During a recent appearance at K&S WrestleFest, former WWE star Steph De Lander discussed her departure from WWE and subsequent interaction with Drew McIntyre. De Lander, who performed as Persia Perotta in NXT from March 2021 to April 2022, received advice from WWE officials about career development.
De Lander shared insights about her communication with McIntyre and her approach to career growth following her release.
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.
The 28-year-old has since established herself on the independent circuit, including working with Matt Cardona, and currently holds the TNA Digital Media Championship. TNA recently announced a multi-year partnership with WWE.
