Steph De Lander Was Seeking Assistance From TNA For Recovery From Neck Surgery, Claims Higher-Up Told Her To Message Steve Austin Or Kurt Angle For Advice

De Lander did not receive much support from TNA.

TMZ’s Inside The Ring podcast rolled out a new episode of their show featuring Steph De Lander, who opted to depart TNA Wrestling after she was told by TNA President Carlos Silva that she would not be cleared for in-ring action.

De Lander last wrestled in August 2024, and in the time since, she’s undergone two neck surgeries. She shared during the interview that TNA was not of much assistance during her recovery.

She remembers asking TNA officials if they were aware of any places she could do her rehab at, and she said a higher-up told her to message Stone Cold Steve Austin or Kurt Angle for advice.

“It’s one thing for a normal person who has an injury to recover to a level of being okay to get through day-to-day life. It’s completely different for a professional athlete to recover to a level of being able to go through full-contact sport, and that’s what my argument was is I was trying to explain to them, ‘Hey guys, I know I’m going to my local yokel rehab center down the road, but I don’t feel like I’m getting enough specialized care to get to a point where I can start wrestling again.’ So I was asking them, ‘Hey, is there anywhere, any other places that you know that you guys could send me to do my rehab?’ I was trying to just get some more sports-specific treatment, and the response to that from someone very high in the company was, ‘Well, maybe you should DM Stone Cold Steve Austin or Kurt Angle and ask them for advice.’”

De Lander’s husband, Mance Warner, opted to leave the promotion as well to show solidarity. TNA wanted to keep Warner.

If the quote in this article is used, please credit TMZ’s Inside The Ring podcast with an H/T to Fightful for the transcription.