New WWE ring announcer details approach to role: ‘It’s not about me’

While appearing on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, WWE’s newest ring announcer Mark Nash detailed how he approaches his role.

Nash (real name Mark Shunock) is originally from Canada and was the ring announcer for Top Rank Boxing before being hired by WWE this March. In addition to his WWE work on SmackDown, Nash also is the in-arena host for NHL team the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

When asked why he always wears black, Nash explained that it’s because he wants the fans to focus on the competitors and not on him.

“Always wearing black, and it’s for a reason, because it’s not about me. It’s about the fighter or the superstar,” Nash said. “That’s their moment.”

Nash said WWE ring introductions are a bit different than boxing because they’re not as long. But in either role, he wants to make sure that he’s pumping up the fighters/wrestlers and getting them ready for their match.

“And when I look back at my boxing days, a boxing ring introduction is a lot longer and more elaborate than what we do in the WWE. So I had a little bit more arc and build with the fighter where I can really talk about the color of their shorts and where they’re from and their record and maybe what they’re doing and ‘let’s go’ and it had that progression. In wrestling, you gotta come at it. You gotta come and bring the stank right away,” Nash said.

“For me, it’s about making sure that if you’re standing in that corner, waiting to go rip that guy’s head off, I do whatever I can to pump you up. As much as I want to pump the crowd up — sometimes I think as fans, we forget that some of these moments, as much as they are for the audience and the fan, there’s somebody that’s getting ready to go to battle. And I want to make sure I’m doing that man or woman justice in my delivery and in my ring introduction. So listen, I’m still learning the WWE ways and I will probably learn the WWE ways for the rest of my life, but it’s never been about me in that moment.”

Calling himself “a fan with a microphone,” Nash said he’s grateful for the opportunity he’s been given. He grew up watching Hulk Hogan, King Kong Bundy, and Jimmy Snuka, along with some of the Canadian icons who were part of the WWE roster.

Nash named John Cena, Chelsea Green, Michin, The Miz, and Carmelo Hayes as some of his favorite wrestlers to introduce, though he noted that he will never do the sassy ring introduction for Green that former announcer Samantha Irvin originated.

“That is never coming out of my mouth,” Nash said. “Because also too, Chelsea is badass and she deserves to be introduced as a badass. So I think that fans will start to resonate with the badass announcement of Chelsea.”