Indi Hartwell Reveals How Steph De Lander Helped Her After WWE Release

WWE/TNA Wrestling

Indi Hartwell has revealed that Steph De Lander helped her a lot after she was released by WWE in November 2024.

Having signed with WWE in 2019, Indi Hartwell would see her run come to end on November 1, 2024, when it was reported she had been released.

Speaking to Studio 1 Sports, Hartwell would reveal that Steph De Lander (known to NXT 2.0 fans as Persia Pirotta) gave her a lot of help after being released, saying:

“The person who helped me the most throughout this was Steph De Lander. She’s my best friend. We were best friends in Australia. We were on the indies together. We were at NXT together.

“She got released in 2022 and she kind of had to navigate that all by herself. She had the help of Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green, who have also been a really great help for me, but just trying to figure out how the indies are these days because, you know, I’m doing TNA but I’m also doing the indies, because I am Indi Wrestling.

“So, figuring out how that all works now, because it’s different to, you know… the last time I was on the indies was in 2019, so it’s been quite a while. Covid has happened since then. The landscape has changed. There’s another major wrestling company out there now. So, there’s just more opportunity.

“Steph has really helped me a lot, and Steph told me that, you know, when you’re not working for WWE and you’re on the indies, you are working 24/7, and it’s so true. It’s not like you’re just traveling to a show on the weekend, wrestling and coming home.”

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Hartwell would give an example of the new mindset she has as an independent wrestler, revealing that she has spent many hours packing and shipping her Micro Brawlers merchandise to fans who have bought them, while also making her own graphics to promote things.

She would describe it as a “grind”, but agreed with the host that it is giving her a whole bunch of new skills to succeed.

On the recent episode of TNA iMPACT!, Hartwell teamed up with Santino Marella to take on NXT’s BirthRight (Arianna Grace & Channing Lorenzo).

The Never-Ending Grind

It’s easy to think that an independent wrestling star rolls up to a show, wrestles and goes home, but that’s clearly not the case for many of them.

It’s not just the travelling to and from the venue, either, but the whole “grind” that Hartwell describes, promoting matches and appearances, shipping merch, creating new merch and engaging with audiences through social media. All that, and then there’s the whole process of creating, building and maintaining relationships, whether it be for a match, appearance, seminar or whatever may be needed by a promoter.

All these soft skills sit alongside the more tangible elements – the gym and other health-related aspects, and looking after oneself in such a way that the “grind” doesn’t, for lack of a better phrase, grind you down.

Even on off days, it wouldn’t come as much of a stretch to believe that independent wrestling stars are thinking of what’s next, while also maintaining their real-life relationships with significant others, friends and family, fully aware that they miss a moment in their lives due to a commitment.

Then, when it comes to show time, their music hits, they step through the curtain and, from that moment, it’s all forgotten, until it starts all over again.

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• Indi Hartwell
• Steph De Lander
• Persia Pirotta
• nxt
• wwe

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