“Preparedness meets opportunity” is Trish Stratus’ motto, but it could also be applied to the newest addition to the RAW announce team, Todd Grisham.
Grisham impressed WWE officials with his knowledge and the fact that he had “done his homework” when he came to Stamford, Conn., to interview for the job.
According to Michael Cole, the voice of SmackDown!, several prospective announcers were brought in, and many of them did an adequate job when they were given a sample match to call, but Grisham outdid them all.
“A lot of other guys just sat down and called the action,” Cole said. “(Grisham) called the action … but he had heights and weights in front of him, and background on all the guys. He was very well prepared and you could tell he really wanted to do this.”
Grisham was subsequently hired, starting on Jan. 14. He spoke with WWE.com this afternoon just after finishing work on the international edition of the Bottom Line, a RAW-brand highlight show. Grisham is now the host of the international version. Rumor has it, he’ll also be popping up on RAW over the next few weeks.
Born in Hattiesburg, Miss. – home of the Green Bay Packers’ Brett Favre – Grisham and his family moved around a great deal, but he spent the bulk of his childhood in Bay Minette, Ala. When people ask him why he doesn’t have a Southern accent, he jokes that it’s because he was born in Mississippi.
Grisham attended four different high schools – three in Alabama, one in Florida – before enrolling at Wingate University, a small, private liberal-arts school in Wingate, N.C. He went there for one year on a partial soccer scholarship and then, as his past would indicate, he transferred. He ended up at West Georgia University in Carrollton, Ga., on a full academic scholarship. There, he played on the school’s club soccer team and earned a degree in communications.
He soon obtained a job as a sports anchor in Ottumwa, Iowa – the home of Tom Arnold. Grisham points out wryly that the city’s claim to fame is that it had the largest per-capita obesity rate in the country.
“I’d go to the gym, and I’d be the only person there,” Grisham said.
And while he jokes that the main thing he found out in Ottumwa was that “I didn't want to live there anymore,” he concedes that it was a good learning experience. In his year and a half there, working at KTVO, Ottumwa’s only local affiliate, he did everything – shooting, editing, putting on his own makeup.
He had no choice; out of 205 media markets in the country, Ottumwa ranked in at No. 198.
So when he was offered a job in Tucson, Ariz., the No. 70 media market, he jumped at the chance and relocated, becoming the youngest reporter at any station in Tucson. He spent four years as a sports reporter and weekend sports anchor for KOLD, the town’s CBS affiliate, primarily covering the Arizona Wildcats. But he also reported on teams from Phoenix, so he’s been to the Final Four and Game 7 of the World Series and has also worked with the NFL, NBA, NHL and PGA.
“I covered everything, so it was a good place to learn,” he said. “That’s the thing about local TV. You’ve also got to go cover Jimmy Chitwood, who’s playing elementary school basketball and scored 10 points.”
But whether it was the NCAA Championship or a local high school game, Grisham reported with enthusiasm, which impressed Cole and others at WWE when they reviewed his footage.
“We had been looking for announcers for a long time,” Cole said. “I reviewed a ton of tapes. When he sent his tape, the thing that stood out was how innovative and energetic and entertaining it was. He has a very funny, different, dry sense of humor.”
Cole specifically remembers one part of Grisham’s tape: a commercial announcing the start of high school football season. A person on screen says, “Todd, aren’t you taking this a little too far?” and the camera pans to Grisham, who’s all decked out in a cheerleader’s uniform.
“We’re always looking for people who are different, and he’s different,” Cole said.
Grisham was pleasantly surprised to find out that WWE was interested in him. “One of my friends said, ‘Hey, there’s an opening in WWE. You should send a tape in.’ I said, ‘Are you kidding me? Everybody and their brother wants to work there.’”
But Grisham didn’t pass up on the opportunity to send in a tape; after all, he’s a lifelong WWE fan who remembers dressing up as the Ultimate Warrior as a kid.
Coincidentally, RAW came to Tucson the day after SummerSlam. Grisham interviewed Eric Bischoff to promote the show, and the two men got into a mock scuffle on camera. Grisham had front-row seats to RAW; little did he know, WWE officials would be contacting him soon after, inviting him in for an interview. They had seen his tape and were impressed, and he impressed them even further during the interview.
Since coming on board with WWE in mid-January, Grisham has been attending WWE television events to “learn the ropes,” so to speak.
“There’s a lot to learn,” he said. “The first couple of weeks, they’ve just wanted me to observe and watch, so that’s what I’ve been doing.”
He said his goal is to learn from people like Jim Ross -- who Grisham calls “the greatest play-by-play guy ever” – and become the best announcer he can.
“Wrestlers come here to be the best wrestlers in the world,” he said. “I want to be the best commentator.”
Grisham, who turned 28 in January, added sarcastically, “If I work real hard and stay focused, I know in 10 years I have a chance to be 38.”
EDIT: CREDIT - WWE.com
