The Last Minute WWE Draft Brand Switch You Might Have Missed
Raw and SmackDown stars are switching sides, but who's going where? And why?
WWE have switched the Raw and SmackDown ring announcers in what seem to be the final trades of this year's Draft.
SmackDown star Samantha Irvin will be moving over to Monday Night Raw, while Raw's Mike Rome will head to the blue brand effective immediately.
Though this could be a coincidence, it seems likely that the switch is taking place for the benefit of a real life relationship rather than anything to do with either of the performers in question. Outside of the ring, Irvin (real name Samantha Johnson) is engaged to Trevor 'Ricochet' Mann, and the 'One & Only' was drafted to Raw alongside tag team partner Braun Strowman. In recent years, the company has made a conscious effort to keep couples together wherever possible, and may have made this decision with the individuals in mind.
Debuting on SmackDown in January 2022 following a stint in NXT, Irvin is gaining increasing popularity with fans for her particularly charismatic style of ring announcing, with various clips of her introducing the likes of The Bloodline and Imperium going viral. Mike Rome debuted on Raw as a backstage interviewer in 2017, and had been the regular ring announcer on the show since 2018.