Last week, the news broke that WWE ring announcer Samantha Irvin had decided to leave WWE. It appeared to be an amicable split but the news still left the vast majority of wrestling fans reeling.
We heard at the time that Irvin might be looking to explore a music career, but she's now shared additional details about her WWE departure while answering fan questions on Instagram.
The first revelation came when she stated, "I don't like announcing." Irvin then added, "I'm serious! Announcing was only supposed to be my way in. I wanted to manage, maybe even become general manager one day. But WWE saw no other future for me besides announcer. I love watching the action but I don't love being an announcer."
While it's hard to fault Irvin's ambitions, there aren't many ring announcers we can think of who did anything beyond that so the chances of her eventually becoming an on-air character were never good (something we'd imagine WWE communicated to her before she chose to leave).
"I love WWE and I'm so proud and honored I got to share all the moments with fellow fans much love," Irvin noted before expressing frustration with fans who wanted and expected her to remain in the company.
"They wanted [Ricochet] to stay in the big leagues. I don't know why everyone pretending like he was always in great positions at [WWE]...my husband is a millionaire so yes, I don't have to do a job I don't like anymore."
It's a shame Irvin's time in WWE ended on something of a sour note for her, especially when her work behind the microphone was so beloved. Needless to say, we hope she can now find a role she loves, regardless of whether it's in pro wrestling.
After being introduced to WWE by Mark Henry, Irvin tried out at the WWE Performance Center to be a wrestler before joining the company as a ring announcer for 205 Live. After working on NXT, she was promoted to SmackDown before making the leap to RAW last February.
Her work at this year's WrestleMania received widespread acclaim and the expectation was that she'd go down as one of WWE's all-time great ring announcers. While that may still happen, her time in the company was much shorter than any of us anticipated and it's clear now that Irvin has no interest in returning to a role she didn't enjoy.
As always, stay tuned for updates on her post-WWE future as we have them.