| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Austin Michael Romero (1981-10-08)October 8, 1981 (age 44) San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name | Mike Rome |
| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) |
| Billed from | San Diego, California |
| Debut | September 20, 2012 |
Austin Michael Romero[1] (born October 8, 1981) is an American television host, ring announcer and backstage interviewer. He is signed toWWE under thering nameMike Rome, where he is thering announcer for theNXTbrand. He also occasionally serves as ring announcer on other WWE shows. He became a one-timeWWE 24/7 Champion, when during a live event on December 27th, 2019, he held the title for nine seconds.
Rome grew up inSan Diego, California as a huge fan of WWE's Rock 'n Wrestling era, idolizing Superstars likeThe Ultimate Warrior and being mesmerized byThe Undertaker's debut atSurvivor Series in 1990.[2]
Romero signed withWWE in May 2016, having previously worked forNickelodeon as a touringemcee, and forWalt Disney World andUniversal Studios inOrlando, Florida, as a cast member.[3] He began working as aring announcer for theNXTbrand on its Florida loop.[4] He was also the ring announcer at theCruiserweight Classic,[5] and made his debut on WWE programming on the September 7, 2016, episode ofNXT. Hisring name is a shortened version of hismiddle name and hissurname, and he initially went by his full middle name and the shortened version of his surname, before it was changed before aNXT taping to differentiate himself fromMichael Cole.[6] Rome would make his main roster debut on the January 16, 2017, episode ofRaw, in a backstage segment interviewingNia Jax.[7] He would continue to make appearances on bothNXT andRaw, with his finalNXT appearance as an interviewer atNXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 4.[8] From then on, Rome would appear regularly on the main roster shows.
Rome has occasionally been used onRaw or otherwise to further storylines. In an backstage segment in July 2018,Alexa Bliss was promotingTable for 3 on theWWE Network, when Rome walked by and interrupted her, thinking she was asking him out on a date.[9] As part of WWE's online content, Rome would portray a delusional character who was sure he would be having dinner with Bliss.[10][11][12][13]
Starting in January 2019, Rome became the mainRaw ring announcer after previous announcerJoJo quietly left that position. Beginning in April 2019, Rome, much like hisSmackDown counterpart Greg Hamilton, was forced byShane McMahon to introduce him to the ring with emphasis on the phrase "best in the world" (relating to McMahon's gimmick at the time).[14] On one occasion, Rome's voice gave out towards the end, resulting in McMahon andRoman Reigns visiblylaughing as well as Michael Cole andCorey Graves making fun of him.[15] According to Hamilton, Rome was legitimately sick that night and commended him for still pulling off the announcement.[16]
On December 27, Rome won theWWE 24/7 Championship at aWWE Live event inPittsburgh,Pennsylvania.Samir Singh had just won the title offR-Truth for his third reign, and wanted Rome to announce him as the new champion, prodding him as he did so. Instead, Rome rolled Samir up to win the title and was about to announce himself as the new champion butSunil Singh surprised him with a roll up to regain the title, also for his third reign.[17][18]
Following the release of Greg Hamilton in October 2021, he had been announcing on bothRaw andSmackDown until January 14, 2022 whenSamantha Irvin was called up to the main roster from205 Live to serve as the ring announcer for SmackDown.
During the2023 WWE Draft, Rome and Irvin were both drafted to switch announcing positions taking effect May 8, 2023. As a result, Rome would become the new ring announcer forSmackDown, starting with the May 12 episode. In 2024, he would reduce his announcing roles at premium live events for the brand as Irvin solo announced three out of the four events from January-May, while Rome announced one, which wasElimination Chamber: Perth. He would still announce the weekly shows until his lastSmackDown appearance as official ring announcer on April 26, 2024.
On May 8, 2024, Rome announced on his Instagram account that he was returning as NXT ring announcer, citing being closer to his home inOrlando, Florida, where NXT holds its weekly shows.[19]Alicia Taylor, who was the NXT ring announcer, would take over Rome’s role as SmackDown ring announcer.
Rome would make a brief main roster return to announce for WWE’s tour to Saudi Arabia for the SmackDown show on May 24 andKing and Queen of the Ring on May 25.
