John Cena will compete for the final time in 2025, and AEW’s Tony Chimel hopes to be a part of the huge send-off to the WWE icon. Despite being contracted to AEW, Chimel told Donnie DaSilva and Jimmy Korderas on their HUGE POP! podcast that he would love to play a role in Cena’s goodbye.
“They (AEW) are pretty free with their guys and I’m sure if — you know, I can talk to my bosses over there… I don’t think anyone would have a problem.”
While AEW are “pretty free” when it comes to allowing talent to work elsewhere, putting Chimel back on WWE programming could prove to be an issue. Since launching in 2019, AEW has proven to be WWE’s most fierce rival with both promotions often clasing in head-to-head battles.
Although WWE and AEW have been at odds, Cena could prove to be a bridge between the two companies. In 2022, AEW allowed several names on its roster to appear on WWE Raw via videos, congratulating Cena on the 20th anniversary of his WWE debut. It’s clear that Tony Khan holds respect for Cena, making Chimel’s potential role with WWE unlikely, but not impossible.
John Cena’s next match will come at Elimination Chamber 2025, where he hopes to win the Men’s Chamber match and earn a WWE Championship opportunity at WrestleMania 41. It remains to be seen if Chimel is allowed to play a part but no matter what, fans can expect a fitting send off for the WWE icon.
Chimel, best known for his time in WWE, served as the master of ceremonies for the event.
Despite being best known as a ring announcer, Chimel will not be resuming that role with Ring of Honor, as ROH veteran Bobby Cruise is still on duty for the show.
Chimel in WWE
Chimel spent 38 years with WWE as a ring announcer before being released from his contract in 2020.
It was Chimel who was the ring announcer for the very first episode of SmackDown in 1999 and would defeat Howard Finkel in a tuxedo match that same year to become the show’s full-time announcer.
Though not a wrestler, Chimel would have the occasional brush with talent, including Mr. Kennedy, who would be irate with how Chimel pronounced his name.
On the December 22, 2006, SmackDown, Chimel’s enthusiastic call for the Boogeyman would catch the attention of the bizarre Superstar, who forced worms into the announcer’s mouth.
In 2015, Chimel transitioned to just announcing at house shows but would appear during Beth Phoenix’s 2017 Hall of Fame speech to deliver his infamous voice-cracking introduction of Edge.
In his later years with WWE, Chimel worked backstage as a production manager and part of the ring crew before his release.
Ex-WWE announcer Tony Chimel is now in the Trader Joe’s business.
Chimel began working for WWE back in 1989. At first, he worked the smaller shows and filled in for Howard Finkel whenever he was needed. Eventually, Chimel became the voice of SmackDown.
Who could ever forget Chimel’s iconic voice crack every time the “Rated-R Superstar” Edge walked through the curtain?
Tony Chimel Takes On Different Job
Tony Chimel was released by WWE back in 2020. It didn’t take long for Chimel to find another job, although it has nothing to do with the wrestling business.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, Chimel revealed that he now works at Trader Joe’s (h/t WrestlingHeadlines.com).
“I figured out there is life after WWE, because you figure I started when I was 22-years old and now I’m 60. I found a job at Trader Joe’s, which I never really knew about.
“I had heard of Trader Joe’s, but I didn’t really know what it was. And when I first told my daughter that I was working at Trader Joe’s she was like ‘oh dad, that’s great. You gotta get this and get that,’ and I was like ‘what are you talking about?’
“There’s a lot of similarities because at WWE they always wanted to put smiles on people’s faces and at Trader Joe’s all they want to do is wow the customer and make the customer feel happy.”
Chimel noted that he likes his job and enjoys working with the people over at Trader Joe’s. He also believes morale is high within the company.
– New Wyatt Family member Braun Strowman celebrates his 32nd birthday today. Strowman was born on September 6, 1983. Also celebrating birthdays today are former WWE Diva Jillian Hall (35), former WWE Superstar Low Ki (36), WWE Hall Of Famer Wendi Richter (54) and former WWE Superstar The Barbarian (57).
– For whatever this is work, longtime WWE employee Tony Chimel returned to his position as ring announcer at the WWE live event in Wildwood, New Jersey on Saturday night. Eden did the ring announcing for the WWE live event in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Dasha Fuentes handled the NXT ring announcing.
– WWE World Heavyweight Champion and WWE United States Champion Seth Rollins did not work this weekend’s WWE live events as he was on vacation with his girlfriend Zahra Schreiber. Rollins and Schreiber were in the Dominican Republic, however Rollins is headed back to the U.S. today so that he can be in Baltimore, Maryland for Monday’s edition of WWE RAW.
– As seen on Monday’s RAW, the final edition of the show for 2014, Tony Chimel handled the introductions for Edge and Christian. He thanked the two on Twitter for the opportunity after the show, posting the following on his official Twitter account.
– Speaking of Monday’s RAW, we noted that while Randy Orton didn’t appear on the television portion of the show, he did appear before the crowd in Washington, D.C. after the cameras stopped rolling. Below is a video of Orton’s appearance after Monday’s RAW.
– Batista has recently been added to the official advertising for Monday’s edition of WWE RAW in London, England.
– The story line coming out of Alicia Fox’s “meltdown” on this week’s WWE Main Event is that ring announcer Tony Chimel “suffered a concussion” after she slapped him.
– Below is a preview clip for this Sunday’s edition of WWE Total Divas:
– WWE ring announcer Tony Chimel got physically involved in the action at the WWE live event in Minehead on Saturday night. After defeating R-Truth to retain his WWE Intercontinental Championship, Curtis Axel demanded that Chimel give him the proper post-match announcement. Instead of doing that, Chimel kicked Axel in the gut and hit him with a “Stone Cold Stunner.” Following that sequence, The Bella Twins hit the ring and gave Chimel a big kiss.
WWE Superstar and current World Heavyweight Champion John Cena later joked on Twitter that Chimel may “owe Steve Austin” and that he may have lost his girlfriend, Nikki Bella, to Chimel.
– Cody Rhodes and Goldust continued their winning ways on SmackDown as the brother duo defeated Erick Rowan and Luke Harper, which marks as the first-ever loss for The Wyatt Family in WWE. On this week’s “Backstage Fallout” for SmackDown, Rhodes and Goldust react to their victory. Plus, The Prime Time Players and The Great Khali celebrate their victory over 3MB.
– WWE ring announcer Tony Chimel celebrates his birthday on Friday as he turns 52-years-old. Also celebrating a birthday today is former WWE wrestler Rikishi, who turns 48-years-old. Jey and Jimmy Uso wished their father a happy birthday via Twitter, writing, “Happy birthday to our pops @TheREALRIKISHI!! Out here in the middle east!! Don’t kno what time it is anymore!! Have a bless day dad!!”
— Mick Foley, who has not appeared on WWE programming since the Royal Rumble, teased a return to company storylines Sunday night via Twitter as he said he received voice-mails from SmackDown General Manager Theodore Long.
“Guess it’s about time I listen to some of these voice-mails from Teddy Long. Wonder what he wants. Catch you all tomorrow,” he wrote. However, he suggested minutes later it was a joke, writing, “No big deal. Teddy was just hoping I had Buff Bagwell’s number – apparently, it’s pretty important.”
Foley is scheduled for an upcoming WWE show as he will appear at the April 9 Raw SuperShow taking place at the Verizon Center in Washington D.C.
— WWE ring announcer Tony Chimel took a jab at Lilian Garcia at Saturday’s SmackDown live event in Bowling Green, Kentucky as during a mic check he announced “1, 2, Long Island Iced Z, Jack Swagger!” This was in reference to Garcia’s mistake at Tuesday’s SmackDown taping in Newark, New Jersey where she introduced Ryder as “Long Island Iced Z, Jack Swagger.” John Cena ridiculed Garcia’s ring announcing ability after the taping had concluded, proclaiming to the live audience, “She looks absolutely beautiful, but doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing!”
John Cena berating Lilian Garcia’s ring announcing ability at Tuesday’s SmackDown taping in Newark, New Jersey has drawn the ire of numerous fans of the veteran Diva online as they feel it contradicts “be a STAR,” WWE’s heavily promoted campaign to put an end to bullying. A former WWE talent agrees with the sentiment.
Sinn Bodhi, who formerly competed as Kizarny for the sports entertainment organization, posted the following user comment on Twitter Friday slamming their anti-bullying campaign: “I can’t take the #WWE Be A Star Campaign seriously when it’s known what they said about Lilian Garcia and @SiNNbODHi #Hypocrisy.”
The incident was the latest example of WWE publicly ridiculing Garcia following her decision to leave the company in 2009. She took note of the heavy fan support following this latest mockery and went on Facebook and Twitter to write a thank you message.
“Hey my Lil Rockers, just want to tell you that I LUV YOU, I LUV YOU, I LUV YOU!! You are the BEST fans in the world!! Thank you for being there for me!! Xoxo ;):” she wrote following Friday’s SmackDown broadcast on Syfy.
Following the conclusion of Tuesday’s show, Cena belittled Garcia in front of the Prudential Center audience for mistakenly introducing Zack Ryder earlier as “Long Island Iced Z, Jack Swagger” for his match against Jack Swagger, saying “she looks absolutely beautiful but doesn’t know what the hell she’s doing.” He had a street clothes dressed Tony Chimel brought out to properly introduce Ryder since he’s a professional and “knows what he’s doing.”
— WWE website content director Joey Styles has joined in on the company’s semi-frequent mockery of ring announcer Lilian Garcia as he took to Twitter to poke fun at her announcing miscue at Tuesday’s SmackDown taping in Newark, New Jersey.
After Garcia stated on the microblogging site that she would be performing with her band Thursday night at the Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood, California, he wrote to her, “Tonight will you be announcing yourself at the Hard Rock Cafe as Lilian Garcia or @RealJackSwagger? :) @ZackRyder @JohnCena.” His comment was retweeted by Ryder.
During Tuesday’s show, Garcia erroneously introduced Ryder as “Long Island Iced Z, Jack Swagger” for his match against Jack Swagger. This led to John Cena hauling out ring announcer Tony Chimel for his post-show dark match since he “knows what he’s doing,” unlike Garcia. Cena had Chimel properly introduce Ryder, but WWE production coordinators kept cutting of his microphone in a practical joke. Cena then properly introduced Ryder himself.
The ordeal was done by WWE brass to publicly embarrass Garcia, who has been subject to various forms of humiliation numerous times throughout her career.
— WWE.com has published an article demanding the return of The Great Khali’s former mouthpiece Ranjin Singh.
WWE.com writes, “The Great Khali is known the world over for his immense stature, but one-time mouthpiece Ranjin Singh played a giant role in The Punjabi Giant’s ascension in WWE. Singh’s many memorable antics included narrating the beloved “Khali Kiss Cam,” and WWE.com thinks it’s time to bring him back!”
— Zack Ryder, who lost the United States Championship to Jack Swagger on Monday’s Raw SuperShow, posted a cryptic message on Twitter Wednesday regarding his YouTube series Z! True Long Island Story.
“Workin’ on Episode 51 of Z! TLIS…yes, 49 is the next Episode…#hmmm,” he wrote.
— Lilian Garcia handled ring announcing duties at Tuesday’s WWE NXT and WWE Superstars tapings in Las Vegas, Nevada, replacing Tony Chimel. Chimel replaced Eden Stiles late last month on both programs following her departure from the organization.
— Rey Mysterio is advertised to appear at Indianapolis World of Wheels at the Indiana State Fairgrounds 1202 E 38th St. Indianapolis, Indiana on February 11, 2012 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
He is also scheduled to appear at Dallas Cavalcade of Customs at Dallas Market Hall 2200 Stemmons Fwy. Dallas, Texas on February 18, 2012 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
— Dave Meltzer stated on the Dec. 27 edition of Wrestling Observer Radio that Zack Ryder being placed in a romance storyline with Eve Torres and away from the main event scene stems from the staggeringly low quarter hour rating for last week’s Raw SuperShow main event, which saw Long Island Iced-Z, CM Punk and Daniel Bryan stand tall against The Miz, Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler.
The main event garnered a 2.67 cable rating (2.55 for the first half of the bout), which was the lowest-rated main event on Raw in 2011 and possibly the lowest since Dec. 8, 1997 for a non-holiday show in its regular time slot. The overrun gained 59,000 viewers, which is considered terrible.
The Ryder/Torres storyline is slated to continue for at least a few weeks.
— Tony Chimel resurfaced at Tuesday’s WWE television tapings in Indianapolis, Indiana as the ring announcer for WWE NXT and WWE Superstars. He takes over for Eden Stiles, who parted ways with the organization last week. Chimel was removed as SmackDown ring announcer earlier this month due to Lilian Garcia’s return to the company.
Returning to WWE after a more than two-year hiatus, Lilian Garcia appeared on Friday’s episode of SmackDown as the program’s new ring announcer.
Tony Chimel introduced Garcia to the live audience at the start of the broadcast, who was already standing in the ring. As Garcia talked about how great it was to be back, she was interrupted by Cody Rhodes, who was standing on the announce table. Rhodes said no one cares she is back since no one noticed she had left. Garcia danced with Hornswoggle later during the show, which gave commentator Michael Cole the opportunity to air a crass backstage joke.
He cracked, “I wish these two would stop horsing around!”
The reference stems from those in WWE’s “inner circle”—Vince McMahon, Triple H, television producer Kevin Dunn and the since departed John “Bradshaw” Layfield—often joking that Garcia has a horse-shaped face. The crass joke was passed around backstage years ago and ultimately acknowledged on television by Layfield and Hunter to amuse company employees. Though Garcia has publicly taken the joke in stride, Mick Foley took offense to Hunter demeaning the “Decade Diva” during an episode of Raw last year in which she had filled in for regular ring announcer Justin Roberts.
He wrote online after watching on television Triple H tell Garcia she can always return to WWE to “horse around,” “Why does someone like Triple H, one of the most talented, well paid guys in the business, do something so shallow and mean? Why would a multi-millionaire, with millions of fans around the world, feel the need (several times over the years) to say something that is only meant to hurt? I don’t get it. I don’t get why it’s done, I don’t get why it’s condoned, I don’t get what possible satisfaction anyone involved gets from demeaning someone like Lillian Garcia. I just don’t get it.”
The latest reference was likely directed by Triple H, who filled in for McMahon at Tuesday’s SmackDown taping since the WWE CEO was off visiting U.S. Armed Forces serving in Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. Cole is the mouthpiece of the program director, as he is fed lines via headset. It was not the only mean-spirited remark on Friday’s show as Cole made light of Jim Ross suffering from Bell’s palsy after Josh Mathews said Cole speaks out of both sides of his mouth.
Cole quipped, “Actually, there is nothing wrong with my mouth, unlike J.R.’s.”
— WWE brought Lilian Garcia back to the organization to permanently replace Tony Chimel as the ring announcer for weekly SmackDown tapings. Chimel, 50, will continue working for WWE at television tapings in the production office backstage. Company officials asked Garcia late last week if she wanted to return and a deal was reached Monday upon her arrival in Tampa, Florida.
Garcia, who turned 45 years old in August, retired from her job as Raw ring announcer in 2009, citing a wish to settle down with her husband and being burned out from WWE’s strenuous travel schedule. During her time away, she continued to pursue her music career, and hosted AfterBuzzTV.com’s post-shows for Raw and Tough Enough.
— Matches taped Tuesday night in Jacksonville, Florida for this week’s episode of WWE NXT are as follows: Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso vs. Curt Hawkins and Tyler Reks; Darren Young and JTG vs. Percy Watson and Titus O’Neil; Johnny Curtis vs. Derrick Bateman.
Yoshi Tatsu beat WWE developmental wrestler Damien Sandow in a dark match prior to the taping.
— Commenting on his recent release from WWE during an interview with Wrestling101.com, Chris Masters says he didn’t receive the opportunity he feels he deserved.
“We didn’t part on bad terms, for me personally this time was very different from the first time I was released. I do feel like I worked my ass off and they should’ve at least given me another shot,” Masters said.
“The Masterpiece” also wonders why WWE opted to keep certain talents employed over him.
“I look at other guys on the roster and I don’t mean to mention names but people like JTG and a handful of other guys and you think, “your going to keep this guy but your going to get rid of me?”
— Justin Roberts filled in for Tony Chimel at tonight’s SmackDown taping in Toronto, Ontario, who missed the event. Chimel also missed this past weekend’s SmackDown live tour; Eden Stiles handled ring announcing duties.
— Chris Jericho has been selected to host a new game show premiering this month on ABC.
Downfall will premiere on Tuesday, June 22 with the WWE star as the host, according to The Hollywood Reporter. ABC has ordered six episodes for the debuting series.
The series has contestants attempting to answer questions while standing on the roof of a Los Angeles high-rise building.
To read The Hollywood Reporter article, click here.
— CM Punk has an ongoing bet with WWE ring announcer Tony Chimel regarding the Stanley Cup Finals. The bet is that if Punk’s Chicago Blackhawks win, Chimel has to announce The Straight Edge Superstar as hailing “from the home of the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago, Illinois.” However, should Chimel’s Philadelphia Flyers win, Punk has to cut a promo in Chicago stating “this city isn’t nearly as good as Philadelphia.”
— The May 21st edition of Friday Night SmackDown! drew a 1.7 broadcast rating. The program averaged 2.75 million viewers over the course of two hours.