Charly Caruso Reveals Other Job She Turned Down To Go To Work For WWE
WWE broadcaster Charly Caruso was recently a guest on Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia. During the interview, Caruso discussed the backstory of how she landed a job with WWE.
Caruso said it all started when she attended an episode of SmackDown Live with a friend. She had just finished her duties at her previous job, and her friend had backstage passes to the show. A lifelong WWE fan, she couldn't pass up the opportunity.
"I was living in Indianapolis for a while, I kind of explored some other opportunities once my contract came up, and it just so happened that SmackDown was in Indianapolis. I was with a friend of mine who was a huge WWE fan. He had backstage passes and he had asked me if I wanted to go because when I was growing up I was really into it. I was into it at the height of the Attitude Era for a couple of years, which I was in about the 6th or 7th grade," she explained. "I loved it, so him and I would talk about it sometimes and he had said that he had a couple of backstage passes to the show and would I like to go. I said of course I would. I come to SmackDown and I am backstage just hanging out and I see Mark Carrano, who I recognized from Total Divas."
In a case of "right place, right time" Caruso took advantage of the moment and introduced herself to Carrano. She passed along her broadcasting reel and she eventually received an audition with WWE. Once she was offered a job, she had to turn down another position she had accepted.
"At this point I am technically unemployed, had a few projects going on but I wasn't sure what my next move was going to be. I approached him and said that I am a sports broadcaster and asked him if I could pass along my reel. If anything he can just look at it and give me some critiques about it, he said sure, why not? I send it to him and I don't hear anything back for a couple of months, and then I reach out to him again, and he said to re-send it to him. I then send it to him again and he says that he thinks that I am good and that he was going to pass down my information to Michael Cole. From there he was like, we want you to come down and audition," she said. "That was how it all started, but at this point I had verbally already accepted a position to be a sports anchor in Washington D.C at the old station that I had interned at. I had to backtrack after the audition and WWE coming forth and offering me a position, so I had to tell the station that I know that I said I was going to take the job but after thinking about it I am actually going to go with WWE so here I am."
Caruso said she has no regrets about her decision to turn down that other job because working for WWE was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. She said even though the travel does get to be tiresome at times, she has enjoyed every bit of her experience so far.
"I totally made the right choice because at that point, I was thinking to myself–you know, I had spoken to a few different people. People that I had been in touch with at ESPN, past mentors that I worked with in the sports industry, my agent; we all just came to the conclusion that this was an opportunity that I just couldn't pass up. I mean, I didn't see myself 10 years down the line where I was going to accept a position with WWE," she said. "I was thinking, hypothetically 10 years down the road I could still go to Washington D.C. and be a sports anchor; that is always going to be there so it has been such a great platform, and getting to meet so many different people and to have this experience on an international platform, and traveling. I love traveling. Sometimes you're like I just want to sleep in my bed, but like any job, you take the good with the bad. Sometimes traveling is not bad, but it does get to be a lot sometimes."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia
Peter Bahi contributed to this article.