Steph De Lander was literally told by WWE to follow in Drew McIntyre's footsteps.
Today, Steph De Lander is one of the top women's wrestlers outside of WWE, but she was employed by WWE a few years ago known as Persia Pirotta in NXT, De Lander made a brief name for herself alongside Indi Hartwell as part of a romantic storyline that also included Duke Hudson and Dexter Lumis. Since leaving WWE, Steph De Lander has continued to hustle on the independent circuit and in promotions like TNA and GCW.
During a virtual signing with K&S WrestleFest, Steph De Lander opened up about being told to do what Drew McIntyre did and asking McIntyre for advice.
“They literally said to me, they were like, ‘Do the Drew McIntyre, and then come back.’ So then I messaged Drew, and I was like, ‘Hey, I got told to do what you did. What did you do?’ He sent me a whole bunch of stuff….I made sure I’m following what he did, and I look at people like Drew and Cody and Cardona and Samoa Joe, people that have either been fired and rehired or released or went to WWE later in their careers, or people that have been in multiple different companies and had really lengthy careers. Even Chelsea [Green], she got released and then did stuff on the indies and TNA, got rehired, and now she’s one of the most over people on the show. So I think there’s ways to do it, but you have to be willing to…I had one day at home this week. You’ve gotta be willing to, after a full loop of TV, be gone for a day and then fly out on a Monday to do this. That takes a special kind of person. You’ve got to really want it. I think you can’t half-ass it, and if you half-ass it, that’s when it doesn’t work."
Steph De Lander underwent successful neck surgery in late 2024. She recently returned to TNA alongside Mance Warner. Learn more about that here.
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