Samantha Irvin says she knew she was leaving WWE well in advance.
Irvin announced she was leaving WWE on Monday afternoon. In the wake of this, several sources reported details about her departure, including a report from PWInsider.com, which claimed WWE “was made aware earlier” on Monday of her decision to leave.
Irvin has since responded to an aggregation of this report, claiming that she did not surprise WWE with the move. To the contrary, Irvin says she gave WWE several months’ notice.
PWInsider.com also reported that Irvin’s decision to leave was for multiple reasons, including being away from her daughter. In addition, it was noted that Irvin received interest for outside projects, but was unable to focus on that due to the demanding WWE schedule. Irvin has not responded to these claims, nor has she explained publicly why she chose to leave WWE.
Many fans believe she will be headed to AEW, or at least get some interest from the company. Her fiance, Ricochet, put these rumors to rest, however, and said she’s not joining AEW.
Lilian Garcia re-joined WWE on Monday, taking over for Irvin as RAW ring announcer.
Lilian Garcia on Samantha Irvin
Garcia momentarily reprised her ring announcer role as she and Samantha Irvin introduced a King of the Ring quarterfinal match on the May 13, 2024 episode of RAW. Garcia told WrestleZone it was actually Triple H who pitched her appearance with Irvin, calling it a spontaneous and moving moment.
“I don’t know what came over me when I was in the ring, then I put her over in the ring. That wasn’t planned, but I love just speaking from the heart,” Garcia added. “I genuinely thought she was doing a great job, so I wanted to say it in front of everyone. Then people were like, ‘Oh my gosh, it was like passing of the torch.’ I was like, wow. I never even looked at it that way, but I guess when I look back, I’m like, oh yeah, it did seem like that.
“What a cool place for me to be in to think about that, me passing the torch to someone. Sometimes I have to pinch myself,” she continued. “I have to pinch myself for the career that I was able to have there. And a lot of it was A, the company right, keeping me there. And then B, the fans keeping me there and embracing me that the way they did, and just seeing that I genuinely loved being there. I was a fan first. I used to watch it with my dad, so coming to work was so exciting and it was always different. That’s what I love, I love spontaneity.”
Watch our full interview with Lilian Garcia below:
