Samantha Irvin Announces WWE Departure
In a surprising move, Samantha Irvin has announced that she has finished her run as the ring announcer for “WWE Raw” and is leaving the company.Ā Irvin took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to reveal the news, with a lengthy statement offering a goodbye.
“WWE Universe, my time has come to an end as your Monday Night ‘Raw’ ring announcer,” Irvin wrote. “I love you all tremendously and this does not mark the end of my art, I have a lifetime more to share. Thank you to every WWE fan who accepted me.”
Irvin went on to give a special thanks to the wrestlers, especially her fellow women in the WWE locker room, as well as the company’s crew and a number of people behind the scenes who have helped her along the way. That list included Paul Heyman, Michael P.S. Hayes, Michael Cole, Brian “Road Dogg” James, and more.
It’s currently unknown if Irvin intends to stay within the world of professional wrestling or will look to branch out into other areas of broadcasting. Irvin is engaged to Ricochet, who recently departed WWE before arriving in AEW this past August. While that may lead some to speculate Irvin is bound for AEW, it’s worth noting that she also had a career as a singer prior to becoming a wrestling announcer.
Along with posting the announcement, Irvin updated her X page to black out her profile picture and banner. Additionally, her bio simply reads: “ARTIST.”
Irvin first joined WWE in 2021 and credits Mark Henry for helping her enter the industry. After a short time on “205 Live,” Irvin was made the announcer for “WWE NXT” before being promoted to main roster duties in early 2022, less than a year after she started
WWE’s Samantha Irvin And Ricochet Clear Up Misconceptions About Her Sudden Departure From The Company
WWEĀ fans getting blindsided by sudden talent departures became commonplace just a few years ago, but we haven’t seen any such unexpected exits in a while. However, hours before the latestĀ Monday Night Raw,Ā ringside announcer Samantha Irvin was revealed to be exiting the company, despite absolutely crushing it throughout theĀ 2024 TV scheduleĀ and beyond. Now that we know she won’t be around forĀ upcoming WWE events, Irvin spent time on X alongsideĀ her pro wrestler fiancĆ© RicochetĀ to clear up some misconceptions about the exit.
Pro wrestling insiders scrambled to find reasons for Samantha Irvin’s exit, which is the kind of thing that can lead to mistakes happening when sources aren’t so reliable. Fortunately, Irvin and her beau were able to quickly clear up any confusion, and prevented the rumor mill from spiraling out of control.
Samantha Irvin Dispels Rumors About Timing Of Her Exit
As someone who appreciated Samantha Irvin’s passion for pro wrestling, as well as how she kept fans entertained during downtime whenĀ I took my child toĀ Monday Night Raw, I was shocked to hear reports claiming she’d walked out on the WWE just hours before the show started. It turns out that rumor wasn’t true at all, though, at least according to the former ringside announcer herself, who spoke on the actual timeline involving when she told the company she was leaving:
While wrestling fans themselves didn’t find out until hours beforeĀ Monday Night Raw, Samantha Irvin says her exit has been in the works for quite a while. That’s more aligned with what I would expect, especially after reading her message to fans, which thanked Triple H and other employees quite heavily. Had her departure been more sudden, I wouldn’t have expected such a warm goodbye to those in upper management.
Ricochet Clarifies Speculation Samantha Irvin Is Joining AEW
As soon as news broke that Samantha Irvin was leaving, the fans started speculating that she would now be joining rival company AEW. ConsideringĀ Ricochet did that this year, I can see the logic in assuming she’d join to spend more time with him and continue her career for a rival who may offer a more competitive price. It seems Ricochet assumed people would think that as well and went ahead and squashed that rumor pretty quickly:
As for the possible reason behind the exit,Ā Wrestling Observer RadioĀ reported that Samantha Irvin wanted to further pursue her singing career, but couldn’t juggle that with her obligations in the WWE (viaĀ Inside The Ropes). That’s interesting to hear, considering how flexible the company is reportedly being regardingĀ Pat McAfee stepping away to hostĀ College Gameday. In any case, I’m disappointed to see it didn’t work out, though I hope Irvin is happy with her decision.
Who Is Replacing Samantha Irvin?
For the time being, the WWE has called on former WWE employee and ringside announcer Lilian Garcia to take Samantha Irvin’s spot onĀ Monday Night Raw. Garcia served as a ringside announcer for the company from 1999 to 2009, and then again in 2011 to 2016. After her first night back on the show in quite some time, Garcia took to Instagram to talk to fans about it:
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