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As PWInsider.com broke last night, Samantha Irvin resigned from her role as Raw ring announcer, leading to WWE bringing in Lilian Garcia for last night's Raw in Philadelphia.
PWInsider.com is told that most in WWE did not expect Irvin to resign and WWE sources made it clear Irvin was well liked and respected for her role. However, there were several factors that led to Irvin making the decision to exit the company we are told.
Chief among them was scheduling as Irvin was splitting time between WWE and her family. One source pointed out that WWE's road schedule, even as reduced as it is now from years prior, still meant Irvin was on the road away from her daughter. We are told that at one point, there was discussion of Irvin working a reduced schedule but it never came to pass, which may have played into her decision to leave. With signifigant other Ricochet no longer with WWE and working a vastly different schedule, that also could have factored into her decision, but no one has specifically stated that to PWInsider.com.
We are also told that without a reduced schedule, it was also making it increasingly hard for Irvin to concentrate on outside endeavors - and with her notoriety from WWE TV, there had been increased interest in her from other parties. We are told that Irvin intends to focus primarily on her music career going forward and this was not a case of her seeking to jump from WWE to AEW. Ricochet noted that she was not joining him in AEW on social media last night, but in wrestling, things can always change with one idea or phone call,
It should be noted that there was talk among talent yesterday backstage at Raw that Irvin had asked to be transitioned from a ring announcer into more of a character with a larger role, but PWInsider.com has not been able to confirm that is accurate.
WWE owns the trademark on the Samantha Irvin name, so she would not be able to use it outside of WWE's auspices. She had previously used her real name Samantha Johnson in other musical and acting endeavors, including America's Got Talent in 2015.
In regard to questions as to how Irvin would leave, the belief among those we've spoke with is that she was a WWE employee, not an independent contractor like a wrestler would be. Therefore, she would be able to exit the company the same way anyone would leave their job. There is no belief there is any non-compete that would prevent her from appearing elsewhere, but as noted, all signs currently are that she's not seeking to do anything in the wrestling space imminently.
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