The Story Behind Greg Hamilton’s WWE Release
It emerged on October 26th, 2021, that ring announcer Greg Hamilton had been released by WWE after six years of employment. This wasn’t publicly announced by the company, leading many to suspect why Hamilton had been let go under such unnoteworthy circumstances, with it slipping under the radar.
WWE has been no stranger to cutting employees over the last year, with over one hundred talents and in-house employees being fired by the company since the beginning of 2021, with many more being let go in the previous year too. From corporate individuals, to superstars, to ring announcers, no one was seemingly safe and free from being given the boot.
Updated On March 30th, 2022, By Andrew Kelly: The story of Greg Hamilton’s abrupt WWE release is still a slightly mysterious one, with the former announcer’s beef with rapper, Westside Gunn, being lost in the wind somewhere, with no apparent resolution or ending between the two men directly. Despite threatening Gunn with WWE lawyers, this never came to fruition, as it is very likely that WWE were unhappy with their lawyers being brought to a very public dispute, likely without prior warning. Even then, the true nature of Hamilton’s release hasn’t been found out to date. However, whilst the issues between Gunn and Hamilton may not have been resolved on a personal level, the story wasn’t finished just yet, as Gunn walked into some more trouble with his use of WWE content, which will be addressed at the end of this piece.
Greg Hamilton Had Been Involved In A Potential Legal Dispute
Hamilton was signed by the WWE way back in 2015, and in those six years, his voice has become a familiar part of WWE programming as he worked his way up from NXT to Raw and SmackDown. He was a big part in Shane McMahon’s ‘Best in the World’ character from 2019, with his announcement of McMahon’s name when coming to the ring being forced to be over-the-top, arrogant, and invasive – which it was, due to the talents of Hamilton. He proved to be a great asset for the company in his announcing role.
In the last few weeks, Hamilton had made the headlines during his online spat with rapper, Westside Gunn, over the latter allegedly using samples of Hamilton’s voice without consent or permission on one of his tracks. Hamilton threatened legal action, stating that he would be backed by WWE lawyers if the dispute was taken further. Hamilton is no stranger to online controversy, previously having to apologize for comments made in regard to Lio Rush.
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Not too long later, every mention of WWE was stripped and deleted from Hamilton’s social media. The timing of this was certainly interesting and posed a lot of questions and speculation from many online. When the news emerged that Hamilton had been released from the company, some pondered whether it had been due to the talk of a legal battle with Gunn.
Hamilton Stated That The Release Was With Mutual Respect
Following a brief account privatization, Hamilton made clear of his severance from WWE, stating that it was through ‘mutual respect’, and that due to his age and family, travelling on the road year-round wasn’t a viable option moving forwards. With WWE having a few long-term homes during the pandemic such as the Performance Center and Thunderdome — and not being able to tour the country — many members of the roster and other personnel likely settled, so the return to the road was likely difficult for some.
There was no mention from Hamilton on the Westside Gunn situation, nor any noise from the other side on behalf of the rapper, so it still remains unclear where that dispute currently lies, and if it played any part into Hamilton being released from the company. With his release coming so close to the current wave of firings, the chances of it being a mutual decision for Hamilton to experience his departure seem unlikely. But, of course, there is every chance of Hamilton’s explanation being the true reason for his leaving the company, and he should be given benefit of the doubt.
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Hamilton’s release means that WWE only have one full-time, main roster announcer in Mike Rome, so it will be interesting to see if WWE has lined up a replacement for Hamilton, or if Rome will be traveling between Raw and SmackDown for the foreseeable future. The fact that WWE has been left with very few announcing options — with no clear inkling of someone new coming to the forefront to take over the role — also throws uncertainty into the actual nature of the release, although it's very likely that this was either just another WWE ‘budget cut’, or truly a mutual respect departure.
* Westside Gunn Received Copyright Claims From WWE
The aftermath of Hamilton’s release saw WWE replace him on Smackdown with Samantha Irvin, whilst Mike Rome is the ring announcer for Raw. Hamilton’s time outside WWE hasn’t been quiet, with him revealing that he was involved in quite a horrific car accident, in which he was reportedly lucky to escape mostly unscathed. He hasn’t dipped his toes back into ring announcing yet, and it is uncertain where his next steps will take him, whether that be in the wrestling world or in another venture. Either way, he has a clear talent and strong presence, and his announcing has been missed by WWE, especially after he was such a consistently heard voice for many years.
In terms of the issues surrounding Westside Gunn, WWE have seemingly taken some form of action. At the start of 2022, WWE reportedly issued copyright strikes against several of his songs on YouTube. Gunn is a renowned WWE fan and had used samples from WWE programming in his songs, which resulted in them being taken down from the platform. Some of these songs included “French Toast” and “The Hurt Business”, which also features fellow WWE fan, Wale, who has been a big part of the wrestling world for the last few years.
It seems as though Hamilton finally got his wish of Gunn receiving some form of retribution. There will be debates surrounding whether or not it is too harsh for Gunn to be punished due to using some WWE soundbites, but for now, the matter has been resolved, even if Hamilton himself didn’t bring WWE lawyers into play like he had previously intended.
