Samantha Johnson (born January 9, 1989) is an American

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

who performs under the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Samantha The Bomb. She is best known for her time as a

ring announcer A ring announcer is an in-ring (and sometimes on-camera) employee or contractor for a boxing, professional wrestling or mixed martial arts event or promotion, who introduces the competitors to the audience. In boxing and mixed martial arts bouts ...

in the

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within ...

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

from 2021 to 2024 under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

Samantha Irvin.

Early life

Johnson was born in

Dennis, Massachusetts Dennis is a New England town, town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, located near the center of the Cape Cod, Cape Cod peninsula. It is a seaside resort town with colonial mansions along the nor ...

, in 1989, the eldest of six siblings. At the age of four, she began studying

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

, going on to compete in classical flute at a national level. At the age of 12, her family moved to the North End neighborhood of

New Bedford, Massachusetts New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. At the 2020 census, New Bedford had a population of 101,079, making it the state's ninth-l ...

, where she attended Normandin Middle School. As a child, she was a fan of professional wrestling, and attended

WrestleMania XIV WrestleMania XIV, also promoted as WrestleMania dX raided, was a 1998 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; WWE as of 2002). It was the 14th annual WrestleMania and took place on March ...

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, in 1998. She went on to attend

New Bedford High School New Bedford High School (NBHS) is a public high school in New Bedford, Massachusetts, United States. It is located at 230 Hathaway Boulevard in the West End and was established in 1827 (though the current building was built in 1972). It also serve ...

, where she starred as

Dorothy Gale Dorothy Gale is a fictional character created by the American author L. Frank Baum as the protagonist in many of his ''Oz'' novels. She first appears in Baum's classic 1900 children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappears in most o ...

in a performance of ''

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a 1900 children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the ma ...

'' and won a gold medal at the

International Association of Jazz Educators International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE), formerly a not-for-profit corporation based in Manhattan, Kansas, was a volunteer-run organization that, among other things, allocated student scholarships through its approved festivals program. ...

State

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

Finals as part of the New Bedford High School Jazz Choir. As a teenager in the mid-2000s, she twice auditioned for ''

American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...

''. After graduating in 2007, Johnson worked as the Drama Club director for Normandin Middle School and as a waitress. At the age of 20 she auditioned for ''

America's Got Talent ''America's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''AGT'') is an American talent show competition, and is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. The program is produced by Fremantle (as well as distributed by) and ...

''.

Musical career

From 2011 to 2015, Johnson performed as the lead female vocalist on the

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

tribute show ''

Thriller – Live ''Thriller Live'' is a two-and-a-half-hour concert revue celebrating the music of The Jackson 5 and the solo work and life of Michael Jackson. It had already been performed in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia before ope ...

''. In 2015, she appeared on

season 10 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

of ''America's Got Talent'', auditioning with "

(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" is a 1967 song by American soul singer Aretha Franklin released as a single by the Atlantic label from her album '' Lady Soul''. The lyrics were written by Gerry Goffin from an idea by Atlantic produce ...

" by

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

; she was eliminated in the semi-finals. Later that year, she starred in a show titled "Home" in the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center in New Bedford in which she sang, whistled, danced, told stories, and played the flute; her five siblings all appeared in the show. In 2016, she released an EP, ''27Underground'', including the debut single "Jump High"; her siblings provided backing vocals. In the same year, she portrayed Betty Rizzo in a production of '' Grease'' staged in the New Bedford Festival Theatre. In 2020, Johnson appeared on ''

I Can See Your Voice ''I Can See Your Voice'' (abbreviated as ''ICSYV'') is a television mystery music game show franchise created by Lee Seon-young and produced by CJ ENM, which originated from I Can See Your Voice (South Korean game show), the South Korean program ...

'' on

FOX Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

, playing the flute and singing " Good as Hell" by

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo (), is an American singer and rapper. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas, with her family at the age of ten. After college, she moved to Minn ...

. After relocating to

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, she appeared in productions including ''Vegas! The Show'' (portraying

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins Will ...

and

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

). In February 2025, after having departed WWE to refocus on her musical career, Johnson adopted the stage name "Samantha The Bomb" and announced the release of a single, ''Make Me''.

Professional wrestling career

Johnson was introduced to the professional wrestling promotion

WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a List of halls and walks of fame, hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when An ...

Mark Henry Mark Jerrold Henry (born June 12, 1971) is an American former powerlifter, Olympic weightlifter, strongman, and retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract. Henry is a two-time Olympian (1992 and 19 ...

. She originally auditioned at the

WWE Performance Center WWE Performance Center (WWE PC) is a group of professional wrestling schools owned by American company WWE. They serve as tryout and training facilities for WWE, and also contain sports science and medical facilities as well as live events and ...

to be a wrestler, but was unsuccessful. In April 2021, she was hired by WWE as the ring announcer for ''

WWE 205 Live ''WWE 205 Live'' is an American professional wrestling streaming television program that was produced by WWE. It premiered on November 29, 2016, as a replacement for '' WWE Superstars'', and ended on February 11, 2022. The show originally aired ...

'' on

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

. She adopted the ring name "Samantha Irvin". Irvin went on to serve as a ring announcer for ''

WWE NXT ''WWE NXT'', also known simply as ''NXT'', is an American professional wrestling television program. It is produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, featuring wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The show c ...

'' on the

USA Network USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...

. In January 2022, she was promoted to being the ring announcer for ''

WWE SmackDown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs Live television, live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Netwo ...

'' on FOX. In February 2023, she moved to being the ring announcer for ''

WWE Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It currently airs Live television, live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Netflix. The show fe ...

'' on the USA Network. At

WrestleMania XL WrestleMania XL was a 2024 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming List of WWE pay-per-view and livestreaming supercards, event produced by WWE. It was the 40th annual WrestleMania and took place as a two-night event on Saturd ...

in April 2024, Irvin introduced 14 matches; her performance garnered praise from veteran announcer

Michael Buffer Michael Buffer (born November 2, 1944) is an American ring announcer (or " MC") for boxing, professional wrestling, and National Football League events. Pioneering a distinct announcing style in which he rolls certain letters and adds other ...

. In October 2024, Irvin announced her departure from WWE. In a February 2025 interview, she stated "my wrestling career has barely even begun".

Filmography

Discography

* ''27Underground'' (2016) * ''Make Me'' (2025)

Personal life

Johnson became engaged to professional wrestler

Ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

in 2023; the couple married in 2025. She has a daughter from a previous relationship.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Irvin, Samantha 1989 births 21st-century American women American flautists American musical theatre actresses 21st-century American singers American television actresses America's Got Talent contestants Female professional wrestling announcers Living people People from Dennis, Massachusetts Singers from Massachusetts American whistlers