Ricochet Shares Details Behind Samantha Irvin WWE Exit Decision

WWE

AEW’s Ricochet has revealed the reason Samantha Irvin left WWE stating that she wanted to be more than an announcer.

Irvin announced her departure from WWE in October 2024 having joined the company in April 2021.

She has previously stated that she hoped to become a “manager or even a General Manager” but that WWE didn’t see her in such a role.

AEW’s Ricochet commented on his fiancee’s decision to leave WWE during an appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, saying:

“She’s been talking about that for a while, even before my stuff was up. I think it happened at WrestleMania. I think year’s WrestleMania [40] was for her, because, especially for her announcing was only supposed to be like the way into WWE. Because she, first and foremost, is a fan. Before all of that, she grew up with it. Her dad watched it and her brothers grew up with it.

“So, of course, yes, she’s a performer. So her time performing and traveling the world performing got her to a position to where Mark Henry found her and said, Oh, this girl is amazing. We need her for something. Again, like I was telling you earlier, the pandemic happened. She used to live in Vegas and did Cirque du Soleil, and she did Vegas and she did stage shows. So when the pandemic happened, luckily Mark Henry got a hold of her during that.

“She actually did the full tryout, because they didn’t know she was going to be a ring announcer. Mark Henry said, we just need this girl for something. She’s so talented, we need her. She’s got pictures where she was hitting the ropes, her tailbone is bruised and her back is bruised, big bruises on her back. She did the whole tryout, taking bumps, body slams, did the whole thing.

“Then I think she was in NXT as an interviewer. Then I think once Greg Hamilton did his thing she replaced him on SmackDown because she was already interviewing, but they needed somebody. Then they just kind of said, Hey, can you do this? And she was like, Yeah, sure, because she was already doing 205 Live, and she was doing things like that.

“But again, I think ring announcing was only supposed to be the way in, she wanted to be a character. That’s what she’s been her whole life. She’s been stage performing her whole life, drama club to stage performing, to traveling the world doing stage performance. So that’s kind of what she hoped, and then I think once WrestleMania happened, I think she was like, that’s the highest I’m going to get. Because for her, she’s a performer. It’s funny because it’s hard to explain, when you’re just a performer, I guess announcing, because now she’s getting hate because she said she didn’t enjoy announcing, but she enjoyed making the WWE Universe feel emotions, and she enjoyed using her voice to help promote and help move the company forward, but just literally, the act of ‘Coming to the ring and weighing at 230…’ This is just my Example. It’s like having Mariah Carey, but she’s just a ring announcer, and you don’t get any of the other stuff.”

On the subject of Irvin wanting more from her WWE career, Ricochet would reveal she “loved and respected” the role but wanted to be “like Paul Heyman”, stating:

“She wants to be a stage performer. It’s hard to sing, and it’s funny, because a lot of that stuff she was like, I’m so nervous. I don’t even want to do this, because it’s so nerve-wracking, especially the national anthem. Singing the national anthem is the hardest song you can sing. Especially just the pressure of singing the national anthem when you’re on a pay-per-view, or you’re at Allegiant Stadium, and all the fans are watching, it’s the hardest song to sing, and you gotta pick your breaths properly.

“But again, at the end of the day, she loves and respects the position, and she loves and respects wrestling, but she wanted to be like Paul Heyman, like a manager or something. But at the end of the day, it’s like me, for example. I loved WWE, and I loved my time there, and I loved everything that I did. But at the end of the day, it’s a huge production. It’s the biggest production in entertainment, it travels, it’s huge. It’s the biggest show on earth.

“I think in that production, people kind of have their roles, and this is what I was telling her, I feel like she broke tradition. That’s why people are kind of upset. Because, again, how long was Fink doing it? How long did Lillian do it? Justin Roberts still doing it. The fact that she only did for four years and then she found out this isn’t what I was born to do.”

On the fans being upset at her departure and subsequent comments, Ricochet went on to say:

“I think she broke the tradition of wrestling. Again, you have people who are in it forever. Look at Rey Mysterio and AJ Styles, because they’ve been doing it for so long, and they’re still in it, they’re still doing that.

“So I think especially when wrestling fans find something that makes them feel good and makes what they like watching better, they just want it forever. I watch One Piece. It’s on 1,100 episodes. I want more episodes, I don’t want it to stop.”

Irvin has previously refuted the claim that she informed WWE of her departure plans ahead of the October 21 episode of Raw.

With Ricochet in AEW, it has been reported that Irvin isn’t set to join him and that she “won’t be working in the pro wrestling space for a long time.”

Transcript from chrisvanvliet.com

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• Samantha Irvin
• ricochet
• AEW
• wwe

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