Samantha Irvin's Reason, Timeline For WWE Departure Revealed

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Former WWE ring announcer Samantha Irvin revealed that she gave her notice "months" ahead of her departure announcement on Monday (October 21).

Irvin, whose real name is Samantha Johnson, corrected a report that WWE was informed of her resignation "hours before" the live broadcast of Monday Night Raw in a post shared on her X account Tuesday (October 22) morning.

"Months* before Raw," Irvin wrote in response to Wrestling News' post citing PWInsider's report.

Irvin, 35, and WWE reportedly "couldn't come to terms" on her working outside projects, which resulted in her decision to leave the company, according to the Wrestling Observer's Bryan Alvarez.

"She’s got some outside projects she wants to do, apparently couldn’t come to terms with how it worked with WWE and off she goes," Alvarez said.

Irvin's fiancé, former WWE and current All Elite Wrestling star Ricochet, also denied that Irvin would follow his recent decision to switch companies amid speculation.

Irvin publicly revealed her decision in a lengthy statement shared on her social media accounts Monday, hours before RAW's live broadcast.

"WWE Universe, my time has come to an end as your Monday Night Raw Ring Announcer," she 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 was hired by WWE in 2021 as the ring announcer for its 205 Live show and later NXT before being promoted to SmackDown in 2022 and moved to RAW in 2023. Irvin served as the lone ring announcer for all 14 matches during WrestleMania XL, receiving praise from legendary boxing and WCW ring announcer Michael Buffer and legendary WWE ring announcer Lillian Garcia, who returned Monday night as Irvin's full-time replacement.

“Sam, I do wanna tell you, I think you’re an extraordinary talent and you’re unbelievable and I know it wasn’t easy to walk away from here and I wish you all the success in your music career, I know you’re gonna kill it," Garcia said in an Instagram video addressing her full-time return.


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