WWE News: Renee Young comments on being upset when Talking Smack was cancelled

What's the story?

WWE's on-air personality and backstage commentator Renee Young recently appeared on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast and spoke about a range of topics, including how she was upset when the popular SmackDown Live post-show Talking Smack was cancelled.

In case you didn’t know…

Talking Smack was a highly popular show which started in August 2016, as a WWE Network original, airing after SmackDown Live every week. It was started right after the brand split, when SmackDown got its own roster and started airing live.

Co-hosted by SmackDown Live GM Daniel Bryan and Renee Young, the show spoke about the events of the concluded SmackDown episode or a SD pay-per-view, and also included interviews with superstars from the roster.

It helped elevate the careers of many Superstars, most notably The Miz after he cut a scathing, shoot-style promo on Daniel Bryan when he appeared on the show.

Talking Smack was cancelled in July 2017 and relegated to a post-PPV show only, allegedly because Vince McMahon felt that the unscripted style of the show was not good for the company.

Some other reports indicated that the show was cancelled due to lack of viewership.

The heart of the matter

On Sam Robert's podcast, Renee spoke about how she was very upset when Talking Smack was cancelled, and how great it was working alongside Daniel Bryan on the show.

"I was really upset to lose Talking Smack. Also, working with Bryan was great. That was such an unknown thing for me when we got paired up to do that. It was mostly with Daniel Bryan, sometimes with Shane, but working with Bryan, he is super talented at everything he does. Having him in that host role, who knew how incredible he would be at that? He was such a great co-host with that and also had that, 'I don't give a s**t' attitude, which just made the show so much better".

Young went on to say that she felt her strength lay in how she reacted to the situations and some outrageous comments made on the show. She added that she liked how the 'safety net' was taken away from the stars who appeared on the show, allowing them to create their own spotlight.

"When Talking Smack ended I was pretty bummed up about that, but i do hope it comes back at some time. At least there is more kick off shows now, but I would like to bring a show like 'Unfiltered' back as well, something in that world".

She concluded saying that she had some new ideas she could work on, in the future, but wouldn't say what they were, since they were 'really smart ideas'.

What's next?

The last episode of Talking Smack aired on December 17th 2017, as a fallout show after the Clash of Champions PPV. There is no word on when the next episode is set to air.

Author's take

Renee is not alone in being upset when Talking Smack was cancelled, as a lot of fans, including myself, were disappointed.

The show gave creative freedom to upcoming stars like Jinder Mahal and Baron Corbin to speak their hearts out. These stars often seemed more comfortable talking on the show, than giving scripted promos on SmackDown Live.

The show being cancelled is another indicator of how WWE is sometimes out of touch with what the fans want.

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