Ring announcer Tony Chimel released by WWE

Longtime WWE ring announcer Tony Chimel was recently released from the company. According to reports from PWInsider, Tony Chimel and a few other employees were let go by WWE on Friday.

a great honor to announce edge and Christian last night. I thought I did a suuuuuuuuuuper job

— Tony Chimel (@TonyChimelWWE) February 22, 2016

The other notable name let go by WWE along with Chimel was Derek Casselman. He had served as the company's Director of Venue Merchandise for Remote Operations since 1993.

Tony Chimel and Derek Casselman add to the long list of WWE Superstars and employees who were either released of furloughed by the company earlier this year, due to budget cuts stemming from the COVID-19 situation.

Tony Chimel in WWE

Tony Chimel first arrived in WWE in 1991 as a behind-the-scenes technician, and then got promoted as a full-time ring announcer on the SmackDown brand. Steadily he endeared himself with the WWE Universe and got to be known as "the Voice of SmackDown."

He then got replaced by Justin Roberts as the blue brand's ring announcer and moved on to WWE's version of ECW in 2007.

Chimel is perhaps most known within the WWE Universe for the unique way he announced Edge's name when the later made his way to the ring. He had also been heavily involved in segments with Edge and Christian on WWE television and on their WWE Network show.

Tony Chimel also made a special appearance on Edge's 2017 Hall of Fame induction ceremony, when Beth Phoenix brought him out as a surprise to announce The Rated-R Superstar's name.

After letting go of his announcing duties, Chimel had been involved as a backstage producer within the company until the time of his release.