Mike Rotunda, AKA IRS, Recalls Pressures Of Being A Backstage Producer In WWE

Mike Rotunda, widely known in pro wrestling for his IRS gimmick, has recalled his run as a producer in WWE and why it was a thankless job. 

Rotunda was a recent guest on "Stories With Brisco And Bradshaw," where he was asked if he has fond memories as a producer in WWE.

"No, I didn't," said Rotunda, with the hosts JBL and Gerald Brisco adding that they too didn't enjoy the role backstage in WWE. "I can't believe I lasted 13 years at that."

Rotunda went on to explain why the role was stressful and how a change in WWE caused it to become even more difficult.

"It's a stressful job, man. When everything went to live television it even got more stressful because you could fix something on a tape if you had a tape and something went wrong. But once it got ... everything became live, it just was an enormous amount of stress to do that job. It really was. You're trying to do the best you can but not everything's going to go right. It's the wrestling business. It's not cookie-cutter stuff. It's like running a football play — you're gonna run five plays and maybe two of them are gonna not work out, so, you know, sh*t's gonna happen. It was very stressful."

IRS added that certain stars are easier to work with while others want to do it the way they want to, and the blame seldom falls on the producer and not wrestlers if things go wrong. But, he was grateful that the producer job allowed him to add another decade to his pro wrestling career, after a successful run as an in-ring talent. 

Rotunda became an agent in 2006 and was a part of WWE until 2020 when he was let go following the COVID-19 pandemic. The veteran star will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame later this year alongside Barry Windham.