Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Steph De Lander: Sex Sells In Wrestling, Teaming With Matt Cardona, Her NXT Release

Episode Date: January 11, 2024

Steph De Lander (@stephdelander) is a professional wrestler known for her time in GCW, AEW, IMPACT Wrestling and also WWE NXT where she performed under the name Persia Pirotta. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Hollywood, CA to talk about how she reinvented herself after being released from WWE, how meeting Matt Cardona completely changed her wrestling career, her lipstick line and the origin of its risqué name, her appearances in IMPACT Wrestling and AEW, her goals for the new year, she teaches me some Aussie slang and much more! Sponsors: MUDWTR: Get 15% off with the code CVV15 at http://mudwtr.com/cvv ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and experience financial freedom: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv FITBOD: Get 25% off when you use the code INSIGHT at http://fitbod.me/INSIGHT MYBOOKIE: Bet on WWE! Get up to $200 cash bonus when you use the code CVV and sign up at http://mybookie.ag BLUECHEW: Use the code CVV to get your first month of BlueChew for FREE at http://bluechew.com GHOSTBED: Get 40% of your purchase with the code CVV at http://ghostbed.com/cvv MIRACLE MADE: Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to http://TryMiracle.com/CVV and use the code CVV to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF PLUNGE: Get $150 off your Plunge with the coupon code CVV150 at http://plunge.com BONCHARGE: Go to http://boncharge.com/CVV and use coupon code CVV to save 25% For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests.  Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are go. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Believe. Oh, greetings and salutations, my friends. Welcome back to another one here on Insight. I'm CVV, Chris Van Fleet. Hey, thanks for being with us on this one. And thank you for making Insight one of the top wrestling podcast on the planet.

Number three right now as we record this. And that's because you come back each and every week, no matter who the guests are. and most importantly, it's because of people like you who follow the show. Wait, what's that? Oh, what? You don't follow the show? Oh, my goodness.

Well, let's change that right now, shall we? Hit that follow button wherever you're listening. If you're driving right now, please wait until it's safe to do so. Or maybe pull over to the side of the road. Pull over to the side of the road. Hit follow and then continue on your journey here. But all joking aside, hitting that follow button is. So important, more important than I could possibly explain in this intro here.

But as the show continues to grow, the guests will continue to get better. And I don't want you to miss out on that. Steftalander has completely changed what it means to be an independent wrestler. I mean, you might remember her from her time that she spent in NXT as Persia Parada. When she got released from her contract in April 2020, she totally reinvented herself. Like if you put a photo of Persia Parada and Steph Delander next to each other, yeah, sure there's some similarities, but the two characters totally different. She popped up on Impact and AEW, but everything changed when she met Matt Cardona at a show in Australia. I'll let her tell that story, but her career path

changed drastically, changed completely. He is the indie god. She is the indie goddess, and they are tearing it up. You're going to love this conversation. It's just so inspiring about the idea of betting on yourself and figuring it out from there because you believe in what you can do. If you enjoy this, please take a screenshot and tag us so we can share it out.

She's at Steph DeLander, just her name. I'm at Chris Van Vleet, also just my name. Now, please enjoy this conversation with Steph Dallander. It is so good to see you. Thank you. Thank you for coming in here. Thank you for having me. We just had Matt Cardona in here and it feels like it makes sense to have Seftalander here.

Yeah, double whammy. You guys are both just crushing it on the Indies. Thank you. If someone was familiar with your work in NXT but hasn't seen you on the Indies, what's the biggest difference? I would say the biggest difference is just my confidence and knowing myself, knowing, you know, what I want and what I want. I want the people to see of me and think of me and just like the portrayal of what I'm doing. I feel so much more connected to what I'm doing and my character and all of that than I did previously when I was in NXT.

So I think you can just see if you compare my performances in WWE and on the independence. Like I think the biggest thing is just I look a lot more and I feel a lot more sure of myself. What do you attribute that to? I think it was a mixture of a few different things. But I think the biggest thing actually, which is so interesting is because when I got released, I had to do a few shows for my visa stuff on the Indies. But then I kind of felt like it wasn't clicking. I wasn't enjoying what I was doing and it didn't feel right. So I took a break.

I took six months off. And you were like, I just don't want to wrestle at all? Yeah, because I knew it got to a point where I wasn't motivated. I wasn't enjoying what I was doing. and I knew continuing to work through that and wrestle while I was in that mindset was actually going to be detrimental to my career because I didn't want to start putting out work that I wasn't proud of. And I knew my mind wasn't right. So I kind of took a tactical break of like six months, you know, take a step back, recalibrate, figure out what it is that you want out of this. And also I had to find my love for wrestling again.

You know, getting released was such a big shock to the system. and it did take quite a while to go through all of those emotions. And I didn't feel like I could process that while I was wrestling. I had to, yeah, really step back, miss it, learn to love it. And then that's kind of what happened over that period of time. I had the time and the clarity to sit down and really figure out who I wanted to be. And I think that really helped, you know, kickstart this amazing run that I've had. Oh, it looks like you're loving it now.

Yeah. Like, oh, and I love when you do a big smile like that. That's how you know. But it looks from a distance like you're wearing braces. I've got teeth gems. Yeah, I know. Yeah. These very expensive, they look like they could be.

They're not as expensive as like grills, but they are pretty expensive, but I've got a deal, like I've got a good hookup with my girls. You can shout them out if you want. Yeah, so her name is Ali Punksha on Instagram. So, yeah, she's done on my teeth jams, done a lot of my piercings. Her boyfriend did my face tattoo, so, yeah, we've got a good little. relationship. I mean, that is a big step forward when you go, I've got lots of tattoos, but I'm going to get a face tattoo. That's like drawing a line in the sand of going like, I'm never going to

have a corporate job, I guess. Yeah. And I knew that about myself. I knew I was never going to have a corporate job anyways. But the mentality behind my face tattoo was, I don't have many other tattoos. Like, I've got a couple of thin ones on my arms. And I wanted, initially I wanted to get a full sleeve or two full sleeves. But I was just thinking about it and I was like, tattoos are so common now. So many people have tattoos and it's going to take a lot of time and a lot of money to get a full sleeve. Not that I really care about any of that kind of stuff, but it's, it's actually hard to take time off to heal a tattoo when you're wrestling. You know, because you've got to have a couple of weeks without bumping it and stuff. So I kind of thought, all right, what's even more dramatic than

getting a full sleeve? I was like a face tap. I was like, no, not many people have. face tattoos and a lot of girls now do like the little look where they like draw on like a little something with a bit of eyeliner or something and I was like it why didn't I just do it? Just be, go dramatic as hell, just get it. I didn't tell anyone. I wasn't even planning on doing it that day. I was going in to get an ear piercing and she was like, do want to do it today? I was like, yeah, let's do it. You just did it that day? Just did it that day. Wasn't even planning it. So is this the first of many face tattoos? I think it's one and done. Okay. I think it's one and done for the face tattoo. Yeah. And it's dollar signed.

All a sign DL, yeah. How much thought went into, like, okay, first of all, you've got to get over the threshold. I'm getting a face tattoo. Yeah. Then what's going to be on my face forever? Yeah, well, I thought, what's something that I'm never going to hate? And I was like my name. Yeah, I'm never going to, like, decide, wake up one day and go, oh, I don't like this band

or I don't like this drawing or, you know, I was like, it's my name. It's who I am. It's the most, like, aggressive, this is me now that I could think of. So, yeah, I just did it. You have so many things about you that are like, now you're trademark. look. Like, I don't know if you could, the lipstick's a big one, which you, by the way, congratulations on making that a thing. Yeah. How do you go from I'm wearing red lipstick to I'm going to brand this and sell it? Yeah. So I've always my entire career worn red lipstick. And that

actually is an ode to Nikki Bella that most people don't know. Wow. Now, Nikki Garcia. Yeah, she was my, she's being my all-time favorite female wrestler and she always would wear red lipstick. And I just thought she looked so great. So I always made sure that was part of my look. wrestling. And it's actually quite hard to find like an affordable red lipstick that is a nice shade that doesn't transfer because when you're wrestling, it rubs off on your gear, on your partner's gear, you know, it messes everything up. So I wanted to have something that was super matte and wouldn't transfer. And then I'm a big fan of stand-up comedy. And Christina Pee, who is Tom Segura's wife, she has her own red lipstick as well. So I kind of saw that and was like,

oh, that's a good idea. I think I could make my own red lipstick. Like if she can do it, I'm sure I can do it. So yeah, I just kind of got my manager. I spoke to him and sat down and said, look, I want to do a red lipstick. I don't have time to do the legwork of this. Can you try and find me, you know, a company that we can go through that has a good product, that it's affordable enough to create, affordable for people to buy, and also has a quick enough turnaround. Because a lot of the time to do products like this, it can take up to a year to kind of get it in motion. I was like, we don't have a year. Like, we need it quit. And the other thing, too, was getting a company that was okay with my branding. Because it's a little bit on the nose.

So, you know, it's an innuendo. So that was the thing. We did speak to a couple of companies that were like, we're not putting that on our product. And I was like, totally fair enough. But we found one that worked. It ticked all the boxes. For people who don't know what you're talking about. Yeah. So my, my elliptic is called DSL by SDL. And we don't need to, you know, you can figure it out. you can Google it. And it's funny because with the name, I knew, like, the name came to me and I was like, this is it. Like this, the name is more important than the product.

Like, because anyone, anyone can release a lipstick or a cosmetic product. But if I just named it Steph's red lip, it's like, well, who cares? But to have something that's so, like, brash and in your face and it's like, it's an eye catcher, whether you love it or whether you hate it. And I remember when I told my mom the name, she Googled it and she lost her mind. And she was texting me, why don't you call it this? Why don't you call it that? You can say this.

It's not too late. You can do it like trying it. And I said, mom, I understand your worries. Give it two weeks once it's released and you'll understand why I called it this. Like I promise you it'll work. And then a few weeks later, she goes, okay, I should trust you more. You know what you're doing. And if you called it like something wrestling related, like the suplex something,

it would only then appeal to wrestling fans and also wrestling fans who are a fan of you. You now have a broad appeal with this. They don't even have to like wrestling or like you to like the product. Exactly. And that was something important as well that in the last year I've tried to broaden

my horizons of not just appealing to people in the wrestling space, but also what are products or with my podcast all sorts of different things. What can I do to draw eyes from other fan bases, not just the wrestling scene. What's on your shirt here, by the way? Death Row Records.

Okay. It's very fitting. That's great. Thank you. So we've got a lot in common. Obviously, we both love wrestling, and evidently we love great conversations about wrestling. But I'm going to go out on a limb here

and say that if you're like me, you also like to save a dollar or two or maybe 10. And that's been the case since I signed out for Rocket Money. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that finds and cancels your unlawful. unwanted subscriptions. It also monitors your spending and helps to lower your bills. Rocket Money has over 5 million users, myself included, and they've helped save it to members an average of $720 a year with over $500 million in canceled subscriptions. So yeah, they'll go in and they'll find those subscriptions that you completely forgot you signed up for,

and they'll do the hard work of canceling those subscriptions for you and saving you that money. stop wasting money on things that you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to rocketmoney.com slash CVV. That's rocketmoney.com slash CVV rocketmoney. Dot com slash CVV. I feel like there's so many parts of your look from the hair to the piercings to the face tattoo to the lips like where it all comes together and it's just this is what Steph is all

about. Where did you start building on that? So I, it was a. little ideas of things that I wanted to do, but either I had been told by a few different people, that's not, you know, bangs won't look good on you. For instance, an ex-boyfriend, you won't look good with bangs, okay? You shouldn't shave slits in your eyebrows. You shouldn't do this. You shouldn't do that. So I'm kind of like sitting there cooking being like, oh, but I think it would look cool. I think that would look good. I mean, I've been getting, I've been had almost all

these piercings since I was 14 years old. So I was getting piercings at a really young age. So I've always been into that. But then when I got really, released from WWE, it was kind of shedding the old skin of like, okay, I was, I was trying to fit into whatever mold I thought people wanted from me or I thought they wanted from me. And obviously, I wasn't doing that very well because I ended up getting released. So what happens if I just really lean into who I want to be and who I feel like I am on the inside? And that's kind of when these, you know, that's when I cut my bangs and I cut the same kind of thing. I went to get a hair cut. And I said, you know what? Cut the bangs. And she goes, really? I said, mm-hmm. She goes,

do you want to do maybe some longer, softer curtain bangs? I said, no, cut them, cut them short. I want them. She goes, no one's doing short bangs. Like, no one's doing that look. And I said, that's exactly why I want to do it, because no one else is. It's not trendy right now. Like, it's trendy to have that soft, feminine look. I want it sharp and edgy. And then I got home, and I went, that's not erratic enough. I have to bleach it. Like, I wasn't planning on doing any of it. So then I get the bleach out of it, because I used to be a hairdress. So I kind of know what I'm doing. So I just bleached it,

bleach it. And then I was like, okay, that's the look. That's cool. When you're growing up in Australia, it's not like you can, look, I'm from Canada, right? If I want to be a pro wrestler, I could go, oh, well, Edge did it, and Chris Jericho did it and test in Valvinus

and Christian, the list goes on and on and on and on. When you're growing up in Australia, it's not like the path has really been carved for you. And now it's starting to happen, but at that time, it's not really a path to carve. So how do you as a kid go, I want to be a pro wrestler, but I don't know how to get there. Well, the interesting thing on that is I used to sit and I would look at the

the WWA website and they would have the recruit me page. And it would say, you need a minimum three years wrestling experience to apply. And I didn't know that the Indies existed at all. I didn't know anything as a child. I thought WWA was the only wrestling there was. So I would look at that and go, three years experience, you're the only ones who do wrestling. How am I getting three years of experience?

I don't even understand how this works. And then it wasn't until I was at a Booker T signing at a random mall because they would send one person out per year to do press or whatever. So I went to a Book of T signing and I met another girl who was a wrestling fan and she said, you know they do like random little indie shows here. I said, what's that? What's indie? She goes, same thing, wrestling, but just local guys and it's a smaller thing and XYZ.

And she took me to one of the shows and my mind was just blown. I was just like, oh my God, there's stuff outside of wrestling, which is outside of WWA, which is so interesting because Indy Hartwell, my best friend, she grew up watching, and we're the same age, we had a very similar upbringing. But she somehow knew about Ring of Honor and TNA and, you know, independence and all this kind of stuff. But for some reason, wherever I was, I was just never exposed to it. So once I realized independent wrestling existed, I was like, okay, I really want to do this.

And I'd been telling my parents my whole life, you know, growing up as a kid, everyone wants to be a fireman, a police officer. I wanted to be a wrestler. Yeah. And I actually, I turned 18. And my mom said to me, she goes, Steph, you've been telling me your entire life, you're going to be a wrestler. Now's the time.

What are you doing? Wow. And I was like, okay. And that really threw me because I was like, wow, if that's coming from her, yeah. That was kind of like the push over the edge that I needed to start, to sign up to a training school and to kind of get it rolling. Where did things shift, I guess, for WWE, because they've hired a bunch of Aussies now. Yes. But when you were a kid, there was like really not. Yeah. Where did that shift?

The kind of first crop of Australian wrestlers to get signed was Emma, the Iconics and Buddy Murphy and those kind of, and once they, once they got signed, because they pretty much, as I came in, they left. So when I saw them get signed, I was like, okay, this is, this is doable. This isn't a pipe dream. If they can do it, I can do it. And I remember when I had just maybe been at training for a couple of months, I couldn't do anything. But I would sit there and say to everyone, I'm moving to America one day and I'm getting signed to WWB. Wow.

And there we go, are you sure you want to be saying that to people? And I'm like, yeah, 100%. Like, I know that's what I want. I know I will not stop until I get there. I'll figure out a way. but that is what is going to happen. How long have you been living in the U.S. now? Like two and a half years.

You feel like you have a very American accent now. Really? Yeah. Like when you said that sentence? Oh, God. Oh, that's not a good thing? No, no, no. No, it is.

But just it's, I can feel myself losing it and I don't want to. When you go back home, they must be like, what is happening here? Yeah. When I go back home now, it's a very jarring, like to hear true, true Australian accents. I'm like, oh. I worked hard to, like, say the few words that were Canadian, not Canadian. not Canadian. Oh, really?

I mean, for us, it's like a few words. It's like sorry and tomorrow and out and about. Yeah. For you, it's a full on accent, but I feel like yours is like, it's like merging now. It's an Australian-American accent. It's because part of it is

I get sick of people not knowing what I'm saying. So if I'm in a restaurant and I go, this always happens to me, can I get some water? They go, what? I go, water? They go, oh, yeah, yeah. So I just, I do a fake amendment. American accent when I'm ordering stuff because it's easier for me to do that.

And then because otherwise I'm sitting going water, water, you know, H2O. And then they go, oh. H, what? Yeah, H2O. Yeah. You even said X, Y, Z and I'm like, oh. What do you guys say? In Canada, we'd say Z.

Oh, Z. Australia's a Z? I think Australia is Z too. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Look at you. Oh, no. Oh, it's happening. It's taken hold.

How shocking was it, or how did it all come about for you to be on the cover of PWI? It was incredible. It was incredible because for me, so I sit down and I write out my goals at the start of the year of what I want to achieve every year. I love it. Yeah, I do. I do one year, three year, five year and lifetime. And every year it kind of changes. But on my one year, it was, one of them was to just be ranked in the PWI 500.

Because I had somehow, that list has eluded me in my entire career, which 500 would wrestle and the women's women's, I'd never been listed on any of them. So I had just said, I just want to be on the list. So then Matt messaged me one day and he goes, look, I don't want you to get your hopes up because you know what it's like in wrestling until something is printed and out there, everything can change. But he goes, I think there's a chance we might be on the PWI cover. I said, no. He goes, yeah, yeah, I said, all right, I'll believe it when I see it. And then we did the photo shoot for it. And I was still like, until it's printed and until I see it, I don't believe, I'm not going to get my hopes up.

But sure enough, it was, it was real. It's, you know, we were the cover of, I think, the November issue or something like that. But, yeah, it was, it was a very incredible moment for me because not many people, like they told us that the last time a true independent act was the cover, like the main focus was in the 80s. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I mean, it's so impressive what you and Matt are doing together, what you're doing individually. I just, I don't know how you can keep this momentum going and somehow you are. That's something that we talk about all the time is, you know, we've been speaking about it the last few weeks.

I think winding down the year and going into the next year, I think it's common for everyone to get a little bit reflective. But we've both kind of been sitting here going, wow, like we had such an amazing year. what are we doing next year to top this? Because if you're not going up, you start going down. So we're already brainstorming of like this. And like certain places we want to go that we haven't wrestled out yet, different countries we want to go to, you know, what can we add to our act?

What can we maximize for our social media? What can we be doing more of? Like him and I are always thinking of what's next and what we can be doing more of. And we're never getting complacent. And I think that's why this pairing has worked so well because it's not one person steering the ship and dragging the other person along.

It is a very equal. We're both super motivated and we're also both motivating each other. How did you and Matt even get connected in the first place? So we were on a tour in Australia in, I think, March of this year for World Series Wrestling. And he came up to me.

I guess he hadn't, we'd met each other like once before, but just a high and by. But he came up to me and he was like, hey, I have a question to ask you. And instantly, I'm going, I've done something wrong. I've shit talked someone. I've buried myself somehow.

Like, what I'm about to get yelled at? Like, I instantly was like, this is negative. And he goes, do you want to work with me on the Indies? Like, do you want to be my heater? Wow. I said, are you serious? Because Chelsea had just got re-signed by WWA. Yes.

And he lost. Yeah. And he's going, what's next? Yeah. Actually, before I even said that, he goes, question, are you signed anywhere? And I said, no. And he goes, perfect. Do you want to be my heater?

I said, yes, a thousand percent. He goes, you can take some time to think. I said, there's nothing to think about. What are you talking about? I said, me? Are you sure? He goes, yes. I was like, 100% yes.

Did he tell you what it was specifically that he saw in you? He just said that he saw my look and thought I looked very unique and my size. And he was impressed, I guess, with the work that I did on the shows and the fact that I could speak on the microphone and was like, she is, you know, what I need. Yeah, you're way taller than people think. Yeah, I'm like five, ten, five. I'm pretty much six foot in wrestling boots. Yeah.

Yeah. So if you're 510 in real life, you're like 6-2. Exactly. Yeah. You can just keep adding in the wrestling world. I'm 6-4 now. Yeah. Next year, I'm 6-7. It's crazy. And I think Matt flew you in, right? He did. Yeah. So the first weekend, we were in Australia and I was going to stay for an extra week and a half to spend time with my family. And Matt goes, look, there's a GCW show this weekend. Let's try and get you on it. Do you think you could change your flight? And I said, without a doubt. And I went home and I said to my mom like, look, I know it's my dad's birthday this week.

I know we have this dinner planned. I know I'm meant to be spending time with the family. But, and she said, Steph, we sat down and you and I had this conversation. This year is about wrestling. Like this year, more than any other year, you have to go balls to the wall. This is about wrestling. You need to go. It's not even a question.

So my mom, the legend she is sits there, rings united, gets my flight change for me, like just sorts it all out, sends me off. So then, yeah, I had one day with the family and then I went straight back. and Matt was speaking to Brett Loddale, the promoter of GCW. Hey, I've got this new girl. I really think it's going to work, X, Y, Z. And Brett goes, I don't care. I'm not interested.

And Matt goes, dude, come on, it's going to be really good. He goes, no. And I'd been trying to get booked to G. I was left on red for six months from Brett. I was trying to get booked in every. I had Joey Janella putting in words for me. I had people at every angle trying to get me into GCW because I knew that was a place to be. And it was all falling on deaf ears.

So then Matt said, okay, no worries. So he bought me a flight. me a hotel, paid me my full rate that weekend to fly in and do a run-in. And then as soon as I, we rocked up, me and Matt, and we went up to Brett. And he turned around and goes, whoa, you're here? We said, yeah. Matt goes, I'm not joking about this, dude. Like, this is going to be a really hot act.

And then I think he saw it all unfold and was like, okay. And then he was on board and then we got rolling. The thing that's so impressive about you as an individual, Matt as an individual, is you guys are willing to take chances. And I think there's a lot of indie wrestlers that go, that's a good idea. but I don't know, I'd have to buy this flight and then I have to pay for this hotel. And I'm just not going to do it. You guys just go for it.

Yeah, you, I think so, and I have this conversation all the time, I think so many people in life, but especially in wrestling and independent wrestling, they're their own worst enemy. And they get in their own way. And they tell themselves no before someone else tells them no. And I've always made sure that I don't do that. I've always taken, what's the worst thing that happens? They say no. I've always just tried to take the leap. And I said it to Matt too when the first

couple of weeks we were sitting down in a diner eating and we were just kind of in that getting to know each other phase. And I said, look, you don't know it yet, but you picked the right girl. I said, I don't have bags of money, but anything that you need me to invest money in, I will do. I will spend money on gear. I will spend money on whatever I need to for wrestling because I see the investment in this. And as committed as you are to this, I am just as committed, if not more, and I'm willing to make this work, I promise you. Is the hope that through this you build up enough of a name that WWE goes, oh, we messed up, we should bring her back?

Yeah, I mean, I think that's definitely the, like the end goal, but it's not like a, I'm rushing to get there. And I think when I, again, when I had that mentality switch, that's when things started coming together for me too, because when I got released, the first thing I did was I texted Matt Bloom. I said, how do I get my job back? I got him on the phone. I said, what do I need to do? And I spent the next couple of weeks, like, what's going on? How do we undo this? And then I thought about, and I would dream about it all the time. And it was this unhealthy

obsession with like, all I want to do is get back there. And then once I kind of let go of that and I made peace with what I was doing, and I realized, if I do the Indies begrudgingly and I do it dragging my feet and I do it not really enjoying it, always looking to the next thing, I'm not going to have fun and I'm not going to put out my best work. So I kind of had to like pack up that WWE box and put it away and really focus on what I was doing and then have the faith and know that if I do what I need to do and I work really hard and I commit fully to this, the end result will be I'll be getting, you know, new interest from WWE and from elsewhere, which I have because of how.

our hot our act is. You were in AEW, like, so briefly. Yeah, super briefly. What happened? So I did a couple of darks, or I did, like, one dark and one ring of honor. And that was, like, very new into my pairing with Matt. And I just kind of had this realization of, like,

I did the, I came in into NXT at the very bottom into, like, the feeder system of working yourself up the chain. and I didn't really want to do that at another company. So I kind of thought like I'm better off doing a year outside or a couple of years or whatever it is that I need to do. And then whether I go to WWE, whether I go to AEW, no matter where I go, I don't want to come in at ground zero again.

And that's kind of what it felt like I was doing by doing dark. You know, you can't really, in those situations, I felt like I couldn't really show my value of what I can do and I couldn't shine. And, you know, I think so much of what makes me special is my presence and my aura and, you know, you're out there without an entrance and there's no way you're going to get time on the microphone. You know, I just felt like I couldn't really present the Steph Delander that I wanted to. Yeah.

So I kind of made that decision of like, all right, I'm going to kind of let that sit for a little bit and maybe reopen those lines of communication, as I said, when I have more stocked my name. What a bet on yourself, though, because I think there's a lot of people. people that would go, I'd rather be on TV or be associated with the AEW product than try to figure it out on my own. Instead, you're basically saying, thank you so much, but no thank you right now. Yeah, exactly. And it's a gamble. And, you know, every so often that thought creeps in of like, have I made the right decisions? Am I doing the right thing? Should I take the guaranteed money and the contract and whatever else? But then, you know, when you kind of recalibrate and sit down and go,

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I want to do only fans. So initially, she didn't really know what it was. That's probably a good start. Which was a good start. Don't Google it. Well, so I managed to kind of butter her up. And I didn't lie, but I, you know, I was like, it's bikini photos. Which it is. I don't, you know, I don't do any nudity on there.

Do you think about it? Because I'm sure you get messages all the time. I don't because that's not my end goal. Like this is, for me, it's a means to an end. And I, you know, it's a very fruitful avenue. But I am, even though I have a tattoo on my face, I am mindful of not doing anything that's going to affect job opportunities in the future. So it's bikini photos. Yeah.

And it's a lot of interaction with fans. That's the bigger part of it. Exactly. It's bikini photos. It's lingerie photos and videos. It's, yeah, talking to the fans, interaction with them. A lot of the fans, they want this personalized experience of connecting with you and speaking to you. And that's kind of one of the biggest draws with it.

Yeah. But as far as my mom, as I said, she was okay. And then she subscribed. And I said, what? What are you doing? what did you think was going to happen? So then she subscribed, then she freaked out, then I had to talk her down and show her the numbers and show,

hey, my rent is paid, my car payment is paid, I'm living very comfortably off this, I'm not doing anything I am uncomfortable with, I'm not doing anything that's going to hinder any future job opportunities. I'm happy, I'm safe, everything is okay. And then she kind of was like, okay, okay, I get it. You think there are some, unfortunately, super future job opportunities that just go,

oh, you had an only fan, I will just lump you into this pile of what I believe that to be without even looking at it. Yeah, I think so for sure. But I also do think that it's so common these days. And so many women have them in every space, not just wrestling. Even men have them. Exactly. Men too.

Yeah, in every kind of industry that it's like, well, I think they're alienating so many talent if they're going to have that mentality. You know? And it's clearly a thing that's hot right now. It might not be around forever. Yes. While it's hot and while it can pay for your rent and your car and everything else, yeah, exactly. And that's the thing too.

It's like this, like OnlyFans gave me the opportunity to have six months off wrestling and think about what I wanted to do. You know, that was covering everything while I could take a break. That covers everything if I have an injury tomorrow. That covers everything that if I don't have a booking, weekend. I don't stress about it. I have a nice weekend with my boyfriend and we go out to dinner and my bills are still paid. And it also means that I don't have this desperation for I need to sign the first contract put in front of me because I'm not earning enough money. So to me, that's the biggest thing is it gives a lot of people a lot more control of their situation because as I said,

you're not making decisions based purely off money. You can kind of sit there and weigh up the options and be a bit smarter about it all. Do you think about life after wrestling? I mean, it's probably a long time from now, but... I do all the time because it's... Yeah, it is hopefully a long time from now, but also we've seen careers end in an instant. So I think you always have to think about what's next.

For me, personally, I've decided and realized that I do want to stay in the entertainment business in some way. I love stand-up comedy, so I'm kind of... No, but I'm always tempted to, like, dip my... the city to do it. I know. I've been driving around all weekend being like, yeah, drive down sunset, be like laugh factory, comedy store. I know. I'm like, yeah, it's, I'm trying to, the thing is I don't want to take any energy away from wrestling right now. Sure. And stand up is obviously, you know, it takes years and years and years and years to perfect. But the difference is with wrestling,

you can only go as long as your body can go. And also as a 35-year-old, especially female, I mean, I'm only 26 now, but you are much, much, much less desirable or 40 or whatever age. As you get older, you become less desirable to bigger companies. That's just the way that it goes. Whereas with stand-up, it's not as much of a factor. The thing in stand-up that's fascinating is you're still like a rookie 10, 12 years in. Yeah. And like you're really not starting to get breaks until then.

Yeah. And that's the thing where it's like I can't with what I'm doing right now. Because I have a few friends that are comedians and like it's the parallels are so similar. It's crazy. Like the business is so similar, especially as a female. Like a female comedian and a female wrestler, we go through a lot of the same stuff. But yeah, to see the plights of like an independent comedian is so similar to that of an independent wrestler that I'm like, I don't have the time to commit to that.

right now, but I'm always kind of sitting there going, I think that's what's next after wrestling. Do you write material? No, I haven't. I haven't. No, because I'm, as I said, I'm like, I don't have time to edit the reels that I need to for wrestling or to do my podcast or to do my only fans content. You know what I mean? Like my schedule right now is so packed.

And I also, for right now, I'm enjoying being a fan of comedy. You know, when you get into a business, it's like wrestling. When you get a bit too deep in, you start to look at things differently and you start to go like, huh. You see how the sausage is made. Exactly. And it changes it for you. Yeah. It makes sense.

Yeah. So I'm still in my like, I'm really loving being a fan phase. But I've kind of thought gently, I think that's where I'm going to go after wrestling. Have you thought about hiring an editor to edit your reels? I have and I have someone that does, but I'm such a control freak that I, that I want to have my hands on it. You could be on the last, like, I know how to edit. I'm not a great editor, but I know how to edit.

I'm now so fortunate to have an incredible editor named Troy. He sends it to me, and then if there's any revisions, I'll let him know, but like 99% of the time, he's sending me something that's perfect and way better than something I could do. And I'm like, hell yeah. Post. Yeah, I've got, I'm, I think I just need to tell them what I want from them all. But as I said, I'm very, and Matt is very much like it, too, West.

So we want to have control of everything, which can be detrimental because it's like you need to relax a little bit. Well, and then when you do have the ability to relax a little bit, you can focus more of your efforts on what you're the best at, which is wrestling. Yes, exactly. Your schedule must be so packed. It's every weekend, right? Yeah, it's every weekend. And as I said, it's not just the wrestling. Like, the wrestling is one part of it.

It's, you know, we fly in on a Monday morning or a Sunday, whatever, whenever we're getting home Monday. and then it's, okay, come home, and then I've got a bag full of laundry that I need to do. I've got to go to the gym. I've got to sit down and record my podcast. I've got to take a whole bunch of OnlyFans content. Then I've got to sort through all of it and edit the photos. You know, there's just, it's kind of this never-ending hamster wheel that it feels like by the time you get to Thursday and you've caught up on like all the things you need to do, you're going, all right, I've got to go get a spray tan and pack my bag because I'm off again tomorrow morning.

Isn't that great though? Yeah, it is. It's the best. You get to do all of that? I love it. I love it. Yeah. I would never, ever, ever change it for the world. There's going to be a lot of people listening to this and want to go check out your podcast.

So give us a big plug for, you know, what can they expect? So my podcast is called That's Cooked. What is that that's cooked mean? So Cooked is like an Australian slang term, which means that it's crazy or it's off the wall or it's bad. You can use it in so many different ways that's cooked. That's cooked. It's cooked. If someone, yeah, if you said Matt is still out there,

waiting for an Uber, I would say that's cool. That would be cooked. That would be cooked. He was waiting for a long time. He was waiting and he would probably say that too. So, yeah, it can mean whatever you want it to mean. But so, yeah, I kind of had an idea of I wanted to start a podcast and, you know, I know everyone and then their dog has a podcast these days and that's okay.

But it was just kind of one of those things that I wanted to, I wanted to test it out and see how I went. And Matt was kind of encouraging me to do that as well. And it's been, it's been an interesting. learning experience because I don't know anything about technology at all. So it's me with my cameras, with my microphones, and I'm trying to figure out how they work, and I'm failing at it every week, and I've always forgot to press one sort of button, but it's good, it's fun.

It's a mix of kind of wrestling, but also I end up going on these weird life tangents. And I don't know. I just start rambling, but people like it. So it's just me. The thing, too, is I tried to. to, I wanted to go on the road with it and I wanted to try and catch people at shows to interview them. But show days are so chaotic and everyone's focused on their own matches and whatever else they need to do. And also it's very, very hard to find a quiet space at a independent

wrestling show. So I've kind of realized really quickly like, oh, that's not really feasible. But now I'm going to have Manse kind of co-hosting with me, Mans Warner. Oh, there you go. Yes. So that's exciting. So I'll have someone to bounce off and he gets on there and goes on his crazy rants as well. So, yeah. I love that you're calling yourself the queen of the death match. Yes. You're not really having a lot of death matches.

Not at all. I have had one death match. And I was the death match queen long before I even did that one. And to me, that's the funniest thing is with wrestling, you can present whatever you want. And if you promote it correctly, you can kind of create your own reality. That is a metaphor for life, by the way. And I'm sorry to cut you off. perception is reality.

Yeah. And it's, it's so funny that it's so prevalent in wrestling and that people don't even understand it. It's also so applicable for life. Yeah, and not many people understand that. And I think once you kind of get it and you see that,

then everything changes because you realize you can create whatever perception that you want. So it got to the point where I would have other wrestlers come up to me and go, I can't believe you do all those death matches, man. Like, that stuff is crazy.

I'm like, I've never done one. What are you talking about? I just called myself that. I just call myself that. And now it's on a t-shirt and it's on my gear and you guys buy my 8x10s and it's a whole thing. It's brilliant. Thank you. And same with what Matt's been doing with the Death Match King.

He's had won. Yeah. But people hate him as a result of that, which then in turn gets him more over. Yeah. And it all works. No, it's perfect because, and I think that's another reason why Matt and I work so well together is we're both such WWE-style sports entertainers through and through. And I think when we kind of came together as a team and it was like, oh, you like this kind of stuff and you hate that.

Oh, I feel the same way. This is what I want to do. Then it was, you know, we hit the ground running. And yeah, we are every, we are so the opposite of everything that's on GCW. And I think that's why it works. What surprised you the most in the death match? It surprised me that I thought it was fun because I, I hated, I hate, I hate, I hate death match wrestling. And I'll say it.

I hate it. I don't enjoy watching it. I have respect for the people that do it because I could never put my body through that on a regular basis, but I don't enjoy watching it and it's not my thing. And I openly say that all the time. And if anyone has an issue with it, you can DM me and I won't reply. But no, the biggest thing that I noticed from that was I came backstage and I looked at Brett and I said, I hate that I had fun doing that. And he goes, oh, you've got the bug. And I said, I don't have the bug because I will never, ever, ever do it again. But I think there was something about the adrenaline and such a buildup and the crowd and the blood.

Like that was the first time I'd ever bled in a match. Like, there was so many different elements. Hard way, right? Yeah. And the thing too is for me, I had to mentally get myself into such a zone to accept the fact that I was going to get smashed over the head with a light tube, that it was just this big buildup of energy and then this huge adrenaline dump. Then, yeah, backstage, I was like, I feel like I've just gone on like 10 roller coasters

and climbed a mountain. That crowd is so into it. Like when panes of glass are exploding onto them or light tubes are exploding onto them, they're loving it. Yeah. And I've been to many GCW shows. I'm very, I like to sit like the third of the fourth row. Oh, yeah.

Like out of the splash zone, like at SeaWorld. Like at SeaWorld. I know. And I just, I can't imagine, I also can't imagine the people that are in the match right after because they do their best to sweep the ring and to sweep everything. But I don't know. Yeah, that's why I, that's one of the luxuries that people at televised companies don't understand is like, you guys have beautiful rings.

Like the rings are absolutely beautiful and very, very clean and sanitized and all that kind of stuff. And on the Indies, it's just a different beast. Yeah. Yeah, it is. But that's the good and the bad of it. You know, you love it and you have to embrace it. But yeah, I don't, I don't ever want to be on directly after a death match because I know there's still stuff hanging around in there.

What do you think's been the biggest lesson you've learned? Because this has been a big year for your career. Yeah. What's been the biggest lesson that you've learned personally? I think the biggest lesson that I've learned personally this year is if your mind isn't right, then nothing else works. So, like, you have to, whatever's going. on in your head, you have to figure that out and you have to sit with yourself. And if you've got to go to therapy, you go to therapy, if you've got to journal, journal, whatever it is, you've got to figure

out how to make your brain as healthy as possible because then that creates good decision making. That makes you happier with your work and what you're doing. And then it kind of all flows from there. But if you're coming from like a negative place, I don't think you'll ever get the results that you want out of what you're doing. Yeah. You mentioned. How important goal setting is to you, and it's super important to me. I made a t-shirt that says vague goals get vague results. Yeah. Because the flip side of that is specific goals, get specific results. Definitely. Were you always this goal driven? Always. Yeah, I've always been this way. With everything, with the silliest little things, I always had a vision of this is what I want and this is

what I'm going to do to get it. Like, for instance, when I was, you know, maybe 14, 13 years old, I went, I love Jeeps. I want a Jeep. I want a Jeep. bad. And so my first car, when I was 16 years old, I bought a RAV4 because I couldn't afford a Jeep, but I could afford a car that looked like a Jeep. And then every car I've had for the last 10 years has looked like a Jeep, but the cheap version. You haven't got a Jeep yet? Then I moved, I moved to America. And I landed, I sold my car back home and I got to America. And because the Jeep, renegade, they don't have them in Australia, but they have them in America. And I was looking for, again, my same thing. What's a car that looks like a Jeep, it isn't a Jeep and blah, blah, blah.

And I spoke to my dad. He goes, Steph, you've been. You've been. been talking your entire life how you want this Jeep, you've just signed to WWE and you've moved to America. I think you deserve the Jeep. And then I bought one. So yeah, there we go. Now I've got it. So even the littlest things, I've always kind of, I know what my end goal is and I kind of chip away and chip away and then eventually I end up getting there. And then it's, you know, the sweetest victory when you've worked really hard for something. He's still driving the Jeep? Oh yeah. I love it. I love it. They gave me a text the other day, hey, do you want to trade in your car? So I went in and it was just, it was all a crock of shit. And I was like, this is my dream car. I was like, I'm not

trading this in for anything. Like, I'll trade this in for a giant wrangler if you've got a good deal, but I'm not. Yeah, they're always trying to get you before your lease is up. He was trying to get me to sign a new seven year lease. It's only 71 more dollars a month. Yeah, I said, no way. But yeah, seven year lease. Seven year lease. Craziness. That's, what are you going to be? What am I going to do? 2030. But even still, I sat there with a guy. I said, look, this is where I'm at financially right now. This is where I project to be within the next years. Once I hit this point financially, that is when I'll come in and I'll get my wrangler. But like, so even that, I had the whole thing like laid out. But I've always been that way and

it's always worked well for me. In saying that, the fact that you're even working as an independent wrestler and that's, I mean, you've got a few other things, but that's the biggest piece of your pie, I would imagine. Yeah. I mean, thank you. Congratulations. Thank you. It's, you know, it is a, it's treacherous waters out here, especially when you get released from. WWE, you're kind of fumbling, trying to find your feet and you don't know where to turn and what to do and how much money you should charge and what you should do about merchandise. And I have to say that so much of what I have learned and why I'm successful is from working alongside Matt every week, without a doubt.

Because he's pointed me in the direction of gear makers and merch makers and where to get this done and where to get that done. And this guy can edit my stuff and everything he has set me up so well for success. So yeah, I owe a lot of that to him. He just looks at the business as a business. And I think a lot of people look at the business of like, okay, what's the next match and how am I going over? And he's looking at the business of like,

how can I make the most amount of money here? And that's, I think that's what it should be. And I look at it that way as well. And I think that is where the difference is, is, you know, not to knock on anyone, but you've got a whole bunch of wrestlers who don't even have merch out or they're taking photos with fans for free. And you've got Matt and I standing there charging $20 for photo.

and, you know, this and that. And then we're walking away with a lot of money in our Fanny Pass. He was $30 when I saw him last weekend. He's 30. I'm 20. Oh, okay. Yeah. And then together? Together we're 50.

But a lot of people. No deal? No deal. We don't do any combos. And that's something as well that I learned from Matt. He goes 30, 30, 60. That's the combo. We don't cut deals. Wow.

And, you know, it can sound harsh. But the thing is, if you set that expectation for yourself, people know if they're going to go up to Matt Cardona, they're spending money to interact with him. He was in WWE for like 15. years. You shouldn't get his time for free. So if you kind of set that standard for yourself and you train people, that's how they treat you, it kind of follows suit. Yeah, that's another really great life lesson. Yeah. It's funny how reflective wrestling is of life. It is. It's a lot more

closely linked than you think it is. Can you teach us some more Aussie slang before we wrap this up? Yeah. One that always gets people is you guys call it a gas station. We call it a petrol. We call it a petrol station, but to shorten that, it's a servo. So like a service station. So if you go, I need to go the servo, that means. Servo? Yeah. Say it like an American. Servo. Yeah, you said it. That's so good. All right. So you go to the servo. Right. I'm working on my Grayson Waller. Yeah, Grace and Waller. Yeah, Grace and Walla. Grace and Walla. It's pretty good. Wula. If you want to go to a liquor store, it's called a bottle-o. What?

Bottle O. Bottle O. What? Bottle shop. Bottle O. That one makes no sense. Yeah, so we just shorten everything, added an extra letter. I went to Australia.

I went to the Gold Coast. Yes. Yeah. And there was a long line to get into the bar. And someone said, oh, it's chokas in there. I'm like, what? Chalkas is busy. Yeah.

Yeah. I learned that, but it's what in there? Yeah. No, there's a lot of different words that. I'm, as you pointed out, I'm kind of losing it because people get very confused, but it's like a whole different language. You do a fantastic American accent. Thank you.

I've, yeah. Well, the thing, that's the thing is we in Australia grow up watching American movies and American TV. Yeah. So you kind of get to know, like I remember when my mom came here, she visited. She goes, there's a Wells Fargo. I've seen that before. There's a Dunkin' Donuts. I've heard that in a movie.

Like, it's all gimmick stuff that we've only seen in movies and TV. So we grow up knowing your guys' culture, whereas you guys don't really get as exposed to Australian culture. I remember Chris Hemsworth telling me like, oh, yeah, it's easy to do your accent because all the TV shows we watch and all the movies we watch are based in America. Yeah, it's true. It makes sense. I grew up in Canada, so I guess I had the American culture right there. Yeah, yeah. So I'm going to wrap this up with the same question I ask everybody at the end.

And by the way, thank you. Oh, thank you. You're the best. Thank you for coming in. No, thanks for having me. I talk about gratitude a lot. It's such a big part of my life. Yeah.

And I wake up every day. I say out loud three things I'm grateful for. I do it before I go to bed. I just learn that Mac Hardona does five of them. Does he? That's a lie. I'm going to ask him what they are today. That's what he says. What are three things in your life, Steph, that you're grateful for? What am I grateful for? I'm grateful for my family. I know that sounds lame, but they, as I kind of mentioned before, they push me even if I am not confident in myself. And to me, that's like being so invaluable. because times when I felt like I don't really know what I'm doing or if I'm on the right path, they go, no, this is what you're meant to be doing and you need to run towards it. So that's always been really cool. I'm grateful for my boyfriend, Mans Warner, because he's been a great addition to my life.

And yeah, he's very, very supportive of everything that I do. And I'm grateful for Matt Cardona because he has changed my career. Well, this is awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, too. Grab yourself an F3 energy on the way out. Peach mood. That's a good one.

I like it. That's a good one. Thank you. Well, there we go. Excited for what this year has in store for her because 2023 was a mega year for both her and Matt Cardona independently and both of them together with what they've been doing. So I just can't wait to see what she does here. I love the Aussie slang that we threw in there.

Olsey sling that we did there at the inn might. It's like a, wow, that's like a four out of ten. I'm sorry if anyone in Australia is listening to this. That was an insultingly bad accent. That was like a four out of ten there. If you enjoy this, mate, take a screenshot. Tag us so we can share it out as well. She's at Stiff Delanda.

Stiff Delanda. That's like a, this is just getting worse. I met Chris Van Fleet. And how about this quote from James Altiture? It really like seems to work with the idea of reinventing yourself and pushing forward. Every day. You reinvent yourself. You're always in motion.

But you decide every day, forward or backward. Which way are you heading today, my friends? I'd like to think I'm going forward. Be great. Be grateful. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. And also, I will see you this weekend in Las Vegas. If you're going to TNA, Hard to Kill, I will see you there.

Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do. With rapid-fire takes. So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about. You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media

about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Take advantage of it, but get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast. What's your beef? Follow and listen on your favorite platform. You've been warned.