When Samantha Irvin announced that she was exiting WWE, it took the professional wrestling world by surprise.
Yes, her significant other, Ricochet, had just moved to AEW, and yes, she is widely known for having exceptional talents outside of ring announcing, but many fans considered her the cream of the crop for a reason, and coming to the realization that she didn’t enjoy the gig broke that immersion to a degree.
Fortunately, in the months proceeding, Irvin has come to understand where fans are coming from a bit more by comparing their reactions to her own recent revelation that comedians Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, who once performed under the moniker Key & Peele for Comedy Central and beyond, aren’t actually good friends outside of work.
“I honestly didn’t understand why people were so upset until two days. I was like, ‘Let me be quiet and try to understand.’ Then, I read something that Key and Peele don’t talk. I don’t know if this is true, but I read that. I was so upset. It hit me, ‘That’s like me saying I don’t like announcing.’ That’s like Key and Peele not being friends,” Irvin noted via Fightful.
“I really do feel bad for anybody that I upset with sharing that. I actually thought we were really close, and I thought people knew. I thought for sure, ‘Oh, she definitely, this b**ch thinks she’s Paul Heyman.’ I thought people already knew. I loved my time there. I loved every single moment. For me, Samantha Irvin always had a plan. She always was thinking about how she was going to get out of that chair and get on the other side of things.”
Alright, what Irvin is most likely referring to is an interview with Key from back in September of 2024, when the comedian noted that it’s a “tragedy” that he and Peele don’t see each other more often in an exclusive interview with People that went viral online. Technically, the duo could still be friends, as they went from being roommates and running a show to no longer working together, but in a way, the comparison still stands: to many fans, Ring Announcer Samantha Irvin was as ubiquitous as Key & Peele and the sudden realization that everything wasn’t perfect in paradise is alarming.
Will Irvin eventually get a chance to prove she can be Paul Heyman-adjacent in an on-camera role for some wrestling promotion in the future? Yes, when her non-compete clause with WWE comes to an end, it’s safe to assume she will show up in AEW in one form or another, be that as Ricochet’s manager or something similar. But until that day comes, it’s at least encouraging to know she finally “gets” why some fans were upset and can use that knowledge as she plans her next move in the world of professional wrestling at some point down the line.
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