Tony Chimel

Chimel began ring announcing duties for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1989, working mostly televised B-Shows or non-televised house shows and filling in for Howard Finkel whenever necessary, including appearances on *Raw.*

Chimel was the *SmackDown!* ring announcer from its inception in 1999. He was also the ring announcer at *SmackDown* brand pay-per-views from 2002-2007. He defeated Howard Finkel for the rights to be *SmackDown!* announcer in 1999 in a tuxedo match.

On Kurt Angle's final episode as *SmackDown* General Manager in 2004, he demanded Chimel to come into the ring and give an apology to him; Chimel complied but then was fired by Angle. He was almost immediately re-hired by Vince McMahon.

From 2005 to 2007, Chimel was involved in a mini-feud with Mr. Kennedy, who claimed that Chimel was not announcing his name with the proper respect that it deserved. This feud included Chimel being punched, being "told to take a bow" (hit in the groin), and having a doughnut shoved in his mouth by Kennedy.

On the December 22, 2006 episode of *SmackDown*, he announced The Boogeyman as victorious too enthusiastically and caught his attention. The Boogeyman forced worms into his mouth as a result. Chimel ran away from the ring afterwards. *ECW* announcer Justin Roberts was the ring announcer of *SmackDown* until Chimel returned on April 13, 2007.

In 2007, Chimel swapped ring announcing duties with Justin Roberts, becoming the ring announcer for the *ECW* brand. Chimel began announcing on *WWE Superstars*, and made his first appearance on the April 30, 2009 episode. After Justin Roberts left *SmackDown* to become the new ring announcer for the *Raw* brand, Chimel left *ECW* and returned to *SmackDown* for his second stint as ring announcer. He then became the announcer of the *ECW* brand when the previous *ECW* announcer, Lauren Mayhew, quickly left the WWE, before returning to *SmackDown*.

During this time, Chimel began to gain a reputation for his announcements for Edge, who had recently dubbed himself "The Rated-R Superstar". During these announcements, Chimel's voice would frequently crack while saying the word "superstar". This would become something of a running joke on WWE television, leading to Chimel making guest appearances solely to announce Edge.

He was demoted from *SmackDown* when former *Raw* announcer Lilian Garcia returned to the WWE in December 2011. At the December 27 taping of *SmackDown*, *NXT*, and *Superstars*, it was revealed that Chimel would be announcing for *NXT* and the *SmackDown* portion of *Superstars*, replacing the departing Eden Stiles. Chimel announced for *NXT* until the end of the final season of its original run.

He was the ring announcer for *Main Event* as well as for WWE live events until June 24, 2014, and he was the ring announcer for the short-lived *Saturday Morning Slam*. He briefly returned to *Raw* on September 9, 2013, and *SmackDown* on September 13, 2013, to announce the returning Edge to the ring. On November 16, 2013 at a WWE live event in the United Kingdom, Chimel delivered a stunner to Curtis Axel after Axel forced Chimel to announce that Axel was still the Intercontinental Champion following Axel's win over R-Truth. Afterward, Chimel was kissed by one of the Bella Twins. On the May 14, 2014 episode of *Main Event*, Tony was attacked by Alicia Fox during her meltdown after she lost to Emma. On the December 29 episode of *Raw*, Chimel returned to announce Edge and Christian. He would also announce their appearances on the December 30 episode of *Main Event* and the January 2, 2015 episode of *SmackDown.*

Chimel returned to WWE television on the December 28, 2015 edition of *Raw*. He would return at Fastlane 2016 to introduce Edge and Christian. Chimel once again returned to WWE television on November 15, 2016 during the 900th episode of *SmackDown*. During this appearance, he did his trademark introduction of Edge, before the *Cutting Edge* segment. Chimel returned during Beth Phoenix's induction in the 2017 WWE Hall of Fame to announce her husband Edge's name.