Tag: mckenzie mitchell

McKenzie Mitchell signs with TNA Wrestling as full-time ring announcer

Posted on by Ian Carey

McKenzie Mitchell is officially back in TNA Wrestling.

Mitchell returned at last month’s Genesis event, serving as ring announcer and replacing the departing Jade Chung on the show. On Tuesday, TNA officially announced that Mitchell has signed a deal to continue in the role.

Mitchell was a backstage interviewer for TNA from 2016 until signing with WWE in 2019, where she worked on the NXT brand before her release in December 2023.

Mitchell spoke with Sports Illustrated about her decision to return to TNA:

“I think quite a bit of how thankful I am that I started my career in TNA, to be able to build, to have those stepping stones, to be able to, you know, try things and kind of get my personality in TNA before I reached over to WWE. So I think it really just created that foundation that allowed me to grow my wings and to be able to soar in this world of professional wrestling.”

Mitchell also discussed the differences between being a backstage interviewer and a ring announcer.

“It’s such a different skill to tap into as a backstage interviewer, backstage correspondent,” she said. “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 to people backstage of when you’re on screen, you want to feel like everybody’s friend. But then when you are a ring announcer, you’re technically projecting your voice in a completely different way. And so, I’ve really honed in that skill lately.”

“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,” she continued. “You’re having to kind of tap into that athletic skill, if you will, whenever you’re announcing as well. Because you’re pulling you’re pulling from your stomach, your chest, your throat.”

Mitchell’s signing comes during a big week for TNA, as the promotion presents a live episode of Impact on Thursday from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, the former home of NXT. The promotion will return to the venue the following day for a set of television tapings as well.



McKenzie Mitchell returns as ring announcer at TNA Genesis

Posted on by Bryan Rose

McKenzie Mitchell has returned to TNA.

Ahead of Sunday’s Genesis pay-per-view, Mitchell made her return as the ring announcer for matches that took place during the Genesis pre-show. She was also shown prior to the X Division title match between champion Moose and challenger Ace Austin that kicked off the main card.

Mitchell first started out as a backstage interviewer for TNA from 2016 through 2019. Later in 2019, she signed with WWE and served as a backstage interviewer for NXT through 2023, when she was released from the company in December of that year. Mitchell served as a backstage correspondent for Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling shows that took place last October.

Jade Chung, the previous ring announcer for TNA, departed the company in December. She had replaced Dave Penzer.

The pre-show to Sunday’s pay-per-view saw Jake Something defeat Ashante Thee Adonis from NXT and Frankie Kazarian defeating Leon Slater. Ariana Grace from NXT also made an appearance, taking credit for the WWE/TNA partnership that was announced last week.

Former WWE NXT broadcaster McKenzie Mitchell set for Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling role

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Former WWE NXT broadcast team member McKenzie Mitchell is returning to pro wrestling next month for a role with Scott D’Amore’s new promotion.

Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling announced today that Mitchell will serve as the backstage correspondent for the promotion’s debut events on Saturday, October 19 and Sunday, October 20. The shows are named Forged in Excellence and are taking place from St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

“Hi wrestling friends,” Mitchell tweeted. “Excited to step back onto a backstage set.”

Mitchell was released by WWE in December 2023 after working for NXT as a backstage interviewer and on-air personality. Before her time in WWE, she had a similar role in Impact Wrestling.

Both nights of Forged in Excellence will air as live pay-per-views on Triller TV. Mauro Ranallo and Don Callis will be the commentary team, while former TNA broadcaster Sam Leterna will be the ring announcer.

Josh Alexander, Konosuke Takeshita, Athena, Gisele Shaw, Mike Bailey, El Phantasmo, Raj Dhesi (Jinder Mahal), KUSHIDA, Alex Zayne, Kevin Knight, Jake Something, Kylie Rae, Trevor Lee, QT Marshall, Miyu Yamashita, Stu Grayson, Sheldon Jean, Aiden Prince, Brent Banks, and Laynie Luck have been announced for the shows.

Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling is a revival of the Maple Leaf Wrestling brand that originally existed from the 1930s to the 1980s. It’s a new project for D’Amore after he was fired by TNA Wrestling earlier this year.

Daily Update: Roman Reigns, Tony Khan, McKenzie Mitchell

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Daily Update

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

January 1, 2024 Observer Newsletter: AEW Worlds End preview, NJPW front office changes

  • Match and performer of the week
  • Notes on the recent AEW departures
  • AEW financial notes for 2023
  • Some rights fees thoughts
  • Tony Khan talks the TV landscape
  • A look at Worlds End
  • The most detailed look at the New Japan decision to make Hiroshi Tanahashi president and comments from many in the industry about it
  • Full details on the WWE’s biggest grossing U.S. house show in history on Tuesday in Madison Square Garden plus past history from the event
  • The Iron Claw, history of the Von Erichs, in a long detailed article regarding the rise and fall and the making of the movie
  • Preview of the Tokyo Dome show, advance ticket sales and Stardom PPV
  • How many tickets are comped at the usual AEW and WWE shows
  • 2023 Awards ballot
  • Dragon Gate’s Final Gate show
  • The most detailed look at the ratings from the past week, placings for the night and week, competition, segment-by-segment, gains and losses from one year ago and more
  • Andrade heads to Mexico and a big business week
  • Another two Vikingo vs. Taurus matches
  • New Japan bodybuilding contest notes
  • Major shows for New Japan in the first three months of he year
  • One of the best trios matches in a long time
  • DDT tournament finals set
  • Notes on a book on wrestling history
  • New Scottish wrestling Hall of Famer
  • Chris Jericho and Stephen New
  • Tony Khan’s recent press call
  • Dynamite headed for tougher competition
  • Advance ticket sales for WWE & AEW shows
  • Streaming numbers for AEW & WWE
  • Amanda Huber talks anniversary of Jon Huber’s death
  • Dana White on UFC 300
  • More on the MLW lawsuit settlement
  • Changing an angle
  • Return of a WWE tag team
  • Injury return updates
  • Longest running pro wrestling TV show in history
  • Bill Goldberg speaks on Vince McMahon
  • Rundown of the recent WWE house shows

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

Tuesday Update

WWE

AEW & Other Wrestling

  • Tony Khan posted a message on Monday reflecting on the five-year anniversary of AEW’s launch: “Happy New Year 2024! 5 years ago today, we launched @AEW 1/1/19! 2023 marked new highs, our biggest PPV year ever, world record 81,035 tickets sold #AEWAllIn London, debuted #AEWCollision + ended the year with a streak of big tv ratings! Thank you all who made this all possible.”
  • Willow Nightingale will be on Food Network’s Superchef Grudge Match Tuesday night.
  • In an interview with SEScoops, former NXT backstage interviewer McKenzie Mitchell talked about her sudden release from WWE. “It’s been quite a rollercoaster as you would expect when someone gets released,” Mitchell said. “For me, it was not expected. I didn’t expect it was going to happen, but I was able to take the news and what happened and move forward. It was unfortunate that it happened during the holidays but also a blessing as well because I was able to spend time with my family and friends, my husband, and my kids. All of that. It has been nice to decompress. 2023 has been a really hard year for us in every facet of life, so I’m able to take these last two weeks and hit the restart button before we hit 2024.”
  • New NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi spoke to Sports Illustrated ahead of Wrestle Kingdom 18.
  • A NJPW Kazuchika Okada interview was uploaded to their YouTube channel.
  • Nic Nemeth, the former Dolph Ziggler, will be at WrestleCon during WrestleMania weekend.

McKenzie Mitchell excited for new beginnings after WWE NXT release

Posted on by Joseph Currier

McKenzie Mitchell is excited for new beginnings after her WWE release.

Mitchell, a member of the NXT broadcast team, was released from her WWE contract on December 1. She had been part of the company since 2019, working as an on-air personality and backstage interviewer.

While appearing on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Mitchell addressed her release. Mitchell said she’s excited for the future and what’s to come. Mitchell said the support she received from everyone following her release made her emotional.

I’m good. You know, I think once the dust has settled, it’s been really — it’s a blessing. I think that there are so many new beginnings, and I’m excited to see what’s to come in the future. The outreach and the support that I’ve gotten from friends, family, coworkers, colleagues, production, staff executives in WWE, the fans most importantly, it’s been insane. That’s what made me emotional when I got released was being able to hear from everyone how much I impacted their opinion when watching WWE and when watching NXT. That’s what made me emotional was hearing from all of the people, like, their favorite moments in my career and the favorite interviews that I’ve done and the magic that was created on screen, like that made such a big impact on me to see what I made on them.

When asked how she’s processing her release, Mitchell said she’s been putting her creative efforts into her Headline by MM jewelry line. Mitchell said she still watches WWE and NXT and is supportive of all her friends in the company. She texts her husband Vic Joseph good luck before every NXT broadcast. Joseph is the play-by-play voice of NXT.

I think it’s like I said, I think this is a way to say there’s a new beginning in everything and just kind of like, ‘Okay, what’s next?’ I know, like I said, I have my jewelry business. And so I’ve been putting all my efforts into that, into my creativity there. That’s almost my full-time. My husband still works within the company, obviously. So that’s really interesting that he’s still there, I’m not. I don’t know if people know but we were the first couple on the announce team. Like genuinely that are announcer and announcer that are married. So we kind of like really figured it out there, but I’m of course still supportive of WWE and NXT and I still watch him and I still text him good luck before every show. Obviously all my friends are still there. So I’m still supportive regardless.

On a media conference call after Mitchell’s release, Shawn Michaels said he was blindsided by the news. Michaels said Mitchell was well-liked in NXT and he hopes they can work together again in the future.

Van Vliet asked Mitchell about potentially returning to WWE down the road.

Never say never. I know that people say that and it kind of sounds cliche, but it’s true. Like I didn’t get to have my goodbye in WWE. I didn’t get to choose to leave. And that’s where I was saying, I think it’s — some people need to take a break, I didn’t get that opportunity to say like, I’m ready to take a break. I was ready to keep on going and go to WrestleMania and do the Royal Rumbles and all of those things. So it was really awesome to hear Shawn say those things. And never say never.

Mitchell named having a WrestleMania moment as something she wanted to accomplish in WWE but never got to do. She didn’t get to have a WrestleMania interview, host a main roster pre-show, or make it on the road with Raw or SmackDown.

Before her time in WWE, Mitchell was a broadcaster for TNA/Impact Wrestling. She told Chris Van Vliet that she had never watched pro wrestling before working for Impact.

Shawn Michaels NXT media call: CM Punk, McKenzie Mitchell, NXT Europe

Posted on by Josh Nason

Ahead of Saturday’s WWE NXT Deadline, Shawn Michaels talked to the media for nearly an hour on Thursday afternoon where he gave some insight into the rehiring of CM Punk, McKenzie Mitchell’s release, Wes Lee’s injury, and more.

On Punk returning, Michaels said he felt the decision made business sense for everyone and is glad to see him back. He said it makes the end of someone’s career easier if they go out on their own terms. He reiterated he seems them as very similar people.

He was blindsided by Mitchell’s release last week, but said she is always part of the NXT family and that he hopes they can work together again someday. She was very well-liked by people down there, according to him.

There is no update on NXT Europe other than that they are still working on it and that the region is an important one for the company.

The decision to pull Wes Lee from this Saturday’s Deadline was a last-second one as Lee has been struggling with his injury for a while and that they didn’t know the depth of it. He didn’t think he could make it through the match given the pain he’s in so they made the call.

To hear his thoughts on Lexis King, Trick Williams, why the 18-34 demo is enjoying NXT more these days, and more, click the link below for the audio:

Click Here to Listen

McKenzie Mitchell, corporate employees laid off by WWE

Posted on by Josh Nason

WWE and NXT on-air personality McKenzie Mitchell has been released as the company continues to shed employees following their September merger with UFC to form the new TKO.

Mitchell took to X Friday to both announce the news and to reflect on her time in the company:

Mitchell joined WWE back in September 2019 fresh off a stint in Impact Wrestling in addition to working for both Fox Sports West and Fan Girl Sports in her career. She and WWE NXT broadcaster Vic Joseph got married in October 2022.

The news comes on the heels of a report from Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston that WWE (part of TKO along with UFC) has laid off more corporate employees Friday. The number of employees laid off, nor whether Mitchell’s layoff was tied to those cuts, is unknown at this time.

Following the September merger, WWE laid off more than 100 employees in a variety of departments as TKO followed through with their promises of finding what they called efficiencies with both WWE and UFC.

WWE NXT’s McKenzie Mitchell and Vic Joseph get married

Posted on by Ethan Renner

McKenzie Mitchel and Vic Joseph of the WWE NXT announce team were married Friday in Italy. 

Mitchell wrote: “yesterday I married my best friend” in an Instagram post. 

Mitchell and Joseph posted their wedding announcement on social media this weekend. Wrestling luminaries present for the festivities included Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green, John Morrison and Taya Valkyrie, 

Joseph, 37, and Mitchell, 28, announced their engagement last November. 

Mitchell has been with WWE since 2019 following a stint as a backstage interviewer for Impact Wrestling from 2016 to 2019. Although she has primarily worked on the NXT brand, she has also served as a backstage interviewer on select episodes of Raw and SmackDown. 

Joseph signed with WWE in 2017 and has served as the lead play-by-play voice of the NXT brand since August 2020. He previously served as lead announcer for the 205 Live brand, NXT UK, episodes of WWE Main Event, and was briefly the lead announcer for Raw from September 2019 to January 2020.

WWE NXT’s Vic Joseph & McKenzie Mitchell announce engagement

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Image: WWE

Two members of the NXT broadcast team have announced their engagement.

On their social media accounts Friday, NXT commentator Vic Joseph (real name Victor Travagliante) and backstage interviewer McKenzie Mitchell revealed that they’ve gotten engaged. “Life is fun with you..let’s do it forever,” Mitchell wrote.

Joseph joked that he finally listened to Beyonce and put a ring on it.

Joseph and Mitchell went public with their relationship in November 2020.

Joseph does play-by-play for NXT, working alongside Wade Barrett and Beth Phoenix on the commentary team. He co-hosts the WWE After the Bell podcast with Corey Graves as well. Joseph has a background in sports broadcasting and also did independent wrestling commentary prior to signing with WWE in 2017. He was part of the Raw commentary team from September 2019 to January 2020.

Mitchell joined WWE in September 2019 after previously working for Impact Wrestling. In addition to conducting backstage interviews, Mitchell co-hosts the WWE digital series “What’s NeXT” with Alicia Taylor.

Former Impact Wrestling interviewer McKenzie Mitchell joins WWE

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Former Impact Wrestling broadcast team member McKenzie Mitchell is now with WWE.

On her social media accounts today, Mitchell announced that she’s joined WWE as an on-air host: “DREAM COME TRUE your newest @WWE on-air host”

Mitchell was part of the Impact broadcast team as a backstage interviewer until departing the promotion this January. She wrote a farewell post to Impact at the time: “Grateful. Changed. IMPACTed. Undoubtedly the most exhilarating and exciting experience of my life thus far. Words can’t describe my appreciation for @impactwrestling and company and all that I’ve learned with this experience. To my friends, family, and fans- you guys rock and are the reason why I love doing what I do each and every day. 2019 is a year of change and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”

House of Hardcore commentator Matt Camp also announced that he’s signed with WWE: “My first @WWE event was 2/23/92 in @TheGarden. Appropriately enough, this is my first week as an on-air host/digital talent for WWE. Thanks to everyone who supported me along the way.”

Camp is Bleacher Report’s lead fantasy football analyst and a host on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio.