De Lander Advises Released WWE Wrestlers to Seize Control
Australian wrestler Steph De Lander, the Awesome Championship Wrestling women's champion, encouraged recently released WWE performers to view their departures as career opportunities. She posted on X that her own 2022 WWE release proved the best development for her career and insisted it need not end their stories. De Lander expanded on that message in an interview.
De Lander left WWE in 2022 and rose to prominence in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where she captured the TNA Digital Media Championship and engaged in prominent rivalries with Matt Cardona and Sami Callihan. After two years sidelined by a neck injury, she returned to the ring last month at an ACW event, defeating Indi Hartwell and J-Rod to claim the women's title.
De Lander stressed the personal nature of such releases and urged wrestlers to process their emotions before committing fully to independent circuits. She highlighted the greater creative control available outside WWE, despite lower pay and greater demands. "Now you have an opportunity to re-write your legacy," she said. "You have so much more control over your career and your life than you think you do now."
De Lander's next ACW appearance comes May 16 at the MJN Convention Center in Poughkeepsie, New York.
