Samantha Irvin dismisses rumors from numerous reports about her WWE exit

Fans were certainly surprised by Samantha Irvin's announcement yesterday (October 21) that she was leaving her job with WWE Raw Ring announcer. A rumor that circulated after her announcement was that her employers had also been caught off guard, as Irvin told them just hours before last night's show. But in her first and only post since sharing the news of her exit, Irvin denied that claim and corrected it, saying she told WWE “months” earlier.

It's far from the only report on Wrestle Web this morning about the split between WWE and Irvin, arguably their most popular ring announcer since Howard Finkel.

• WrestleVotes confirmed Fightful's report (covered in today's rumor roundup) that Irvin's news “really shocked” a lot of people backstage. Raw yesterday.

• PWInsider says the “vast majority” of people at WWE learned of Irvin's decision yesterday, but “a very small group… knew before yesterday that the exit was likely imminent.”

• According to another PWInsider story, there were “multiple factors” in Irvin's decision to leave. One of these was also covered in Fightful's report: that WWE's travel schedule caused her to spend too much time away from her family, particularly her young daughter from a previous relationship. The fact that her current partner Ricochet is now in AEW probably also contributed to this. Insider says there were discussions about Irvin having a reduced schedule with WWE, “but it never materialized.”
• Insider also says that the demands of a WWE schedule affected her ability to take on outside projects that were increasingly offered to her as her WWE fame grew. She is now expected to focus primarily on her music career (recent reports indicate that Irvin has no plans to join AEW at this time, according to her fiancé Ricochet).

• On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer backed this up, adding that Irvin had “talked about pursuing a music career for a long, long time and finally pulled the trigger on it.” He said Irvin had “actually been thinking about it for about a year.”
• Bryan Alvarez added that Irvin and WWE “could not agree on an agreement” that would allow her to pursue outside projects.
• In an Instagram post about her recent return to WWE, Irvin's successor Lillian Garcia (who also left the ring in 2009 and announced she would focus on singing) wished Irvin well in her music career.
• Insider also points out that WWE owns the name “Samantha Irvin,” so she may return to performing under her real name, Samantha Johnson. They also say she is believed to have been a full-fledged WWE employee, not an independent contractor, and had no non-compete clause of any kind.

More than we have.