Mark Nash reveals how he almost ignored Triple H's call before getting WWE gig

Mark Nash opened up in a candid interview with Chris Van Vliet, sharing the journey that took him from a passionate wrestling fan to a ringside presence in WWE.

From his early days performing in The Lion King and walking the halls of professional hockey, to his unforgettable moments announcing for John Cena and interacting with legends like Sami Zayn, Nash offers a behind-the-scenes look at the preparation and excitement that define his career.

Since March 2025, Nash has been the ring announcer for WWE SmackDown. On the podcast, he narrated the story of how he broke into the WWE:

"We all know Nick Khan is the president of WWE. They lost a ring announcer and there was an opening. Out of the blue, I got a text from Triple H. At first, it was right around election season, so I thought it was a solicitation text for a candidate. There was no name, just numbers, and it started out, “Hey, it’s Paul ‘Triple H’ with WWE.” I thought, “Yeah, right—that’s a bot, like when you get a text saying, ‘Hey, it’s Morgan Freeman, vote for me for the Screen Actors Guild.’”

"At first, I ignored it. But my phone is connected to my computer, so the text popped up on my screen while I was working. I read it again and realized, “No, this is actually him. This isn’t someone pretending to be Triple H.” The text said, “Hey man, we’re big fans of your work over here. You got time for a call?” Yeah, hold my beer. Of course I’ve got time for a call—the greatest mind in wrestling is texting me.” That’s how it started. We began a conversation, and the timing was perfect. My contracts with Top Rank were up, and I graciously said, “Hey, I think I’m going to move over here.”

“I’m 48 years old, right? My wrestling fandom was Hogan, King Kong Bundy, Snuka, and all of our Canadian icons. I was a fan. So to see that text message—even right now, dude, I get goosebumps. You look down at your phone and it’s the GOAT of WWE. Triple H is like, ‘Hey man,’ and I’m sitting there like, ‘What?!’”

Acknowledging Nick Khan's contribution, he said:

"And I’m sure—though I don’t know for a fact—that Nick had something to do with it when the vacancy came up. He’s the one who brought me over to boxing, and I’m sure he played a role in bringing me to WWE as well."

Speaking about his first night as the ring announcer, Nash recalled:

“Triple H came up to me and said, ‘Just be you. Have fun.’ And that was it. Later, they called and asked, ‘Hey, how you feeling? You want to go?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I want to go.’ And my ‘go’ ended up being the O2 Arena in London at the end of March. What an iconic place for Mark Nash to walk out of a tunnel.”

On introducing his first Superstar, Nash mentioned:

"Cody Rhodess. Yeah. My first hit was, "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the American nightmare, Cody Rhodess." And I'll I'll never forget it. Amazing. I can curse on this show. I was scared. I was scared shitless."

Mark Nash, whose real name is Mark Shunock, revealed how he came up with his stage name:

“It didn’t come overnight. There were a lot of conversations and options. Nash was something I came up with—it’s my mother’s maiden name and my father’s last name combined. My father’s last name is Shunock, S-H-U-N-O-C-K. My mother’s maiden name is Nasser, N-A-S-S-R. I took N-A-S-H and put it together. I just threw it in an email.”

Having followed pro wrestling and its icons for a long time, Nash expressed gratitude for getting the gig:

“I’m a fan with a microphone. I’m just so grateful for the opportunity to sit ringside and cheer on my favorite superstars. Of course, I can’t pick favorites, but I’m a fan at heart and I love what I do. When the cameras are off, I get to be myself even more—high-fiving fans, walking around, saying hi to people. I live for that.”

One of his career highlights came when he announced John Cena's 17th title. Nash described the experience:

“I don’t even have another word for it—unreal, incredible. These last three months with John Cena have been life-changing. He points at me, calls me into the ring, says, ‘Your announcement sucks, read this instead.’ And suddenly, I’ve got this elaborate ring introduction for John that goes viral and the fans go bananas. I’ve had the privilege of repeating it for three months. When it all came to an end a couple of weeks ago, I just looked him in the eyes and said, ‘Thank you for this incredible opportunity.’ Honestly, I don’t even know if we’d be sitting here without that moment.”

“I was ready. I was excited. I got to do this incredible ring introduction for Mr. Cena one last time. And then—classic Sami Zayn—he sneaks up in the middle of it and scares the hell out of me. He puts his hand on me and I’m like, ‘What is happening?’ You can see it in my face. And then he starts explaining—in true Sami fashion—in about fifteen sentences what he wants. I’m standing there going, ‘Okay, I got it, I got it, I got it. You want me to introduce you first. Fine.’ So I just made it up on the spot. I looked out and said, ‘I apologize…’”

“The champion, out of respect for the challenger, wanted to be introduced first. And what a gracious thing for Sami to do—it speaks volumes about who he is. The crowd started booing because they didn’t get it; they thought it was a heel move. But if you go back and watch, you see Sami actually get on the ropes, clap, almost bow in that moment. It was a classy move, and I knew exactly what he was doing, so I just rolled with it.”

“I had just finished with Sami, and when I turned, I saw John with that little Cena smirk on his face. I thought, ‘Here we go.’ I said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the greatest of all time.’ By the time I got that first phrase out, he was already beside me, arm around my shoulder, huge smile. You can even see him chuckle a little, hearing it. And then he went into his bit—and it was legendary. I still get goosebumps.”

Nash then spoke about how his experience of working in boxing helped him prepare for WWE. On being asked if he uses Q cards, he said:

“Well, that’s a boxing thing, right? And I’m glad you brought it up because, like you mentioned, some fans aren’t so friendly. It’s a safety blanket for me and has been. A lot of ring announcers write things out and have a big binder or book with all the notes. You have to be crazy prepared. In boxing, if you mess up a split decision, majority decision, or majority draw—there are six ways to announce a fight result—if you get it wrong, you’re done.”

“Here, there are no scores, so it’s a little easier to announce a result—much easier. You’ll see some ring announcers walk out with a binder full of notes. I prefer to condense mine so it’s just a quick glance if I need it. But again, it’s all preparation. My dad taught me an amazing phrase as a kid: everybody wants to win, but the will to prepare to win is more important. I want people to understand that if you see me holding something, it’s not because I’m unprepared—it’s because I don’t want to screw up your moment.”

Chris Van Vliet then asked him about whether announcing at WrestleMania was one of his dreams:

“Of course, I’d love to be a part of it. But I can tell you, when we did SmackDown inside T-Mobile Arena last year before Mania, that was pretty special for me. A lot of the people there are also Vegas Golden Knights fans. Joe Tess did my intro for my walk and really tipped his cap—showing how classy he is. He introduced me as ‘Vegas’s very own,’ and I got a nice appreciation applause. I even acknowledged it off-camera before broadcast, saying, ‘It’s so great to be home, and so great to be home with WWE.’ That’s a moment I’ll never forget.”

Nash summed up his experience of working with the WWE as:

"Brother, I’m a kid in a candy store—humbled every day and grateful for every opportunity that’s come my way. I’m sure you’d say the same thing to yourself. You’ve worked hard to get where you are; nobody gave you anything, especially coming from where we’re from. Sault Ste. Marie is five hours north of Detroit, right on Lake Superior—it’s an incredible city. But to be sitting here with you is a little surreal. Never in a million years did I think I’d be on your show, so I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity."

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