Indi Hartwell on WWE release: I didn’t expect it

Indi Hartwell commented on her WWE release in a video uploaded to her new YouTube channel.

Hartwell was released on November 1 after having been with the company since late 2019. The former NXT Women’s Champion said that while she was not expecting it, she took her WWE release “like a champ.”

Hartwell said:

“A week ago today, I was released from my WWE contract, and it’s been a weird week of different feelings and emotions. It’s still pretty fresh, but honestly, I can say that I’m doing well, and I’m feeling good.”

“I’m sure a lot of people can say, ‘How didn’t you see this coming? You should have seen this coming.’ But honestly, the past few weeks—like maybe 2 or 3 weeks of being back on TV—I didn’t have that feeling at all, and I didn’t expect it. But I took it like a champ.”

Hartwell’s last match was at the October 25 SmackDown tapings. She teamed with Candice LeRae in a loss to Bayley and Naomi on the show. The match aired the following week, the day she was released.

Hartwell continued:

“Honestly, the positive experiences that I had there and all my positive feelings, they outweigh any negative feelings. I am very much looking on the bright side of things. I love to keep perspective, so that’s why I feel like I’ve been so positive about this, and I hope that’s evident in the message that I put out on Instagram.”

Last week, Hartwell concluded an Instagram post addressing her release with, “Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened.”

“I’ve just really, truly appreciated every single person that’s reached out to me to check on me and send love. I’ve loved reading through all the comments, people saying nice things. And for those of you who didn’t reach out to me, you are on my naughty list—I’ve got all your names written down here. But it honestly has been really nice to be reminded of how loved I am.”

Hartwell’s release was addressed on Friday by our Dave Meltzer in the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He wrote that she “became a star in NXT because her personality got over big as part of ‘The Way.'” Later adding, “She got over having a storyline romance with Dexter Lumis, leading to a wedding, an angle that fell apart when the decision was made to cut Lumis out of nowhere and with no storyline conclusion.”

Hartwell’s full video is available below: