News broke this week that Steph De Lander and her husband Mance Warner suddenly decided to quit TNA Wrestling. The decision was said to be related to the promotion’s refusal to allow De Lander to wrestle again after she recovered from neck surgery
.In a new interview with TMZ Inside The Ring, De Lander told her side of the story, which lines up well with the initial reporting.
“I’ve actually had two neck surgeries, and no one knows that. I only posted about one, but I actually had two. Neck surgeon
wanted to put a little bit more hardware in there. But [I’m] fully recovered, fully healed. I actually went to WWE’s spinal surgeon to do the surgeries, and I got clearance a few weeks ago.
So I had been pitching storylines, and working my way towards my in ring return with TNA. But then I received a phone call on Monday of this week, that basically they never wanted to let me wrestle at TNA again. They just didn’t feel comfortable with that. So then I made the decision to leave, and my husband did too in solidarity.”
De Lander revealed that TNA President Carlos Silva couldn’t even tell her what the injury was. Nobody in TNA gave her a medical evaluation to come to that decision about her future in the ring.
“He didn’t know. He couldn’t tell me what my injury was. Yeah, it’s definitely based off personal feelings. I have not been evaluated by any medical professional on the TNA end…they haven’t evaluated my medical history. They haven’t contacted my surgeon. They haven’t looked at any of my medical stuff…they made a personal decision.”
Steph said TNA didn’t cover her medical bills. She also wasn’t paid by TNA while out of action. This has put her in a big financial hole.
“So I’ve paid for both of my surgeries. I paid for [physical therapy] for both of them. My insurance maxed out, so I currently have a $9000 AdventHealth bill sitting there that I’m gonna get to at some point. But yeah, it was 100% covered on my end. And if you’re not working at TNA, I was not on a salary, I was not getting paid every week. Regardless, if you’re not there, if you’re not on the road, if you’re not working, you don’t get paid. So yeah, financially it was a very big hit as well.”
De Lander clarified the nature of her neck fusion surgery, which she describes as an operation wrestlers come back from all the time.
“I had a one level cervical spinal fusion of my C5-C6 joint, or vertebrae, which is like the most basic, straightforward neck injury that so many wrestlers in WWE and AEW have had before, fully recovered and returned to the ring. I did not break my neck. That’s not what happened, even though my boss told me I broke my neck. I did not. Just to clear that up, I had a fusion because I had a bulging disc.”
What’s your reaction to Steph De Lander’s story about why she quit TNA and how the company didn’t cover her medical bills? Let me know in the comments below, Cagesiders.
