Former WWE announcer Adnan Virk had a very short run with the company. He described his month and a half long stint as being like catching up to a freight train. He never quite caught on to the WWE style.
Peter Klein caught up with Virk on Couch Potato Diary. The two discussed a lot of different subjects. Most interestingly, Adnan spoke candidly about the time he spent as a commentator for WWE. He put over the talent he worked with in a big way.
“Everyone there is awesome. Corey Graves is phenomenal, I think he’s a huge talent. Byron Saxton is a huge talent. You never want to be in a situation where you’re the weakest link and I knew I was. That’s never a good feeling. Those guys were such good teammates because it’s like a baseball team. ‘We know you need some help, we’re here to help you out. You’re new, just lean on us and we’re good to go,’ which was so generous of them. Kevin Dunn is a great producer. Michael Cole was very very generous. Michael is not only the voice of SmackDown, he’s the on-air conglomerate and oversees the talent. He was so helpful every week. I would do the show, I would watch the show, I’d call Michael on Thursday and we’d go through stuff and go through notes. I would try to make as many notes as I could. Everybody there, I have such respect for because they work so hard. It’s a huge commitment. Vince McMahon is obviously a very demanding boss, he knows what he wants and is a super smart guy. He’s built up an enormous business, but they are hard workers.”
Virk also dished on his relationship with Vince McMahon. He said that when he first auditioned, Vince didn’t have any idea who he was. He appreciated the feedback he received from the WWE boss.
“It was great. I didn’t see him my first show. Here’s the thing, they didn’t give me any training, which some people point out was a little unfair. I don’t think you hire Jason Witten for Monday Night Football and don’t give him training. I recognize that’s the way WWE does things so no excuses, that’s my fault that I wasn’t good enough. It’s not like I met with Vince before my first show. I literally was just prepping on my own, doing my best, and Michael Cole was helping out. The first time I met Vince. My first show was April 12, I didn’t meet Vince, I heard his voice in my ear at one point and he was giving direction. I met him after the second show. He summoned me in. I met him, he was very polite and very respectful and he basically gave really good feedback. He went through everything, very detailed. At the end, he said, “You’re doing a good job, best of luck.’ I met with him that time and he was at the meeting — we have a meeting on Raw at noon, oftentimes it would get pushed back. Vince would sometimes be there and sometimes wouldn’t If he was in the meeting, it had a different tenor. He’s an important guy, he has great presence, whatever he says people are going to do because he’s the boss. After the third show, he gave me feedback, ‘Don’t do this, don’t do this, do more of this.’ I really appreciate the fact that he was willing to meet with me and give me feedback. Like I said, I wish I could have done better and been there longer, but it was definitely cool to meet him and I have a ton of respect for him. He’s a very smart guy and brilliant business man.”
Adnan Virk was hired by WWE as the lead commentator for Raw and had his first show on April 12. Virk’s experience at ESPN and other legitimate sports networks made him a desirable pick-up for the company. Things didn’t work out, and he was released on May 25.
Thanks to Fightful for the quote
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