WWE: Jackie Redmond on If She’s Interested in Getting Involved In The Ring In Future, CM Punk on Why He Didn’t Understand Kevin Nash’s Criticisms Towards Him, WWE Reportedly Planning More Talent Tryouts in 2026

Jan 16, 2026

Jackie Redmond Comments on If She’s Interested in Getting Involved In The Ring In Future

A recent episode of the Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast featured WWE RAW brand interviewer Jackie Redmond as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Redmond’s thoughts about if she is interested in potentially getting involved in the ring in the future for her WWE career.

“I mean, I don’t have any desire to be, like, in a match or anything like that.
I do wish that Superstars yelled at me [on-screen] more. I’m not going to lie. Like, that’s not really a thing that we do anymore, but I want them in my face. I want them to be mean to me. Like, I actually really want that. Like, please be a d*ck. I really — be a jerk to me. But it’s a different time. Maybe one day.
No, I don’t want to be in the ring, but I wouldn’t be opposed to, like, slapping someone or taking a bump. No [I’ve never taken a bump]. I would love to, though. I would even love just to learn how to take a bump.”

Redmond also gave her thoughts about how former WWE and current AEW interviewer Renee Paquette had informed her of WWE’s interest in her into their company in 2016 or 2017.

“So I was in Montreal covering the Stanley Cup final between Montreal and Tampa. I mean, this business is funny, right? Because years prior to this, because that would have been 2021. Around 2016 2017 again, Renee Paquette calls me and is like, ‘Hey, WWE might be interested in you. What do you think? I told them I’d call you first just to see kind of what you think. And she’s been such a great person to me. I know we talked about her earlier, but whenever I’ve reached out to her for any type of advice, she’s always been there, even as the years have passed. So she had called me and told me that my name had been brought up, and asked me what I thought. I said, ‘Well, what is the gig?’ And I was still in Toronto at this time, and just like, it would be hosting. She goes, ‘I see everything you’re doing in Canada right now with misplays of the month, and you’re hosting our equivalent to SportsCenter on the weekends. You’re doing all this great stuff. I feel like they might put you in NXT, you might be in the middle of nowhere.’ Experience outside of WWE isn’t the same as experience inside of WWE. And she goes, ‘So I don’t know if you’d be into it.’ So I said, ‘You know what? Let me think about it.’ And at the same time, I got an opportunity at NHL Network, and so I ended up not doing the WWE thing, and it never went further than a convo with Renee on the phone. It was very much like early stages, like, ‘Hey, your name was mentioned by somebody.’ So I end up taking the hockey show. My dream job, right? I’m covering hockey two hours a day, live television. Best thing for me to ever happen as a broadcaster, because when you’re live for two hours straight, oh, man, you make some mistakes, but you learn how to kind of roll with the punches.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com 1 & 2

CM Punk Comments on Why He Didn’t Understand Kevin Nash’s Criticisms Towards Him

As noted before, WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash recently gave several criticisms directed at WWE World Heavyweight CM Punk over his issues with how Punk presented himself a champion and his in-ring work during the December 22, 2025 WWE RAW show.

ComingSoon.net held a recent interview with CM Punk. One of the topics discussed included Punk’s thoughts about why he didn’t understand Nash’s criticisms towards him in the first place.

“You know what, I can say it had nothing to do with him but obviously the genesis of the story is him saying that I wrestle in a shirt and I never wrestle in a shirt. I didn’t really understand what the criticism was, but thanks. You’re right. I did that to make people I was in the ring with laugh because when I’m on a house show, to me, that’s what it’s about. It’s about having fun. If the fans see us having fun, they’re having fun. I like to keep it light, I like to make people laugh when I’m on the road and I’m away from my wife and people are away from their families. That’s our family while we’re on the road and I’m kind of the jokey guy. I’m gonna have fun on a house show.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

WWE Reportedly Planning More Talent Tryouts in 2026

As noted before, WWE was set to hold new talent tryouts at their Performance Center in Orlando, Florida this week.

The Wrestling Observer’s Bryan Alvarez reported that his sources stated that WWE will be holding “significantly” more tryouts throughout this year.

Similar to this week’s talent tryouts, Alvarez reported that WWE officials are currently back to focusing on looking for in-shape indie talents who can both work good in the ring and give good promos.

“We are told that WWE will be holding significantly more tryouts this year, and like this most recent set they are back to looking for in-shape indie talent who can work and cut good promos.”