March is Women's History Month and in the past, I've highlighted women in wrestling who didn't get as much of the spotlight as they should for their efforts such as Luna Vachon and Trish Adora. This year, I wanted to focus on someone who wrestling fans should know. I interviewed Nadiah Hunter, the ring announcer for Deadlock Pro Wrestling (DPW), ASÉ Wrestling, and All Caribbean Wrestling (ACW). In addition to ring announcing, Hunter is also a pro wrestler.
Hunter was first exposed to wrestling at her cousin's house while in elementary school. Her cousin was watching "RAW" and she saw the segment of Triple H and Shawn Michaels cosplaying as Vince and Shane McMahon. "I don't know, I thought it was so hilarious when I was a kid. 'What is this?' This is kind of interesting. So ever since then, I was watching it."
Hunter was training as a wrestler at LaBron Kozone's Firestarter Pro when she got injured. "I have two left feet. I just kept getting hurt and I kept hitting my head." Kozone told her she needed to "chill out" so she could recover.
During her downtime, she realized she might be interested in ring announcing. "I was doing sports announcing for my college, North Carolina Central University, (she has a Bachelor's in Mass Communications with a concentration in broadcasting) and I was like, why don't I just do ring announcing? Like, you know, it's kind of the same. You know, I'm on a mic, except for I'm standing in the middle of a ring instead of just being a voice in the sky."
She approached Kozone and asked him if she could try her hand at announcing. He agreed and Hunter announced a match for Sadie Moss vs. DreamGirl Ellie. The owner of another promotion, Michael Butler, was there and liked her style and asked her to ring announce at his promotion. From there she continued to take bookings.
Even though ring announcing did come about due to injury, she still has some inspirations. One is former WWE ring announcer, JoJo. Another announcer who inspired her was Carmen Michaels.. "He inspired me a lot once I got into wrestling, because he was one of the first ring announcers that I met and he was, like, super nice to me and encouraging. 'You got a good voice. You got motion behind you. I'm loving the journey.' So once he said that, I was like, oh, yeah, I'm about to spearhead this."
Another person that's helped her on this journey is Gerard Bonner. He does work with ASÉ, All Caribbean, Southern Honor, and The Nightmare Factory. "I love him so much. He's the person who actually got me involved in the first place. So he kind of took me under his wing."
She began training to wrestle in October 2019 and began ring announcing in February or March 2020. Although Hunter does ring announcing for several companies, she continues to wrestle. "But I don't do both at the same place. If I ring announce for that promotion, I don't wrestle for that promotion."
Getting started in Deadlock Pro Wrestling
When she started working for DPW, they reached out to her. A friend asked if they had reached out to her and when Hunter confirmed they had, her friend asked if she knew who they were. When Hunter replied she didn't, her friend said, 'oh, you don't even know yet.' "DPW's like no other promotion I've ever been to."
"Fans were just so into everything that was going on. They were interacting with me, they was interacting with each other, with the wrestlers. Like it was just such an experience. And like, they are hyped from the time that the bell rings to the time that they are going home. They are chanting, they're on their feet. It was just an entire vibe. And I was like, 'whoa. Like, what did I get myself into?' Like, this is it, you know, right?"
DPW and ASÉ have both had shows outside of their home state of North Carolina. Traveling out of state still makes her nervous, even though she's been with DPW for a long time. "I always get nervous because I've traveled around and worked in different markets before I was with either company. And I know that like wrestling fans from like different states, like they have a different vibe or like aura."
"Some people like to be hyped the entire time, but some people just like to be chill and you know, clap for, you know, the high moments during matches. And it's just like I have to be able to match your energy."
Hunter gets asked all the time if she has a preference between ring announcing and wrestling, but they are two very different aspects of wrestling. As an in-ring performer, you create a character. As a ring announcer, "you are the environment, kind of what drives the energy. You're the host, the emcee. So I love that part and interacting with the crowd."
Asked if she feels pressure to set the tone for the show, Hunter replied, "Absolutely, always. And it's just learning each promotion and like how they're different and how, you know, their fan base is."
Biggest matches, accolades, & making herstory
The biggest match she has called to date is Shelton Benjamin vs. Jonathan Gresham in ASÉ. Another big match she called was KENTA vs. Kevin Blackwood in DPW. She was very nervous for both matches. Her dream matches to announce would be for Bianca Belair, Cody Rhodes, and Johnny TV.
The biggest show she has called thus far is DPW's debut show in Charlotte in October 2024. It took place at the historic Grady Cole Center. Hunter has actually made history in that venue. ASÉ debuted there. In the main event, Aja Kong faced Trish Adora in what is believed to be the first time women main evented. The match was refereed by Yolanda "YoYo" Wright and announced by Hunter. They are the first Black women to be involved in a match at the Grady Cole Center.
Hunter didn't recognize the significance of the moment at the time. "Honestly, I found out later because like when I'm in the moment and when I'm there I'm thinking about the competitors in the ring. So in my mind I was like, 'oh my God, Aja'. 'Oh my God, Trish.' That's what went through my mind at the time. But I didn't even know the bigger picture until afterwards. But it was-- it's so amazing to be a part of that and it was just such a blessing."
Being a ring announcer doesn't always mean that she's immune to what happens inside of it. "My very first match I've been a part of was actually at Elevation Pro Wrestling. It was Yabba Dabba Daddy versus Jackson Drake. And you will see the clip of where Jackson Drake superkicks me while I'm announcing. That was a time. It was pretty fun."
Another big in-ring moment was unplanned at ASÉ's one year anniversary show in December. Hunter was seated at commentary when Darius Carter grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to the ring to the shock of fans and talent alike.
"It was not planned. Everything is in real time. That's what people don't know about wrestling. Things can change within seconds. How do I respond? You know what? Naturally, I don't know what's going on. I'm being dragged into the ring. You know what? Caprice (Coleman, ASÉ's commissioner) can't even --- he's trying to get a hold of him himself. Everybody's trying to get a hold of him. I'ma just do what he says."
"But I just remember him coming over. He was like, 'Get up. And I was like, 'get up. Who?' He was like, you. I said, 'oh, we're going.' I was like, 'things have gone off the rails. I don't know what's going on anymore.'"
As for the wrestling side of things, her favorite match was against Emily Jaye. "It wasn't like any pressure on it. You know, it was a bar show. You know, we hit each other hard. We had fun. Yeah, it was, it was cool. We had cake in the match. It was a fun one."
Preparing for announcing matches and wrestling in them obviously takes different types of approaches. "For wrestling, honestly I just watch a lot of matches before. I just do a lot of studying." For announcing, "the day of the show I try not to talk too much. If you see me before the match, you'll see like I'm saying the matches over and over. Like, I'm saying everybody's intros in order. So you'll just see me walking around in a huge circle."
If she has to announce a wreslter that she's not sure how to pronunce, she goes to YouTube and hear how they're announced in other promotions. If it's DPW, she'll ask someone she knows and they'll go over it together. Other times, she'lll ask the wrestler directly.
Some wrestlers have a list of nicknames, accolades, or titles that they like to have announced prior to matches. Hunter finds out the day of the show if a wrestler wants certain things to be announced. In ASÉ for main events, they list out a lot of things. Suge D is one example as he currently holds four titles in various promotions.
There have been several accolades in Hunter's career thus far. "I feel like when I won the Carolina Pro Wrestling Awards for Ring announcer of the year in 2020, that was a huge one for me. When I was a finalist for the WWE TikTok ring announcer. I was a finalist for that competition. It was awesome for me. And then being signed to All Caribbean Wrestling, like that's my recent most accolade. That was my goal for this year."
Hunter's advice for budding ring announcers
To anyone looking to get into ring announcing, the only way to do it is through experience. "There isn't really any actual training for ring announcing. It's kind of just by experience, as you get your bookings. There are ways to train for it, which I learned from Rich Bikini the other day. Just kind of learning like how to have an earpiece in and then you have directions going at you and maybe at other people at the same time, but being able to focus on what you're saying in the moment."
"So just putting on headphones, listening to other audios and stuff while being able to focus on ring announcing and getting out, your words, right? That's something that I'm learning myself right now." Hunter also says to "study other announcers, learn the company you are currently working for or want to work for, learn the sport inside and outside the ring, and connect with other announcers."
For anyone looking to get into wrestling in general, Hunter recommends that if there are shows in town, you go to them. "You go to the shows, you shake everybody's hand, you meet everybody, you help set up, you just be a face and be known to those promotions."
"Keep a good, clean reputation, stay consistent in the craft. There's going to be a lot of, a lot of hard times, a lot of long nights, a lot of traveling. But I mean, if you want it, you're going to get it right, you know?"
WrestleMania weekend
ASÉ, DPW, and All Carribean will both have shows during 'Mania weekend in Vegas and Hunter will be working both shows. She will be keeping a tight schedule because she'll be doing three shows over two days. On Thursday, she has ASÉ at 11 AM followed by All Caribbean at midnight. DPW has their show at 4 PM on Friday. To protect her voice, Hunter gets medicine balls from Starbucks.
She's been to several 'Mania weekends and typically works for Fighting Evolution Wrestling. The first time she was there was for Piledriver Pro. When she went to her first one in Orlando, that's when she realized how big the wrestling industry is. There's promotions running back to back all weekend long.
Hunter sees it as a great opportunity to network. "I gotta work ten times harder to get to where like I want to be. And that's actually where I met Carmen for the first time. And he told mean, like, 'you're doing good things. Like keep, keep doing it.' And so I go to 'Mania every year now because it's just so many connections and stuff."
To follow Hunter on her journey, follow her on Instagram, TikTok, and X/Twitter.