Jose Gonzalez Coleman Concepts interview on wrestling and media

The Jose Gonzalez Coleman Concepts interview with Brandon Coleman covered a career change from ophthalmology to wrestling media, the microphone failure that made Sheamus laugh at WrestleMania, and the matches Gonzalez considers essential viewing. The Gonzalez Media TV host also explained why daily discipline matters more to a new creator than appearing successful online.

How did Jose Gonzalez begin his sports media career?

Jose Gonzalez began with voice acting, not wrestling interviews. After nearly 20 years working in ophthalmology, he took lessons in Orlando and landed Spanish-language fight commentary for Fight Sports Network. He then studied broadcasting because he wanted to produce stories and conduct interviews, rather than work only behind a microphone.

From ophthalmology to Fight Sports Network

Gonzalez said he had no background in entertainment or sports media when he began considering a change around 2013 or 2014. A comedy about voice actors prompted him to tell his wife he thought he could do that work. With her encouragement, he found a local voice coach and started lessons the following week.

Fight Sports Network was his first client. Its assignments let him commentate in Spanish on boxing, MMA, sumo and judo. The work introduced him to combat sports coverage, but he wanted a role in shaping the entire production.

Learning from Vinny Marino and starting Ricans of Wrestling

At broadcasting school, Gonzalez met Vinny Marino, a former WWE producer and instructor whom he described as a mentor. Marino taught him how to put together a video, tell a story on camera and ask better interview questions. Gonzalez also made contacts in television and radio.

Living in Orlando, about 10 minutes from the WWE Performance Center, put him near NXT wrestlers and independent promotions. He started Ricans of Wrestling with a friend around 2014 or 2015. They discussed WWE, 205 Live, Lucha Underground and older wrestling. Gonzalez said their early live streams drew about 10,000 followers and tens of thousands of views and listens. His co-hosts were doing it for fun; he hoped it could become a career. Gonzalez described the goal this way:

I really wanted to just tell people stories

Why did Jose Gonzalez leave healthcare?

Jose Gonzalez left healthcare in 2020 because his media businesses and podcast were already operating, and he decided to commit to that work full-time. The pandemic coincided with that decision. He also received an opportunity to work with the wrestling website Sportskeeda, turning years of production and interviewing practice into a professional role.

He had spent two decades in ophthalmology and said his work included eye exams, surgery-related duties and care involving both children and adults. Leaving was not his first attempt to enter entertainment: he said he had explored the idea years earlier without pursuing it.

By 2020, Gonzalez had built a podcast and businesses alongside his healthcare job. He presented the move as a decision to pursue a long-held ambition to create a recognizable media brand, not as a plan to become famous.

What did Jose Gonzalez do at Sportskeeda and wrestling events?

Jose Gonzalez worked on Sportskeeda’s wrestling coverage for about two years and helped assemble a team of creators, including Kevin Kellum. He said the team grew its wrestling YouTube channel from roughly 5,000 to 30,000 subscribers in about eight months. The role also gave him opportunities to cover major WWE events and interview wrestlers.

WrestleMania and SummerSlam coverage

With Sportskeeda, Gonzalez covered three consecutive WrestleManias from 2021 through 2023, as well as SummerSlam in Las Vegas. He credited the channel’s growth to the team rather than claiming it as a solo achievement, saying he recruited people who knew wrestling and could also entertain viewers.

Returning to Lucha Libre Online for Backlash

Gonzalez later covered Backlash in Puerto Rico while working with Lucha Libre Online. He called it a full-circle experience because the outlet had given him an opportunity when his podcast was new. He identified its owner, Javier, as a friend and Hugo as another mentor.

Those opportunities brought interviews with wrestlers including Drew McIntyre, Samoa Joe, Rhea Ripley and Sheamus. For Gonzalez, access to events mattered because it let him do the work he had wanted from the start: ask wrestlers about their stories.

What happened during Jose Gonzalez’s Sheamus interview?

Jose Gonzalez said Sheamus laughed at his tiny microphone during an interview at WrestleMania in Tampa in 2021. Gonzalez’s larger microphone had stopped working, leaving him with a lavalier mic. He used it anyway to ask Sheamus about his United States Championship match, prioritizing clear audio over how the equipment looked.

As Gonzalez began his question, Sheamus stopped to look at the microphone and laughed. Gonzalez explained that his other mic had broken. The moment stayed with him because the small mic looked unusual to them at the time.

He contrasted that reaction with the later popularity of tiny handheld microphones in interviews. The story also illustrates a practical choice he made while covering a live event: keep the interview going with the working equipment he had.

Which pro wrestling matches did Jose Gonzalez single out?

Jose Gonzalez singled out Randy Savage versus Ricky Steamboat at WrestleMania III as the match that made him fall in love with pro wrestling. He also named Hulk Hogan versus André the Giant and Stone Cold Steve Austin versus Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XIV, while acknowledging several other matches he found difficult to separate.

Savage, Steamboat and WrestleMania III

Gonzalez called Savage and Steamboat’s Intercontinental Championship match the purest form of pro wrestling. He placed Hogan and André alongside it for a different reason: he viewed their match as a major moment in wrestling’s move into the mainstream.

Austin, Michaels and other contenders

For Austin versus Michaels, Gonzalez focused on the finish and Michaels’s reaction to the Stunner. He also praised the Austin and The Rock trilogy, along with matches involving The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels or Triple H. Rather than force a definitive ranking among those bouts, he said choosing between them was difficult.

When Coleman brought up Roman Reigns and Penta in Mexico City, Gonzalez agreed that the match was memorable, particularly Reigns’s reaction to Penta’s Mexican Destroyer and the crowd’s response. His initial list, though, began with the older WrestleMania matches that shaped his view of wrestling.

What advice did Jose Gonzalez give sports media creators?

Jose Gonzalez advised sports media creators to treat interviewing as a job before it pays like one. He emphasized a regular schedule, daily discipline and studying how other hosts ask questions and manage their time. He also cautioned against judging a career by how successful someone appears on social media.

Gonzalez told Coleman that, despite how his career might look to others, he still considers himself to be working toward his goals. He urged new interviewers to concentrate on the work they can repeat each day instead of fixating on an eventual destination.

His practical recommendation was to watch plenty of podcasts and take notes on their hosts’ questions, pacing and use of interview time. He cited Chris Van Vliet as a strong interviewer and said he also thought Cody Rhodes interviewed people well. Gonzalez had met Van Vliet in Tampa, where the two discussed their paths into wrestling coverage.

Who is Gonzalez Media TV?

Gonzalez Media TV is Jose Gonzalez’s platform for content, interviews and podcasts featuring people across sports and entertainment. Gonzalez is a voice actor turned CEO and entrepreneur who interviews athletes, CEOs and other guests.