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.
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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.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
