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Long before she became WWE's top announcer, Samantha Irvin wanted to be a wrestler before her exit. She recently showed off her battle wounds from her tryout.
She took to X, formerly Twitter, to share pictures from her tryout in December 2020. The first shows her wearing a face mask and a WWE Performance Center tryout T-shirt.
The second photo is Irvin showing off her bruises. Her upper and lower back are both bruised following the tryout. A fan asked if they were from doing “bad back bumps,” but Irvin revealed that they were from the ropes.
Doing the tryout, while not providing her a job as an in-ring talent, gave Irvin a new level of appreciation for the sport. “That's a big reason why I wanted to do it!” Irvin told a fan in the comments about having a “greater appreciation” for wrestlers. “I wanted them to know although I will absolutely not be hired in any athletic fashion (lmao)[,] I respect this so much.”
Another fan asked if doing the WWE tryout was “worth it,” to which she replied, “I was in the ring with The Rock at WrestleMania… yes, it was worth it [100%].”
While her wrestling career has been put on hold, Irvin has returned to making music. She recently released her first single since 2020, “Make Me.”
Samantha Irvin's surprising WWE exit
Despite being WWE's top ring announcer for several years, Irvin decided to leave the company in 2024. She left the company in October, which resulted in Lillian Garcia's return.
Before her wrestling career, Irvin gained notoriety for performing as the lead female vocalist in the Michael Jackson tribute show Thriller — Live. She performed in the show from 2011-15.
In 2015, Irvin appeared in Season 10 of America's Got Talent. She auditioned by performing Aretha Franklin's “(You Make Me Feel) Like a Natural Woman.” Irvin made it to the semi-finals before being eliminated. She also appeared on I Can See Your Voice and performed Lizzo's “Good as Hell.”
The following year, she released her debut EP, 27Underground. The album included her first single, “Jump High.” She then starred in a production of Grease at the Bedford Festival Theatre.
She started with WWE in 2021. Irvin was hired as the ring announcer for 205 Live on Peacock. The following year, she was promoted to the main roster, serving as Friday Night SmackDown's ring announcer for a year.
Irvin was then moved to Monday Night RAW in February 2023. She remained on RAW for the rest of her WWE tenure. At WrestleMania 40, she had the honor of introducing 14 matches.
Months later, Irvin left WWE to pursue her music career. Garcia returned to WWE to take her spot. Garcia and Alicia Taylor are now SmackDown and RAW's ring announcers.
Irvin is engaged to professional wrestler Ricochet. He similarly left WWE in June 2024 before joining AEW in August. He had been with the company since 2018 before his exit. Irvin has not ruled out a return to wrestling, and she could potentially join her fiancé in AEW someday.
