Veda Scott, a former wrestler, discussed her transition to commentary on a recent episode of The Sessions with Renee Paquette podcast. She talked about her experiences doing commentary for Ring of Honor, SHIMMER, and indie promotions, as well as how the pandemic shifted her perspective. She was asked to do commentary for the AEW’s Women’s Tag Team Cup Tournament: The Deadly Draw and worked alongside Tony Schiavone, who she had never met before. She praised Schiavone’s professionalism and said that he was helpful in teaching her and answering her questions. Scott said that doing the tournament with AEW “changed her whole life” and solidified her desire to pursue commentary.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
Veda Scott on doing commentary for ROH and SHIMMER: “So in Ring of Honor, I would do commentary here and there. Particularly if it worked for an angle, or if it was a Women Of Honor match, so that was a great experience. I started to do commentary as well for SHIMMER, which is a big women’s wrestling promotion in the States. We would do the commentary most of the time in post-production. We would do a thing where like, my match would come on and I would just like “leave the table” to go. It’s like, no, it’s three months later, guys, you know this.”
Scott on transitioning to a regular commentator: “That was great experience for me, and I started to do that there. This is okay. It’s kind of like a long promo. I was doing more character-based stuff, because I was involved in these promotions as a persona. But then over time, I started to get asked to do some commentary places that I wasn’t already working, or I wasn’t like a character. And I started to shift into more of a straight broadcaster role. I was like, oh wait. I like this. This is what I like. This is what I want to do.”
Veda Scott on being approached by AEW for The Deadly Draw: “What really made the shift, I was doing commentary all over the place, here and there. I was like, this is good, this is good. Covid happened, I stopped wrestling, stopped doing anything. And I didn’t know when I was going to perform again. It seemed unimportant. That was when I got contacted to do the AEW Women’s Tag Team Tournament that they did a few years ago. I got asked to do commentary for that.”
Scott on working with Tony Schiavone: “For the actual tournament, I was with Tony Schiavone. Who I literally never met before a couple hours before we called these matches. Just to speak to what an absolute f*****g professional Tony is, there were so many people who after I did this first round, some people were like wow! You and Tony have a really good banter, you’re really getting along. Like we knew each other, but no! I had literally just met him. That is what a professional he is, that he can just slide in there and I’m sitting there next to Tony Schiavone, who I have been a fan of since for a long time. I used to watch on Nitro, and he’s there, doing his thing. I’m trying to do my thing, and I’m just like… trying to just absorb and learn as much as possible because I’m like, f**k! So we did the tag tournament. It was me and Tony Schiavone. Just an incredible experience of me trying to learn as much as possible, and Tony being so helpful, and so encouraging, and just teaching me, answering my questions.”
On her AEW commentary stint ‘changing her life’: “I’ve said this before, but it hadn’t computed with me that I was gonna do the finals of this tag tournament, which were gonna be on Dynamite. So I got to do the finals of the tournament, I believe it was Tazz, and Tony, and JR [Jim Ross]. It was pre-taped, but it was on Dynamite. I’m sitting here, surrounded by these absolute legends, I’m here, don’t mess this up! Please, Veda, be adequate. You don’t even have to excel, just be fine. It’s like a blur, but that was the moment that it clicked for me. That second set of tapings where I did the Dynamite taping, and I also got asked to do Dark. I came back a subsequent set of tapings to do Dark with Excalibur and Tazz. Doing those dark tapings, and doing that final on Dynamite was like… okay. This is what I think I want to do do. That outing with AEW legitimately changed my whole f*****g life.”
