The pro wrestling world was shocked when fan-favorite ring announcer Samantha Irvin suddenly announced her retirement from WWE.
This led to widespread speculation. Did something happen to make her leave? Was he leaving for his music career? Will she join her husband Ricochet in AEW?
Now the iconic announcer has revealed herself why she left the biggest professional wrestling company in the world.
In response to a comment on her original Instagram post announcing her departure, Irvine explained to a fan the surprising reason she left WWE: she didn’t want to be a spokesperson.
“I don’t like to announce,” Irvin said. I’m serious! The announcement was to be my way alone. I wanted to manage, maybe even become a general manager one day. But WWE didn’t see a future for me other than a spokesperson. I like to watch the action, but I don’t like to be the speaker.”
This is especially surprising to fans because Irwin brought so much joy to the role, adding a lot of personality to every single name.
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That being said, it’s only natural to want to go further and do more at your job. Given the sheer amount of talent and charisma that Irwin has, not to mention how well-liked she is behind the scenes, there’s no question that she would make an amazing manager or general manager.
In the end, it seems like Irvin felt like WWE kept her around, not because they didn’t want her to succeed, but because she did her job so well. And Irvin has no ill feelings about the promotion.
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“I love WWE and I’m so proud and honored to have shared all the moments with other fans with so much love,” Irvin continued. “Also, they wanted Rico to stay in the big leagues. I don’t know why everyone is pretending that he’s always been in great positions in WWE.”
Those comments led some fans to claim that Irvin was bashing WWE, but she quickly addressed X to set the record straight, telling a fan, “I love WWE.”
Since his debut in 2021, Irvin has become a beloved part of the WWE Universe, uniquely announcing some of the most iconic moments in modern wrestling history.
Irwin began her career as a singer, reaching the semi-finals of America’s Got Talent and playing the role of Gladys Knight, Tina Turner and Betty Rizzo in the musical Grease.
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