you how I would do it because it's not how you would do it. So you've got to find, listen to all these people, find the one thing that you relate to the most. And then, not steal like an artist, but like basically adapt that portion and then mold it into you and then put it back out there. Like I look at Bruce Buffer and my parents had never watched UFC ever. And we had it on on Saturday for the first time. And I'm like, oh, wait, it's the main event. You guys need to see this.

It's wild, dude. It's a complete performance. Wild. And like, it's, I just don't. I don't know what they're ever going to do. You know, hopefully Bruce Buffers with us for another 50 years, but I don't know what they're going to do when he's not there. I mean, what do you do after that?

It's just the legends, man. Just you can't, you can't, they're not replaceable. It's time. It's time. Yeah, that's wild. Dude, the let's get ready to rumble, and it's time. Those things are iconic. And it's funny because, again, they're on totally other ends of the spectrum.

One is, like, very, like, subdued and smooth. Let's get ready to rumble. Very classic. And then, like, ready to, like, he's coming right at you. When he's in people's faces, announcing them, it's so funny to watch. What is? There was a movie that he, what was that? There was a movie that he did where that was there.

I feel like I just saw it the other day. He was in a movie? Yeah. It's time and a movie. We have all the world's information. If only we had something we could search this on. Let's see. We have all of the world's information.

What movie was that? Now I'm going to think back at this and go, man, I can't believe I didn't remember that. Let's see. Was it? I mean, here, you tell me. Oh, you're kidding. Hot tub time machine. Oh.

That was it, right? Yeah. Wow. What did he? I don't know. Here, we have all the world's information. It says hot tub time machine. I just don't remember what it was in Hot Tub Time.

I just remember him, like, yelling like, It's tough. He's like right in the camera, and I'm like, I felt that deep in my soul, bro. Let's see. We can type in Bruce Buffer, Hot Tub. This would be great if I had this so everyone could see it. Bruce.

We'll describe it in great detail. Does this make sense? Yes. Okay. He's Yes, that's right. He introduced, what's his name coming out? That was great.

I could keep playing the clip, but I mean, yeah, we get it. I'm here with you. I understand. But yeah, dude, he's wild. Like, those guys are legends. So, yeah. So are you. I mean, I don't consider that.

I feel like, I mean, maybe 40 years down the road when I'm like 800, maybe. But, like, right now I'm just, I'm like still, I feel like I'm still trying to find my own way through this whole process because everything changes all the time. Any kid that's watching Raw right now, you are the voice of Raw for them. Yeah, it's wild. Yeah, it's wild. That's amazing.

And then somebody was telling me the other day, they were like, think about this. They're like, there's only been so many ring announcers with like WWE that have gone a period of time that are actually whatever. And I was like, there's like 10. Yeah, it's wild. And we named them earlier. Yeah.

It's insane. I also appreciate that your ring announcer. voice is so similar to your speaking voice. It's like an amped up version of it. But I think there's some people, though, that put on, like, an announcery voice. Yeah, I just, I didn't, I did not want to. I mean, obviously, you can do the whole, like, I heard somebody the other day who was

doing, like, almost like a Howard impersonation. They were like, from St. Louis, Missouri. Like, they thought, I'm like, why, why? That's not, that's not your voice. Like, I don't want it to be, it's like hosting. Like, when you host or you're hosting, like, on a main stage, you're basically doing a heightened version of yourself, like an extended version of yourself. On your best day. Yeah.

So that's all it is, ring announcing. The same as Sam. Like, she's kind of taking her voice and her singing voice and then kind of doing her own thing. So it's just finding your way in that. It's not trying to be an announcer. Don't, like, don't do the there's a lot of people that do that.

If that's your voice, then, yeah, fine. But just know that people are going to go, he's an announcer. All right. What's the moment or the match that you are so proud of, that you were so grateful that you were in the ring to be a part of that? Man, there's a lot. I will say, like, announcement-wise, just writing emotion. Cody, the Cody Rhodes thing at WrestleMania was awesome for me.

Like, it was just one of those things where it just kind of happened. Like, I didn't actually, I didn't put that much thought on it. Like, I just was like, all right, the audience was hype, the music, like, everything. Like, that song slaps. I was like, I was vibing out. And then I'm like, all right, let's hit this. And then kind of did a thing. And it was great.

It worked out well. But you don't know. Like, you have no idea when you do something like that. You're just doing it. And then, you know, people like, oh, my God. But, like, getting to be in the ring, like with John Cena or Undertaker, big show, getting to announce legends, like interviewing the NWO. Like, I've had the opportunity to pretty much be a part or.

have words or talk with people that were such a huge part of my childhood. Yeah. Dude, I got to have a like a 20 minute conversational undertaker just sitting around. Like just, you know, whatever. Like stuff like that is so cool because like, you know, I remember first appearance. Like I remember him coming. I remember being terrified. And like you're just sitting here having this conversation with this guy.

Just getting to be around. I mean, obviously the only person that I missed that I was a huge, huge, huge fan, Ultimate Warrior, you know, not there. Macho man. Are those the two that if you could announce anybody who's not with us anymore or maybe isn't wrestling anymore? Is that who it is? I think I would go with like Andre.

I think I would do an Andre. Like I, that announcement is so iconic. Just the camera shots they take like the way it is. I feel like that's one of those things that stands out to me where you're just like wild. I would do like, if I had to pick my, my perfect pairing, because I've done Stone Cold now. Yeah. I've done, I would do Andre versus the Rock. Oh, man.

That would be, that would be like my perfect. Because I've done everybody else. Yeah. Maybe the Brothers of Destruction. Oh, yeah. Because I've done them separately, but I've never done them together. And that's one of my favorite pairings. Maybe LOD.

I don't know, like just some of the old, like, Road Warriors. Like, some of the old. things like that you grew up because you know I grew up playing like the the video games too the old old arcade games so some of those like you know big boss man hongyton man all those guys are in there you're just like oh it's crazy since you memorize all of the weights and hometowns if I list a few off right now oh god all right can you can you give them to me probably Austin theory uh Atlanta Georgia 220 United States champion Cody Rhodes uh Atlanta Georgia 22 pounds American nightmare Bobby Lashley, Denver, Colorado, 285? Yes, tonight. Or 283, it's one of those two. Alex 285. She is from Columbus, Ohio.

So the women don't get the waste. No weights, no weights. Those are just home. It won't be rude, Chris. I guess, of course. Bianca Bel Air. She's from Knoxville, Tennessee, raw women's champion. AJ Stiles, the phenomenal, AJ Styles.

He's from Gainesville, Georgia, 218, the phenomenal. AJ Stiles. What about a few legends? What about Stone Cold Steve Austin? Oh, man. We just did this. We just did this, too. Victoria, Texas.

Oh, what did he yell at me? It was like two... 268? Really? That seems like a lot. Two... Oh, man, now I have to check. You check.

Oh, we have all the world's information here. Where are we going? www.com? Yeah, go to www.com. Because this is what do you get? So we did the 2K launch party, and he was the... there and so we did his stats as they're listed because obviously legend um they're in there and he's

like i'm not listed that way he's like i'm not i don't weigh that much anymore how much to say uh should say like 268 yeah if you click on it i don't know let's see what it says here oh man 252 i was off by 10 oh there okay what about one more the undertaker death valley that's that's that's what we did oh he doesn't have a weight anymore didn't do it the last two times it's like death valley i was like okay all right have you ever had a moment where the second you said something you went that is definitely wrong oh yeah so like there's one when i first started this is like this forever ago like we were doing a um an nxte live event and i think like tom phillips was there um because i was training in whatever and

And it was back when Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake were just Blake and Murphy. And then Alexa was with them. And I think they used to be tag team champions at that time for NXC. And they just split. And we'd just given them like Buddy Murphy and Blake, Wesley Blake. So I'm so used to saying Blake and Murphy at this point because I've been doing it for so long. And he comes in the ring. And I think I said, I think I called him Blake Murphy or something like that.

And I, and he just looks at me and I go, oh, no. And he cuts a promo on me. And, you know, we do the whole thing. And then I felt so shitty about it that I bought him whiskey and brought it the next day. Because I think we were in like some other town and I like drove up and I'm like, bro, my bad. And he's, he wasn't like, he wasn't mad about it. Like, it was whatever. I apologize, and he was really cool and very good sported about it.

But I was like, dude, please take the whiskey. I'm so sorry. I felt bad. I'm like, I got one job here. There's been a couple times on even Raw where like we go, you know, we go segment to segment. Sometimes we haven't known what's coming next or something changed in the back and the information and make it out to us. So there was one time where the iconics were coming out. and on my sheet it said one of them was working,

but then they changed it and then the other one was working. No one told you. So I said, I think I said, I thought it was supposed to be Peyton Roy, so I'm like, wait a way to the ring. Peyton, Billy Kay. I'm pretty sure that's how it came out. But it's just like, it's one of those things where like sometimes you just don't have all the information.

Yeah. And I can't see the ramp. So from where I'm sitting, I can't see who's coming out. So we just recently, within the last couple of years, got a monitor there to where I can see. But if they don't take a camera shot, I can't see who's coming out. So there are times where people come out with other people or they accompany them and they're not written in the sheet. I don't know they're there. So if somebody comes out and they don't get announced because I didn't know they were coming out.

Have there ever been a situation where there's a big return, a big moment? And, you know, they're keeping it a secret. So even you don't know about it, their music hits or they come out and you go, oh, wow. Hmm, man, it's been a long time. I'd have to really put some thought of to that. I'm sure there has been. I think I wasn't when the big returns were happening, I wasn't ring announcing.

So like when Undertaker came back, I was kind of like just chilling out backstage. And one of Scott Aycock, one of the security guards, like, hey, you should come out here. It's like, oh, crap, what I do? He's like, stand right here. And this is back when. the desk was on the left side of the stage.

Oh, yeah. So I was kind of just standing there, and we were in New Orleans, I'll never forget this, and McFoly. And Stephanie McMahon was giving McFoly the business in the middle of the ring, just about how bad of a GM he is

and how worth us, whatever. I'm like, why am I standing out here? And then all of a sudden you just hear, bong. And I'm like, oh! And I'm right that the pyro starts going, like the fire, the flames, and like the smoke.

starts bellowing and I'm just like, this is so freaking cool. And I remember sitting on that side of the stage. And so it was the one time I visibly remember like kind of fan-girling. I was just sitting there because I've never, I had never seen his entrance live. I'd never seen it live like that. So I was just kind of sitting there and I watched that happen. And that was one of them, I had no idea he was going to be there. And a lot of times for most of that stuff, you know, it's better that we don't know those things.

obviously you kind of have to be prepared for whatever's going to happen. You've got to know stuff. Sometimes you, if the story language, you can kind of figure out where it's going to go. But other than that, we just got to prepare ourselves and be ready for whatever's going to happen. I'm curious, how many suits do you own? 30, 40? I was actually in my classes the other day going, I got to purge some of these. I got to get rid of some of them.

But I'm sure you've got something special for both nights. I do, yeah. I got new. This will air after WrestleMania anyway. I got some new one. That's great. WrestleMania is a one time of year where I can actually like, I feel like most of the time we're on Raw or SmackDown.

It's like, I have to be very, you know, classic. You're always very sharply dressed. Yeah, I try. I just, it's not necessarily my style. Like, it's more of like very like, hey, this is your ring announcer, classic, whatever. But I feel like WrestleMania, I can kind of go out there and grab stuff that I'm like,

oh, I'm vibing with this. I really like this. This is what I want to do. I want to wear this. So I think, I think I got good ones this time. Nice. I think so. Can't wait to see it.

I think we're good. You can tell me afterwards. Let me know. This is like, ah, you didn't come through. No, 10 at 10, I'm sure. Okay, okay. I hope so. So good to be able to catch up with you.

You too, man. In person. Yeah. I end every conversation talking about gratitude because it's such an important part of my life. I wake up every day. I say out loud three things I'm grateful for. I do that before I go to bed. So we end every interview with that.

What are three things in your life that you're grateful for right now? I am I'm grateful for the people closest to me and all my friends without all of them I don't think I'd be able to do all the things that I do now I am grateful for the WWE and the WW universe obviously just because it's allowed me to kind of go on this crazy journey that just continues

It just keeps going. And I am thankful for the opportunities that I've had outside the WWE, just to kind of embrace my nerd and my inner self, like, just to kind of like find me and like be kind of entrenched myself more into who I am, which has been really, really nice. With you saying that, you know, many people are just noticing you have tattoos. Lots of them. I've got lots.

So this is, this one is, I feel like when we talked the first time, this, I didn't even have half of these. You were just starting it. A little Harley Quinn there. Let me see right there. It just doesn't go up all the way, but like Nightwing and Robin, Joker, Bad Who Laughs. And then on this side, I didn't have anything. But you can see Pennywise right there. Let's see here.

Slimer. Yeah, Michael Myers. Michael Myers. Sam. Man, Beetle juice up here. I've got Franken. I've got all the classic monsters. Yeah, yeah.

Wow. Yeah, two full sleeves. I've got like a little, I've got a little here that I got to finish. Yeah. And then I've got some stuff on my legs, but nothing crazy. Yeah, people don't, that's the thing is like, when they see me in the suit, we were somewhere the other night and they were like, dude, you're like incognito. I'm like, I know.

All I got to do is put a hat on and have my tattoo sleeves out and just walk and people don't realize. Yeah. Just walk right by. I'm like, it's great. It's awesome. Well, dude, thank you again. Thanks for having me.

And congrats on everything. Thank you. You too. Thank you. It's been exciting to watch your journey, dude. Honestly, like, I remember when you were talking about moving out to L.A. And, you know, you're like, yeah, I'm going to do this. I'm whatever.

And then, like, you pump out so much content and you're putting out all this stuff. And it's, it's inspiring to watch, honestly. Like, I wish I, like, I wish I still had the motivation to do that stuff. Like, I'm like, I tour and I'm like, ah. You've got a real job. I'm going to go play college. duty. You got a real job. I'm just, you know, trying to make it happen every day. Me, I'm out there playing cod with the boys and then, you know, pretty cool.

All right, bro. Thank you so much. Thanks, man. Thanks for having me. Of course. Well, dude, let's do it again at some points. Let's. All right. Hold me to do that. That's a great conversation. I hope you enjoyed getting to know Austin a little bit more during this. And I'm sure that you know someone who would want to hear this episode, who would want to dive in deep like we did here. So share this with them and take a screenshot. Share it on social media as well. He is at Austin M. Romero. I'm at Chris Van Vleet,

and I know there's a lot of aspiring ring announcers who are listening to this. So I hope you were taking notes here. I hope you were taking notes because when you think of all of the great ring announcers in pro wrestling, of course you've got Howard Finkel, you've got Lillian Garcia, Tony Chimel, you've got Austin Romero, Mike Rome,

in that list. Justin Roberts, of course. Justin Roberts still doing his thing. over an AEW now. So I think that Mike Rome is definitely on that list here. It's really cool to dive into his process. And I figure since we always leave you with a quote, how about a quote about your voice? Jen Mueller said it best here.

The only way to find your voice is to use it. So get out there and use your voice. Have an amazing day. Be great. Be grateful. We will see you on the next one for some more. side. Jim Rome takes on sports.

Why? Because I have a job to do. With rapid fire takes. So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media

about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Take advantage of it. Get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast. What's your beef? Follow and listen on your phone. favorite platform. You've been warned.