Steph De Lander has finally explained what really happened before her sudden departure from TNA. She spoke about her long recovery from neck surgeries, disagreements over her medical clearance, and the financial stress she faced during that time.
According to De Lander, things took a turn for the worse when the promotion refused to let her wrestle again, even though her surgeon had cleared her.
De Lander first suffered the neck injury in 2024. The injury required cervical fusion surgery on the C5–C6 vertebrae. During her recent appearance on TMZ’s Inside the Ring, she explained that she had two neck surgeries, not just one.
“So basically, I’ve had a neck injury for a while, and I actually had two neck surgeries, and no one knows that. I only posted about one, but I actually had two. My surgeon wanted to put a little more hardware in there,” De Lander revealed.
Both surgeries were done by a spinal surgeon who also works with WWE. After completing her recovery, De Lander said she was officially cleared to return to wrestling.
But instead of planning her return, De Lander said she received a phone call that revealed the company did not feel comfortable letting her wrestle again.
Steph De Lander Opens Up About Covering Surgery Costs During TNA Injury Absence
De Lander also shared her frustration about how TNA handled the whole medical situation. She said the company never fully reviewed her medical records. According to her, no doctor from TNA looked at her recovery details. Moreover, according to her, the TNA executive who called her didn’t even know what her injury was.
“I have not been evaluated by any medical professional on the TNA’s end. They have a chiropractor at the shows and one other doctor who I’ve barely spoken with. They haven’t evaluated my medical history, they haven’t contacted my surgeon, they haven’t looked at any of my medical stuff,” she said.
On top of that, De Lander also talked about the financial pressure she faced during her recovery. Since she wasn’t wrestling regularly while injured, she had to pay for the treatment herself.
“I’ve paid for both of my surgeries. I paid for PT for both of them. Like my insurance maxed out, so I currently have a $9,000 Advent Health bill sitting there that I’m going to get to at some point. But yeah, it was 100% covered on my end. And you know, 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 said.
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