Samantha Irvin’s Two-Year WWE Non-Compete Explained

Samantha Irvin has recently given fans a real update on her wrestling future—but the reason she won’t be showing up in AEW or any other promotion anytime soon goes back to her last deal with WWE.

While fans assumed Irvin left the company in 2024 to focus on her music career, that’s not exactly the whole story. According to Sean Ross Sapp during a Fightful Select Q&A, Irvin actually signed a new WWE contract in early 2024 that came with a major pay bump—but also a massive two-year non-compete clause that’s still active until October 2026.

“Yeah, so she had signed a new deal, I believe, early 2024. She had told them she didn’t want to be a ring announcer anymore. But they offered her a significant pay raise.”

That raise came with strings attached. WWE reportedly wanted to get their money’s worth by making Irvin more visible on television, putting the camera on her frequently during broadcasts in an attempt to create viral moments.

“But with that pay raise comes WWE, you know, obviously trying to make their money back on that. So that’s why you saw the camera on her face and all that. And then when they put the camera on her face, that leads to a lot of harassment and criticism and all that stuff. But they were trying to create viral moments with that.”

Despite WWE’s increased focus on her presentation, Irvin wasn’t interested in continuing the ring announcing role, even after they scaled back other announcers to feature her more prominently.

“They pulled a lot of talent—ring announcing talent—from the road and had her doing more. And she didn’t really want to do the ring announcing anyway.”

Still, the company’s lucrative offer was hard to turn down. Irvin accepted—but in doing so, she also agreed to one of the lengthiest non-compete clauses in recent memory.

“And from what I understand, she was very flattered by the deal, but when she took it, she took it with a pretty hefty non-compete as well. And that non-compete is halfway through now.”

Sean explained that Irvin’s deal was never about jumping ship to another promotion—it was about stepping away from announcing, not wrestling altogether. But her two-year non-compete means fans won’t see her back in the business until late 2026.

“Two years—she is a year into that. And at the time, I don’t think she was ever considering jumping ship. She just didn’t want to ring announce or anything like that.”

As for what comes next, Sean suggested that Irvin could return to wrestling in a new role—possibly even managing her real-life partner Ricochet once her contract restrictions are over.

“But maybe in October 2026, we’re talking about her managing Ricochet or something.”

He also noted that WWE’s claim that Irvin left “to pursue music” wasn’t exactly accurate—music has always been part of her life, even while she was working for WWE.

“But also, like—it was put out there by WWE that she left to pursue music. But that wasn’t it. Like, she’d always done music.”

Now a year into her non-compete, Irvin recently told fans on X that she’s counting down until she’s free to make her next move.

“One year down, one year left on my non-compete! Can’t wait 😛 I hope you enjoy my songs in the meantime and look back on all the memories as fondly as I do! Love & miss you all and remember—I NEVER left FOR music, I am music. Hope to see you soon…..”

With her two-year non-compete set to expire in October 2026, fans now have a clearer picture of why Samantha Irvin’s return to wrestling has taken so long—and what could be waiting for her when the countdown hits zero.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.