McKenzie Mitchell is officially returning to TNA Wrestling, signing a contract to become the company’s new full-time ring announcer. The move marks a homecoming for Mitchell, who began her broadcasting career with TNA in 2016 before making a name for herself in WWE as an NXT host and backstage correspondent.
TNA Wrestling announces the signing of McKenzie Mitchell as its new ring announcer
Mitchell’s return to TNA comes just over a year after she was unexpectedly released by WWE in December 2023 during corporate layoffs. Reflecting on the transition, she described the sudden career shift as a learning experience.
“My release came at a very unexpected time… but it helps you grow,” she told Sports Illustrated.
Mitchell recently made her TNA ring-announcing debut at Genesis in January, calling Joe Hendry’s TNA World Championship victory. Now, she steps into the role permanently, replacing Jade Chung.
While she has years of on-screen experience, she acknowledges ring announcing requires a different skill set.
“It’s a different tone, a different conversation,” she said. “I’m excited to make it my own.”
Her return aligns with TNA’s new partnership with WWE, a connection made even more personal by her husband, NXT commentator Vic Joseph.
“In a kind of weird way, we’re working together again,” Mitchell noted. “It’s really special.”
For Mitchell, this next chapter is more than just a job—it’s a full-circle moment. “It’s for sure a homecoming.”
McKenzie Mitchell’s Work in WWE and TNA
Mitchell’s career spans nearly a decade in professional wrestling broadcasting. Her initial TNA run from 2016-2019 saw her serve as both backstage interviewer and social media manager. She then joined WWE in August 2019, working as an NXT correspondent, digital content host, and premium live event kickoff panelist until December 2023.
After departing WWE, Mitchell returned to TNA at the Genesis event on January 19, 2025, taking over ring announcing duties from the departing Jade Chung. Her full-time signing solidifies TNA’s broadcast team heading into 2025.
McKenzie Mitchell may no longer be a part of WWE, but the former interviewer has landed on her feet with a new musical role.
Mitchell was released from WWE in December of last year in a shock to fans as she had been a regular presence on programming right until her exit. WWE NXT head Shawn Michaels would later say he was sad to see her cut and that he hadn’t been part of the decision. WWE Superstars also shared their support to Mitchell, the wife of WWE NXT commentator Vic Joseph.
McKenzie Mitchell’s Musical Move
Mitchell will be a part of ‘The Last Match,’ a new rock musical centered on professional wrestling. On Twitter, Mitchell, in character as commentator Scarlett Sublime, shared her excitement for the project.
Since I could walk and talk I’ve had a microphone in my hand. Performing is where I have always felt most comfortable and where I shine. Fun fact! When I was young I used to sing and dance and actually performed in front of thousands of fans at the age of 6. I won’t necessarily… pic.twitter.com/jBk1fdzCEl
Mitchell won’t be the only notable name on stage for The Last Match. Popular Wrestling YouTube personality Simon Miller will be portraying Alexander Swagger. In addition to his work online, Miller has also gotten in the ring from time to time, including at IMPACT Wrestling’s Turning Point show last year.
The show’s inaugural performance will take place on April 26, from the Temple in Rochester, New York. The show tells the story of Ben Vengeance who is walking into his final wrestling pay-per-view event to challenge for the BTD Championship held by Swagger/Miller.
For more information about The Last Match, including news on tickets and how to buy them, click here.
When someone loses their job, that is often a hard pill to swallow. Let alone during the holidays. However, after McKenzie Mitchell was released from WWE not long after Thanksgiving, she took it in stride. The now-former NXT interviewer began hitting the ground running, preparing for what’s on the horizon. It’s that strong work ethic that fueled her success within pro wrestling, starting right out of college with TNA Impact Wrestling and into the deep waters of WWE.
WWE Release
“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.”
Mitchell felt an overwhelming response as the pro wrestling world heard the news. Co-workers, staff, executives, and fans from all over the globe reached out. Among the colleagues was one certain veteran and a “Man.”
Receiving Support
“I did have Terry Taylor reach out to me, which was nice,” she said. “He stuck out because he is so respected in the business. So that was really important and awesome he reached out and gave me a personal phone call. Becky Lynch texted me a really nice message. She is so well-respected, obviously, as a top competitor in the women’s division and the world. It was awesome to hear her kind words. It meant so much.”
Perhaps the news didn’t sink in until that first Tuesday broadcast when her husband and WWE NXT commentator Vic Joseph went to work. For Mitchell, it was an adjustment not to join him.
Reality Sinking In
“I’ll be very honest. For four years, we worked together. You just get into the routine of things,” she said. On Tuesdays, we would go to television together. I would go into makeup, and he would start to talk to Booker T and prepare his notes for the night. So the first couple of weeks were really weird. I was like, ‘Okay, see you later. I’m going to do this at home.’ Or, ‘I’m going to take the dogs on a walk.’ And then he was going into TV. It has an emotional impact on you a little bit. It was very sad for the first couple of weeks just because you get into a routine of things. I have so many friends and my husband in NXT and WWE and wrestling.
“So my love for wrestling doesn’t go away because I get fired or released. I’m able to still watch. I’m kind of taking a break for a little bit. I will say that. The last couple of weeks I didn’t watch as I was spending time with family. I did watch the week after I got released. I don’t know why. I was just like, ‘I feel like I still have a part in the show.” I wanted to support them in general. Now after the release and taking that time, I’m just giving myself a break a little bit.”
Even before her release, Mitchell was expanding on other interests and passions. It’s that entrepreneurial spirit that led to the launching of Headline by MM in June. Her family has been rooted in the jewelry business for 75 years, making it the perfect creative outlet to keep them connected. “It has been wild to see the success so far. All the love and support I’ve felt from people who have worn my stuff,” Mitchell said. “Natalya loves to wear Headline. I will say that. I’ll see an order come through and will be from Nattie. I’m like, ‘Nattie, why don’t you message me? I would have sent you this stuff.’ She is a businesswoman herself, so she knows the hustle and grind. I’m excited to see where it’s going in 2024.”
What’s Next?
On the wrestling side, Mitchell has already begun hitting the convention circuit and adding dates. She even began taking Cameo requests. Even while in school, the University of Mississippi grad knew how powerful social media and marketing can be. She also takes inspiration from those within the industry.
“First and foremost I will say Matt Cardona has done it flawlessly,” Mitchell added. “He is my best friend’s husband. Chelsea Green is my best friend. Matt is so business-savvy. Not only when it comes to wrestling and who he is as a performer, but when it comes to his podcast, shows, and all the things he is involved in. He has flawlessly taken the independent scene by storm. I look to him for advice. I’ll text him and say, “What do you think about this?” He is one I reached out to.
“I have also been able to ask my husband. Social media is so different now. It’s such a catalyst and way to promote yourself and connect to people all over the world. It has been that way, but I think since COVID it has taken a different approach. You’re able to speak for yourself. Just put up a camera and say, ‘Hey, let’s film this. Let’s go live.’ That has been really cool. I think social media is a different way to navigate the world now, but it’s also new and exciting given I’m situation I’m in right now.”
Mitchell is overall proud of her evolution, following in the footsteps of so many who have come before. She feels it’s a good time to be an interviewer with more freedom and bandwidth to express who an individual is as a personality rather than just hold a microphone. The broadcaster felt it’s that authenticity that shines through and connects to the audience. She felt nothing from support from her fellow announcers over the years.
“We’re all in the same position,” Mitchell said. “If someone is struggling with something it’s, ‘How can I help you?’ When I was learning ring announcing, people thought when I was at Impact that I just kind of knew how to do it. I knew quite a bit of things. How to host, interviews, but I never picked up the skill of doing ring announcing. So when I was transitioning to doing WWE live events more often, that was a skill I had to figure out. Byron Saxton is someone that is very underrated. He has so many skills and facets and things he can do. He is one I love to learn from.”
Her Time with TNA & WWE
Mitchell’s intro into the business was trial by fire when she joined TNA Impact Wrestling in 2016. It’s while their the TV personality built her foundation and ever-lasting bonds that continue today.
“I think people still don’t know that I didn’t watch a day of wrestling in my life before I got the job,” she said. “I spent time learning on the spot. Learning as we went along. Who these people were. Who are these superstars? Where did they come from? What is their background? Who are they as humans? I put my head down and got to learn and put the work in during my time with Impact. I’m thankful for that opportunity to start at Impact where it was a little more forgiving than WWE sometimes. We had some taped shows, so I was able to learn as we went through.
“Then with WWE, you’re live, so if you mess up, you mess up on the fly. But that was a really unique experience. That when the red light goes on can you do it or not. I loved my time at Impact because of the camaraderie from the talent, executives, and everyone involved that we got established. Then it was cool down the road when I got to see Bobby Lashley, Cameron Grimes, LA Knight, Chelsea Green, Allie. We all are still a family and hang out and talk to each other. I’m t thankful for that experience from day one.”
On if we’d see her in TNA again or another promotion, she is open to opportunities. Adding,“I can’t reveal all my cards. I’ve had some fun auditions that are outside of wrestling. That’s all I’ll say… There is one project I’ve been very passionate about that I’d pitched for four years.
It never got followed through with. I never did it. So, I’m stating that in January, which will be independent on my own. I’m looking forward to that. That will involve wrestling.
“Tap into the celebrity more and outside media into entertainment as well. I think with wrestling it’s hard once you’re in you’re in. You’re sucked into it. It’s like what next?…But it’s okay to say you don’t know sometimes and take a moment and breathe and ask yourself, “Where do you want to go? What’s my new direction?’”
Mitchell takes pride in her time with WWE. From NXT to even stepping in on the main roster like SmackDown a time or two, she was up for any challenge.
“I’d say some of my highlights were hosting the kickoff shows for NXT. That was 30 minutes or an hour where it’s just genuine real conversation. We got to do more things on the fly. That was a moment of, ‘We trust you and this is your show and make it your own and see what you can do.’ That was for me a breakthrough moment. It was a different McKenzie you saw. What’s NeXT will always be very special to me with Alicia Taylor. We had Triple H on the show, which was really cool. When we asked for him to be on the show, I didn’t expect him to come on our little grungy-type show that was in the back of the Performance Center because we didn’t want to make it feel too staged.
“When he said let’s do it. It was awesome. We had Finn Balor, Johnny Gargano, and the list goes on. That was really a learning curve in my experience with WWE too because I was able to take those real moments and just respond by doing interviews. Rather than on television, you get a timed amount for a segment or different interview. This allowed us to have fun.”
Mitchell names Wes Lee among her favorite interview interactions. They’ll always share the high-five.
McKenzie Mitchell may no longer be employed with WWE, but the former interviewer is excited to see what’s next in her life.
Mitchell was released from WWE last month, with her release coming as something of a surprise to fans. Rather than being among a crop of on-screen talent cuts, Mitchell was cut alongside several employees from WWE’s corporate offices to be cut.
Why Mitchell’s Release Was a Blessing
McKenzie Mitchell joined WWE in 2019 and had worked for IMPACT Wrestling before joining. Speaking on the Insight podcast, Mitchell shared her take that her exit from WWE isn’t an end, but rather the beginning of something new.
“I think that once the dust has settled, it’s been really, it’s a blessing. I think that there’s 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, co-workers, colleagues, production staff, executives in WWE, and the fans most importantly, has just been insane.
“That’s what made me emotional when I got released. 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. Their favorite moments from my career. Their favorite interviews that I’ve done and the magic that was made on screen. That made such a big impact on me, to see what I made on them.”
When asked about how she’s processing her release, Mitchell spoke about how she’s been working hard on her non-WWE ventures and spoke about her husband Vic Joseph.
“I think this is a way to say there’s a new beginning in everything and just [be like] okay, what’s next? I have my jewelry business so I’ve been putting all my effort into that and my creativity there. It’s almost my full-time. My husband [Vic Joseph] still works with the company obviously. So that’s really interesting that he’s still there and I’m not. I don’t know if people know that we were the first couple on the announce team. Genuinely, an announcer and an announcer that are married. So we really figured it out there.”
Mitchell also made it clear that despite her abrupt release, she still supports WWE and is always pleased to see her husband succeed in the promotion.
“I’m still so supportive of WWE and NXT and I still watch him and I still text him good luck before every show. I’ve still, obviously, all my friends are still there. So I’m still supportive regardless [of my release from the company.]
WWE had a great 2023, but they also fired a boatload of people this year. Apart from the 100 plus people they fired from their corporate headquarters after the TKO Group Holdings merger went through, they also laid down some big roster cuts. A few of those main roster Superstars are now free agents, and they’re taking dates. McKenzie Mitchell also lost her job with WWE recently, but she’s ready to get back out there.
McKenzie Mitchell’s WWE Release
McKenzie Mitchell served as a host for WWE across various media platforms and NXT. She shared the news of her departure from the company on X, as she was fired along with several others at WWE headquarters.
On Christmas day, McKenzie Mitchell had an announcement. It was officially revealed that she will be at WrestleCon in April, marking her first wrestling engagement post-WWE.
Scheduled for April 4th to 7th, McKenzie Mitchell’s appearance aligns with WrestleMania weekend. She would probably have been around the area for the big weekend, since she is married to Vic Joseph. Now fans have a chance to meet McKenzie in person.
Following their merger with UFC to form TKO Group Holdings, WWE terminated several individuals, leading fans to anticipate additional releases. Many had questions when McKenzie Mitchell was recently released from WWE. In response, Mitchell urged fans to express their desire for her WWE return by reaching out to the company on social media.
McKenzie Mitchell makes her case for a WWE return
While speaking during a virtual signing hosted by RDP Promotions, McKenzie Mitchell advised her supporters that if they genuinely wish to see her return to WWE, they must vocalize their support on social media. She also said how nice it has been to receive so much love and support after her release.
”It’s been really nice to see all the love and support from you guys online. I guess I can say this. If you want me back in WWE, you better put it on Twitter because that’s the only way they’re gonna see it.”
McKenzie Mitchell was known for her on-screen role as a host across various WWE media outlets and NXT, disclosed her departure from the company. She had a lot of fans who loved seeing her on their screens as well, but she doesn’t seem too upset over this latest career development.
Despite this development, McKenzie Mitchell conveyed only positive sentiments about her former employer. Hopefully, she can land on her feet somewhere, because her WWE release certainly came out of left field.
We will keep an eye on this story, here at SE Scoops, just in case WWE takes back McKenzie Mitchell’s firing. She is married to WWE announcer Vic Joseph, so she still has very close ties to the company.
What’s your take on WWE releasing McKenzie Mitchell? Why do you think they decided to do that? Let us know that you think by engaging on social media!
Joseph signed with WWE in 2017, replacing Tom Phillips on WWE Main Event.
A month after joining, Joseph would also begin work commentating 205 Live, while still calling the action on Main Event.
In October 2018, Joseph joined the commentary desk for NXT UK, and in September 2019, joined Raw’s announce team after a shakeup saw Corey Graves be moved to SmackDown.
Months later, Joseph was removed from the Raw commentary team and would return to 205 Live in July 2020.
That August, Joseph would join the NXT commentary team, where he remains to this day.
McKenzie Mitchell
Before making it to WWE, Mitchell had been covering sports for years, having worked with Fox Sports West and Fan Girl Sports.
In 2016, Mitchell joined Impact Wrestling as a backstage interviewer but found her way to WWE three years later.
Since signing in 2019, Mitchell has primarily worked on the NXT brand but has also served as a backstage interviewer on select episodes of Raw and SmackDown.
Mitchell has cited interviewing Keith Lee after his NXT Championship win in 2020 as the proudest moment of her career.
We here at SEScoops would like to offer our congratulations to the happy couple.
Joseph, real name Victor Travagliante, is the current play-by-play commentator for NXT and the 205 brands in WWE. Previously he has worked on NXT UK, RAW and Main Event as well. Before WWE, Joseph worked for the Cleveland Browns Radio Network covering Cleveland Browns games. He started with WWE in 2017.
McKenzie Mitchell was with Impact Wrestling from 2016 until 2019 when she signed with WWE. She works on the NXT broadcast team in addition to numerous digital media hosting roles with the company.
The couple went public with their relationship a year ago on social media.
Earlier this year, Jospeh appeared on After the Bell and spoke about advice John Cena gave him on his commentary.
“I happen to see Cena and I went up and said, ‘Mr. Cena, I’m Vic Joseph, I’m new and I’m doing 205 Live tonight and I wanted to introduce myself.’ He goes, ‘You’re new? I’m going to watch the show.’ I’m thinking he’s not going to watch the show. We do the show and I’m leaving, he’s still in the locker room area or wherever and I walk by and I said, ‘John, nice to meet you.’ He says, ‘Vic, come here.’ He walked me over and sat and talked with me about what I did for that hour. ‘Know the stories, know the transitions, you had this, don’t say this, lay out here.’ He ran through it all.”
