Jonathan Coachman started his career in WWE as an interview, commentator, and occasional wrestler. He'd eventually leave the company, joining ESPN as a correspondent before returning to the RAW commentary team.
Coach's mainstream success appealed to then-WWE Chairman Vince McMahon but the two butted heads. As a result, his time in the three-man booth ended in 2018 (he'd make sporadic appearances on preshows but soon disappeared entirely from the company).
Renee Young (now known as Renee Paquette in AEW) replaced Coach for what proved to be a largely ill-fated stint as a commentator. She certainly gave it her all, but as Paquette herself has acknowledged, she was a better fit for her previous backstage role.
Now, Coach has claimed that current WWE Women's Champion Nia Jax advocated against him and pushed for Paquette to take his place.
"She hates me, by the way, Rafael. Years ago when, and this shows how crazy it was at the time. When I left ESPN and I came back, I told Vince [McMahon] I’ve got four golf events that I already have on my schedule I didn’t want to miss. in my first 10 years in the WWE, I missed one Monday night, so now I come back 10 years later and tell Vince I’m missing four events in that calendar year. How do you think that went over? He said, 'No problem, coach, we got you.'"
"Well, he had me until the second missed event, and he’s like, 'This is some bulls**t,' and I was like, 'I told you.' So they started filling in. And I remember they put Renee in my spot. Nobody liked the fact that they brought me back. They were, whatever the reason. I’m not gonna use the jealous word. It is what it is. But Nia Jax led the charge of Renee, Renee, Renee in Coach’s spot. She didn’t like me for whatever reason. I had no issues with Renee. I think Renee is terrific."
Jax ultimately parted ways with WWE but was brought back at what many believe might have been the behest of her cousin, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
Whatever the case is, this and other recent interviews suggest Coach has little love for his former employers and there's clearly quite a bit of resentment there. Whether Jax did play a role in him losing that spot is hard to judge.
You can check out the full interview with Coach in the player below.