Renee Paquette: Japan Night That Changed Her Life
renee Paquette’s “Ruined” Life: A Hilarious Elevator Tale with Juice Robinson and Jon Moxley
Renee Paquette, the acclaimed host of Up Close w/ Renee Paquette, recently shared a truly bizarre and hilariously unsettling story that has, in her words, “ruined” her life. The incident, which took place during a late night in Japan and involved her husband, AEW star Jon Moxley, and fellow wrestler Juice Robinson, has left Paquette with a crippling fear of elevators.
the Fateful Elevator Ride That Sparked a Phobia
The peculiar tale surfaced during a recent interview where Paquette recounted a specific memory that has profoundly impacted her daily existence. “It is really affected my day-to-day life. And I don’t know if you remember this, but you f-ed me up, Juice Robinson,” she began, directly addressing Robinson.
The setting was a cramped, “tiny, tiny elevator” in Japan, late at night. Paquette, Moxley, and Robinson were all squeezed into the small space, ascending towards a karaoke bar. It was during this claustrophobic journey that Robinson uttered a seemingly innocent, yet ultimately terrifying, comment. “It is indeed me, Juice, and John, large men in this tiny, tiny elevator. And it is going so slow. And you go, ‘Imagine we got stuck in here forever,'” Paquette recalled.
This simple hypothetical, amplified by the confined and slow-moving elevator, immediately triggered Paquette’s pre-existing claustrophobia. “I can’t get in elevators now. You’ve ruined my life,” she declared, the fear still palpable in her voice. “I literally, we got out the elevator, I was like, ‘I have to go outside for a minute.’ I could not recover. I’m claustrophobic to begin with. You’ve ruined my life.”
Juice Robinson’s hazy Recollection and Shared Elevator Anxiety
Juice Robinson, when prompted about the incident, admitted to a less vivid memory of the event. He attributed his hazy recollection to the demanding lifestyle of a professional wrestler in Japan. “I vaguely remember that, but at the time, I was drinking a lot of alcohol,” Robinson confessed. “I was fully embedded in the Japanese pro wrestling lifestyle, and it was just all fantasy.”
However, Robinson did recall the specific type of elevator they were using. “I think I know it now. It’s going up to a karaoke spot. So it’s like, yeah, those are the worst. They’re very, very small, old, sweating, sticky, hardly maintained,” he elaborated. The intensity of Paquette’s reaction was so profound that it has now seemingly transferred to Robinson, who admitted, “Thank you. That’s so funny, but now I will think about that anytime I’m in an elevator.”
This humorous yet revealing anecdote offers a glimpse into the often chaotic and unpredictable nature of life on the road for professional wrestlers, where even a simple elevator ride can become a legendary tale of phobia and unintended consequences.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit Up Close with Renee Paquette with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
