Popular WWE Star Rules Out Return To The Company

A former WWE employee has made it clear that a return isn’t going to happen.

Samantha Irvin was a popular WWE ring announcer who announced in October 2024 that she was leaving the company after debuting in April 2021.

Irvin’s announcement was surprising because of how much WWE fans loved her and felt a stronger connection to her than to most ring announcers. Since Irvin was also a lifelong pro wrestling fan, videos of her reactions to matches and moments often went viral as well.

While responding to some fans who were talking about her past in WWE, Samantha made it clear on social media that she wasn’t going back to WWE.

“I’m not going back to WWE 🙏🏽”

In October 2025, about a year after leaving the company, Samatha Johnson (her real name) announced that she had another year left on her non-compete clause.

One year down, one year left on my non-compete! Can’t wait 😛 I hope you enjoy my songs in the meantime and look back on all the memories as fondly as I do! Love & miss you all, and remember- I NEVER left FOR music, I am music. Hope to see you soon…..

The non-compete clause likely exists because she left WWE while she had two years left on her contract, but she has chosen to focus on things other than pro wrestling, like her interest in music.

Samantha Irvin Could Join AEW With Former WWE Star Ricochet

During her time in WWE, Samantha met her husband, Ricochet, who has since joined AEW and become the company’s National Champion.

While Samantha likely can’t join AEW until October 2026, when her non-compete clause expires, Ricochet told Ariel Helwani that his wife would consider it.

“She probably would consider it, for sure, but I think right now she….she honestly was thinking about leaving and letting it be known for a little bit that she wanted to leave before I was even, six or seven months before I was (leaving), she was already thinking about it. Not that she didn’t like announcing. She loved the actual act and being in the front row. For her, saying someone’s weight and hometown wasn’t her dream.

She made it obvious she wanted to do more. People like Paul Heyman pulled her aside and talked to her. She’s talking to Michael Hayes and he’s like, ‘You want to learn more, don’t you?’ She’s like, ‘Absolutely.’ ‘I can tell you want to learn more.’ When she knew that they knew, ‘we have such a good thing.’ She was so good at it.

You have to think, if you had Mariah Carey, I know people are going to throw me to the wolves for saying this, but if you had Mariah Carey be a ring announcer, it’s going to be awesome.”

Ricochet signed with AEW in August 2024 after spending six years with WWE, an it’s certainly possible that his wife joins him later in 2026.