McKenzie Mitchell Signs With TNA As Full-Time Ring Announcer

Just over a year ago, McKenzie Mitchell was rising through the ranks as one of WWE NXT’s top broadcasters. Then, out of nowhere, she was hit with a corporate layoff, leaving her future in wrestling uncertain. Now, Mitchell is making a major comeback—right where her career started.

After a surprise TNA appearance as the ring announcer for Genesis in January, Mitchell has officially signed on as TNA’s permanent ring announcer, replacing Jade Chung. Speaking with The Takedown on SI, Mitchell opened up about her unexpected WWE release and how it led her back to TNA Wrestling.

“My release came at a very unexpected time,” she admitted. “It was very—we didn’t know it was happening. It was a surprise to everybody. My family, my friends, I think peers. But it helps you grow. It helps you learn and to kind of go, ‘what’s next?'”

For Mitchell, “what’s next” turned out to be a return to TNA, but in a completely new role. She went from being a backstage interviewer to the official voice of TNA’s in-ring action.

“It’s another skill, as I’ve mentioned, that I’m tapping into—from backstage correspondent to now really just embracing this new role as a ring announcer. I’m so excited to get to try my hand with some things and again, make it my own. We all have these different sounds, these different perceptions of what these ring announcers should look like and should feel like. And so I’m really excited to be the full-time ring announcer for TNA and just make it my own, and grow within this role.”

Mitchell has been studying some of the best ring announcers in the business, including Lilian Garcia, Christy Hemme, and Alicia Taylor. She also worked house shows during her NXT tenure, but stepping into this role full-time is an entirely different challenge.

“It’s such a different skill to tap into as a backstage interviewer, backstage correspondent. That’s really been my bread and butter for eight years, nine years in professional wrestling. So it’s a different tone. It’s a different conversation, because as a backstage correspondent, you’re conversational, you’re developing that rapport with talent, with an audience, and connecting on a different level.”

She also revealed that ring announcing is physically demanding, comparing it to an athletic skill.

“My vocal coach has said time and time again, being a ring announcer and being able to project, and a commentator, if you will, it’s an athletic thing. You’re having to kind of tap into that athletic skill, if you will, whenever you’re announcing as well. Because you’re pulling from your stomach, your chest, your throat.”

Mitchell’s return to TNA comes at a time when the company is making big moves, including its multi-year partnership with WWE. And with her husband, Vic Joseph, still working as NXT’s play-by-play announcer, the crossover between the two brands makes this even more personal for her.

“It’s really just the perfect partnership, the perfect timing, very coincidental for me,” she said. “It’s ironic because it’s no secret that my husband works at WWE still as the NXT play-by-play. And so in a kind of weird way, we’re working together again. And that’s really special in itself to be able to connect with my husband in different ways.”

For Mitchell, this isn’t just a new job—it’s a homecoming.

“With this new partnership with WWE and TNA, the sky is the limit. I think that there’s so much that’s to unfold that we’re really excited for. And to see where Joe Hendry can take the TNA World Championship, and to see the Knockouts Division continue to grow, it’s just so amazing. For me, it’s really special to be back in TNA for the second time. It’s for sure a homecoming.”

McKenzie Mitchell’s return to TNA is more than just a career move—it’s a full-circle moment. After her unexpected WWE exit, she’s stepping into a new spotlight, proving that the wrestling business always has a way of bringing things back around. With TNA entering a new era and its partnership with WWE heating up, Mitchell is in the perfect place at the perfect time. Now, all eyes are on her as she takes on the role of TNA’s official ring announcer and makes it her own.