BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE: Your Backstage Pass Through My WWE Journey
As a youth, Justin Roberts was a huge fan of World Wrestling Entertainment... always dreaming that one day he’d join his heroes in the ring.
On an amazing journey, he transformed from being a kid hanging a poster of Monday Night Raw in his room to being the ring announcer of that very same show. As a child, pictures with both “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels and Bret ”Hitman” Hart were Justin’s most valued possessions.
Later in life, it was his voice that resonated throughout the stadiums when he announced them both to the ring on wrestling’s grandest stage, WrestleMania. Justin went from using his imagination to create wrestling shows with his WWE action figures to actually contributing ideas to WWE shows and wrestlers. Justin Roberts lived his dream.
“BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE: Your Backstage Pass Through My WWE Journey” (April 1, 2017; Meyer & Meyer; Hardcover; $24.95) tells the story of a passionate professional wrestling fan who wanted nothing more than to be a ring announcer for World Wrestling Entertainment...and amazingly achieved his goal.
Best Seat in the House chronicles Roberts’ ambitious journey to becoming a full-time WWE ring announcer -- traveling the globe with the wrestlers and announcing weekly live events, TV shows, and the enormously popular pay-per-view spectaculars -- for more than a decade.
While wrestling fans always wonder how he landed the job and what it was really like, Roberts offers insight into the path he took to get there. His story also gives fans a unique backstage pass to what it’s like working for the WWE, complete with the stories only he can tell – ranging from his WWE tryout to his final night on the big stage.
In Best Seat in the House, Roberts takes fans along to relive his full journey and shares numerous WWE experiences such as:
- Which wrestlers were easy to work with -- and those who gave him a hard time
- The charitable side of legends such as John Cena and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and what the public doesn’t know about the good they’ve done
- The fun times had with the wrestlers, both behind the scenes and even in front of fans
- The roles various wrestlers played behind the scenes.
From playing with action figures of The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan to actually announcing these larger than life characters to the ring, Roberts lived out the dream of countless wrestling followers worldwide.
But the book does not just cover the glory of the WWE. Roberts also describes the politics and the inner workings of the company that drives the wrestling industry. “I only wanted to write this if I could write openly,” Roberts says. “I just wanted to tell the story of what it was like to be a fan and live out my dream in a fly on the wall position at the mecca of professional wrestling.”
Best Seat in the House is an extraordinary look from within the worldwide phenomenon that's more than just scripted ballet and spandex. It is the feel-good story of the author, inspiring others to dream big. This is the unvarnished, inside story of being surrounded by hardworking athletes who are real-life superheroes to all ages, genders, and ethnicities around the world.
“I still watch the old pay-per-views that I used to rent from Blockbuster Video, and I’m still entertained the way I was as a kid,” Roberts says. “Now I get to see the shows with the eyes of someone who has experience from working there as well as working with so many of the stars who were a part of those shows, and that makes them even more special.
“Did this journey have ups and downs? Of course it did. Would I change anything at all? No. I truly had the best seat in the house to watch the wrestling world from all points of view and was able to do exactly what I set out to do.”
About Justin Roberts
Justin Roberts, a graduate of the University of Arizona, was born and raised in Chicago and now resides in Scottsdale, Ariz. An avid wrestling fan, Justin wanted nothing more than to become a ring announcer for World Wrestling Entertainment. At age 16, he began announcing independent wrestling events and worked his way up the industry during high school and college.
Justin began as the backup announcer at WWE until he got his own spot announcing regularly for ECW, followed by SmackDown and eventually Monday Night Raw. He worked all over the world, traveling on the road with the wrestlers and announcing the weekly live events, TV shows and monthly pay-per-views.
The combination of what he learned in school, with the experience of being on the road and working under Vince McMahon, taught him quite a bit about life. He proved that no goal is unattainable, if you set your mind to it and encourages everyone he meets to follow their dreams as anything and everything is possible.
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This story was originally published March 7, 2017 at 4:13 PM with the headline "BEST SEAT IN THE HOUSE: Your Backstage Pass Through My WWE Journey."