Former WWE Superstar Indi Hartwell recently opened up about the surprising timing of her release and the emotional journey that followed in a revealing interview with Chris Van Vliet for his Insight podcast.
In a candid conversation, Hartwell described the ironic timing of her WWE departure, which came just as she began feeling secure in her position for the first time:
“My whole time at WWE, I was always scared of getting released. And add another factor to it is that I’m an international. So people don’t really understand like visas, green cards…
But that was something that was like always in the back of my mind, like being scared of being fired. But it wasn’t until my last two weeks at WWE, I finally felt like comfortable and I finally felt like, yeah, okay, I’m part of the roster. Like I did the Netflix shoot and then and then I got released.”
“I Made the Call to Get Fired”
Perhaps even more unusual was how Hartwell learned about her release. Rather than receiving the news directly, she initially missed the call:
“I missed the call when they called me to release me. So, I made the call to get fired. I had a text message. I didn’t see I had a missed call and then I had a text message saying, ‘Hey, it’s blah blah blah from TR. Like, can you call us back?’
So, I called back and I thought it was like for a completely different topic and I had lost my voice as well. So, when I called back, I was like, ‘Oh, hey, sorry. Like, I lost my voice. Haha.’ They’re like, ‘Oh, we’re calling with some unfortunate news.'”
Adding to the strange circumstances, WWE aired a match featuring Hartwell the same day she was released:
“I was so confused because I wanted to say, ‘But like what do you mean? Like, I’m on the show tonight. Like, my match was taped last week. Like, I’m on the show tonight.’ But yeah, it was weird… It’s a nice little promotion for you. Like, I guess, hey, this person doesn’t work here anymore, but they’re good enough to be on the show.”
Emotional Roller Coaster
The 28-year-old Australian wrestler described the emotional roller coaster that followed her unexpected release:
“It’s been like up and down, like a roller coaster. Like I remember the first week after I got released, I just felt like really grateful. This is how my emotions went. First week I was just super grateful for what I had. You know, I’m kind of like you. I like to saturate my mind with gratitude and that helps me like keep perspective. So, first week I was really grateful.
Second week I kind of got like frustrated and mad. Third week I kind of got sad and then after that like I felt I felt fine. And now it’s been like 5 months I think 6 months almost. And yeah, I’ve been feeling really good. Excited because like there’s just so much to do.”
Wedding Day News
Hartwell also revealed another unusual circumstance surrounding her release – she received the news just before attending former WWE star Mandy Rose’s wedding:
“When I got released, I had just flown in for Mandy Rose’s wedding. And so then I got the call that I was released and then 2 hours later had to go to like cocktail hour at her wedding and then go to the wedding the next day. So it’s good that I had that distraction.”
Despite the career setback, Hartwell has maintained a positive outlook and believes everything happens for a reason. She has since signed with TNA Wrestling and launched a growing YouTube channel, demonstrating resilience in the face of career uncertainty.