SoCal Val Talks About Being a Producer for TNA Wrestling

TNA Announcer and producer SoCal Val was interviewed by Stephen Sonneveld of the Bleacher Report. Here are some highlights.

On how long she has been producing segments for Impact Wrestling: Oh, a couple years, maybe. But it sounds funny, “Oh, I’m a producer.”

On what her producing duties entail: I started producing backstage about a year or two ago, and it pretty much just entails me helping talent go through different lines that we need for television shows and commercials. A lot of it is international, like we just did some liners today for Germany, and it’s basically just a wrestler coming in and saying, “I’m such-and-such,” saying hello to all of our fans in Germany. So, it’s basically just me running a prompter and knowing the scripts, and just kind of directing the talent, which is really, really cool. If I’m not on camera, I’m usually behind the camera helping them.

On whether she planned to be on camera during her producing time: Oh, definitely, that was always my goal, which is to do what I’m doing now, which is the hosting and announcing, because to me—well, also to be a manager. But the thing with being a manager is that there’s not always longevity in a certain amount of time in a storyline. So, to me, all I wanted to do was to be involved with wrestling, and to creatively contribute, and to host on the camera and talk on the mic, so I’m really lucky that that’s what I’ve got to do for so long.

On whether she is happy with her current position in TNA: Honestly, I’m really, really happy with what I’m doing. A lot of times at the live events, I’m the emcee and ring announcer for the entire event, and really the only one on the mic. Our merchandise guy does help with intermission and things like that, but as far as being the emcee for the whole show, I get to do that. So, in addition to live events, and now doing this hosting backstage and being the anchor for a lot of the commercials, especially with a lot of them being international, that’s exciting. I’m really happy with where I am, I have to say.