WWE released a lot of people over the past year or so, including Persia Pirotta. Although that was the end of the road for her in NXT, she did not let that stop her from carrying on in her pro wrestling journey.
Steph De Lander Wants A WWE Return
Now going as Steph De Lander, she still has aspirations for a WWE return. Although her stint in WWE was brief, De Lander has been establishing herself on the independent circuit as the "Indy Goddess" alongside Matt Cardona following her release in 2022.
In a recent interview on the Insight podcast with Chris Van Vliet, the former WWE NXT Superstar shared her immediate thoughts on her WWE departure. She expressed that while returning to WWE is indeed a long-term goal, she is currently in no hurry to re-enter that system.
“I think that’s definitely the end goal, but it’s not like I’m rushing to get there," De Lander admitted during the interview. She then said that she had a "mentality switch," and that's when things started coming together for her.
When I first got released, the first thing I did was I texted Matt Bloom, I said, How do I get my job back? I got him on the phone, I said, What do I need to do? I spent the next couple of weeks like what’s going on? How do we undo this? Then I thought about and I would dream about it all the time, and it was this unhealthy obsession with all I want to do is get back there,"
"Once I kind of let go of that, and I made peace with what I was doing. I realized if I do the indies begrudgingly, and I do it dragging my feet, and I do it not really enjoying it, always looking to the next thing, I’m not going to have fun, and I’m not going to put out my best work. So I kind of had to pack up that WWE box and put it away and really focus on what I was doing. Then have the faith and know that if I do what I need to do, and I work really hard and I commit fully to this. The end result will be I be getting new interest from WWE and from elsewhere, which I have, because of how hot our act is.
Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander
Matt Cardona and Steph De Lander have been raking up dates on the indie scene, and they're a bookable pair. She has also been privileged to work with someone like the former Zack Ryder, who was able to make the most out of the indie wrestling scene after his own WWE release, which could be looked at as a blueprint for how that process should be done in a lot of ways.
While De Lander's desire to make a WWE return proves that the company is the preferred destination for many, the fact that she is so busy on the indies is proof that there is a lot more out there in the world for pro wrestlers.
