Renee Young

Early life

Paquette was born in Toronto, Ontario. She was a child model. After high school, she applied to several colleges and began training in improvisational comedy. At the age of 19, she relocated to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career as a comedic actress, but later moved back to Toronto and auditioned for films, music videos, and commercials.

The Score Television Network (2009–2012)

Paquette began working for The Score Television Network in the later months of 2009 on the program called Right After Wrestling, later to be renamed Aftermath, where she presented alongside Arda Ocal, Mauro Ranallo and former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas.

WWE (2012–present)

Paquette signed with the American professional wrestling promotion WWE in October 2012, where she chose the ring name Renee Young (a nod to Neil Young), and made her on-screen debut on the 29 March 2013 episode of SmackDown, interviewing Randy Orton, Big Show, and Sheamus. Young had previously performed interviews exclusively for WWE Active since February 2013, and had also presented the 2012 Survivor Series pre-show alongside Scott Stanford. Young debuted on the January 23 episode of NXT as a backstage interviewer.

Young began co-hosting the World Tour segments, which was a segment detailing the city they were filming in, showcasing various tourist attractions, before later being promoted as a third main presenter on the JBL and Cole Show, which was shown on YouTube and WWE.com, until its cancellation in June 2015. It received a Slammy Award for Favorite Web Show of the Year. She also presents WWE Vintage Collection alongside Hall of Famer Mean Gene Okerlund.

In September 2013, Young made her commentary debut on NXT. She began performing color commentary during NXT Divas' matches, before later becoming a full-time color commentator on NXT for several months. From July 3, 2014 to January 9, 2015, Young served as a color commentator on WWE Superstars, alongside Tom Phillips, which made her WWE's first full-time female announcer in more than a decade. In April 2015, Young began hosting her own show titled Unfiltered with Renee Young, in which she interviews fellow WWE employees, which airs on the WWE Network. In June, Young served as the co-host of the sixth season of Tough Enough, alongside Chris Jericho.

On the December 20, 2016 episode of SmackDown, Young interviewed Intercontinental Champion The Miz following his successful title defense against Apollo Crews. After Young asked Miz about his "obsession" with Dean Ambrose, Miz sarcastically responded by revealing Young and Ambrose's real-life relationship, prompting her to slap Miz. On December 27, Young was confronted by Maryse backstage on SmackDown. Maryse slapped Young the following week in retaliation.

Other media

Before joining The Score, Paquette worked for BiteTV, where she presented a show about extreme sports and music called Rippin' It-N-Lippin' It during 2008 and 2009. She appeared in a commercial for Oxy, and had a part in a Tom Green music video. Prior to this, she had a cameo in the music video for Kelly Clarkson's 2005 song "Behind These Hazel Eyes". She also appeared in a national Noxzema commercial, and did a photoshoot for Toro Magazine. In 2016, it was announced that Paquette would be appearing as a main cast member for the sixth season of Total Divas. She had previously appeared in several episodes on a recurring basis.

Personal life

On being a wrestling fan, Paquette said: "I attended a few events and WrestleMania VI. My dad is a concert promoter, and he'd get me into the events. I remember being backstage and meeting Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Chyna, and Trish Stratus as a kid, so it's really funny to me that I ended up here. I went on a different path than wanting to become a WWE Superstar."

Since 2013, Paquette has been in a relationship with wrestler Jonathan Good, better known by his ring name Dean Ambrose. On April 12, 2017, Paquette announced on Twitter that she and Good are now married. Official marriage records show they were married on April 9, 2017.

Awards and accomplishments