Indi Hartwell Opens Up About Emotional WWE Release, Getting Back Her Ring Name

After five years, one in-ring wedding, and a long-time association with Candice LeRae, Indi Hartwell was one of the few who was let go by WWE last fall. And though it took a few months, Hartwell has finally landed on her feet, signing with TNA and dipping her toe back into the independent scene when she wrestled long-time hero and AEW TBS Champion Mercedes Mone at a House of Glory event back in March.

Still, being released is never an easy situation, and during an appearance on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet," Hartwell took Van Vliet and herself through the smorgasbord of emotions that she experienced since getting the call that WWE was letting her go.

"It's been...like, up and down, like a rollercoaster," Hartwell said. "Like, I remember the first week after I had gotten released, I just felt really grateful. This is how my emotions went. First week I was just super grateful for what I had. I'm kind of like you, I like to saturate my mind with gratitude, and that helps me keep perspective. So first week, I was very grateful. Second week, I kind of got frustrated and mad. Third week, I kind of got sad. And then after that, I felt fine. And now it's been, like, five months I think? Six months almost. And yeah, I've been feeling really good. Excited, because there's just so much to do."

Hartwell also clarified a few things, admitting that she had finally stopped worrying about WWE letting her go when they made the call to release her, and confirmed she had her green card taken care of. Most importantly, she also confirmed that after being released, she had to ask WWE to give her back her ring name. She then proceeded to tell the story about why she originally sold the Indi Hartwell name to WWE in the first place.

"I think it was when 'NXT 2.0' started, they went through that whole weird thing of 'You have to...you can't have your real name, and you also can't have a name that we don't own,'" Hartwell said. "So they gave me the option to change my name or sell it to them. So I sold it to them. And then, it was always of the back of my mind like 'Oh my gosh, if I get released, what name am I going to be?' That's a big deal to me. So when I got the call that I was being released, they said 'Okay, we're releasing you,' I said 'Okay, cool. So I sold my name to the company. Is there anyway I can get that back?' And then we got it all figured out. I got the rights to it and everything. I'm very lucky."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription