Jonathan Coachman Talks WWE ‘SummerSlam,’ Details Coverage Plans For ESPN


This weekend marks a homecoming of sorts for Jonathan Coachman, who will make a brief return to the world of pro wrestling when he covers WWE SummerSlam for ESPN. As previously reported by Inquisitr, Coachman will be in Brooklyn to report on Sunday’s big wrestling event. It’s a perfect fit for Coach, who worked for WWE as a color commentator for a number of years. At one point, Coachman served as the on-screen General Manager for Monday Night Raw and even participated in two Royal Rumble matches.

Coachman recently spoke with Sports Illustrated about his forthcoming crossover gig for WWE SummerSlam, sharing a bit about the coverage schedule for the weekend and disclosing a few big names that will be interviewed by ESPN. Daily Wrestling News, which re-published excerpts from Coachman’s interview with Sports Illustrated, noted that Coachman will do live broadcasts from the Barclays Center on Sunday at 11 a.m. EST, 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. He will also have some post-show coverage after SummerSlam’s final bell. But there will also be supplemental coverage the day before the event.

“We’re doing a lot of sit-downs on Saturday with guys who have cross-over appeal. We’re going to sit down and talk with different wrestlers that either played football in college, like Roman Reigns or John Cena, to the Miz, who was a reality star, so there are a lot of guys the casual sports fan would know. We’ll meet with them on Saturday, and those interviews will be on ESPN.com and our SportsCenter feed on Twitter, and then we’ll be doing live shots on Sunday morning from outside the arena to show people the atmosphere. Then we’ll interview a few people about what Sunday night means to their careers.”

He also touted the ad hoc partnership between WWE and ESPN for Summerslam, expressing his enthusiasm at being tapped for this particular gig. Coachman implicitly squashed any conjecture that this weekend’s endeavor would lead to an eventual full-time return to WWE.

“ESPN is not a place you come to take the next step, it’s a place you come to spend your career. I plan on retiring at ESPN, but I would love to be involved with ESPN and WWE. The biggest network in America for credibility in sports and entertainment is ESPN, so the best way to make your product credible is to be on ESPN. I’m proud of the fact that I am the liaison for the WWE. I appreciate the executives at ESPN opening their hearts and their minds, and I can’t think of anything cooler than what we’re doing this weekend at SummerSlam.”

For many years, SummerSlam has proven to be pro wrestling’s biggest event of the summer and a number of matches on Sunday’s card are highly anticipated by fans. Of particular interest to many is a rematch between The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar. Lesnar defeated Undertaker at WrestleMania 30 in 2014, ending a 21-year winning streak. Legendary wrestling commentator Jim Ross predicts that Brock Lesnar will win again at WWE SummerSlam, paving the way for a retirement match at next year’s WrestleMania.

[Image via ESPN]

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