Madison Rayne leaving Impact for career outside wrestling
Impact Wrestling color commentator Madison Rayne is done with the company and pro wrestling in general as she is taking a full-time job outside the industry.
Dave Meltzer noted that this was a possibility in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter with PW Insider confirming the news Friday. The 34-year-old has not confirmed the news herself on social media.
There is no news on who will replace Rayne in the commentary booth, but Matt Striker did fill in several weeks ago for an episode. Impact’s next original show will be on January 5th as they are airing year in review shows the next two weeks.
After being released from Ring of Honor in 2019, Rayne returned to Impact for the third time as an in-ring competitor and transitioned to the commentary booth alongside husband Josh Mathews earlier this year.
She began her career in the early 2000s with stops with Impact/TNA, SHIMMER, ROH, and even WWE along the way where she worked one match in the 2018 Mae Young Classic, losing to Mercedes Martinez.
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.