TNA’s Indi Hartwell says WWE limited her creativity with micromanaging.
WWE released former NXT Women’s Champion Indi Hartwell in November 2024. She is currently competing in TNA Wrestling after making her debut with the promotion in April 2025.
Speaking with Dominic DeAngelo on Studio 1 Sports Channel, Indi Hartwell opened up about her time with TNA so far. She noted that it’s a different environment compared to WWE, where they bring in people from non-wrestling backgrounds.
“Yeah, it’s been really good. It’s been different for me. It’s been cool getting to reconnect with women in the locker room that I worked with in the past and also getting to work with newer women that I’ve never worked with before. It’s been really cool,” Indi Hartwell began.
“TNA is a different environment to what I’m used to in NXT and WWE. There are people brought in that don’t come from wrestling. So it’s a different dynamic there, whereas at TNA, everyone comes from wrestling. Everyone either comes from the indies or from WWE like myself. So, yeah, it’s been really cool,” she continued.
Indi Hartwell says WWE’s micromanaging limited her creativity
Speaking further, Indi Hartwell spoke about the creative freedom TNA offers its wrestlers. The host then referred to her comments from a previous interview with Chris Van Vliet, in which she explained how WWE limited her creativity. Hartwell noted that it was a result of being micromanaged in NXT.
“Yeah, so that interview was actually, I think, right after I debuted at TNA. I think it was like the next day or something like that. So, I didn’t really know how it was going to be. I’d obviously heard how much creative freedom you have at TNA, but it’s something that I’m still trying to get used to,” Indi Hartwell said.
“Like you mentioned at WWE, things are very micromanaged, especially at NXT. Because at NXT, you’re learning the ropes. So, every step is intentional, everything is micromanaged, and it’s something that I’m not really used to. I feel like that made my creativity go away. So, I’m still trying to find it.
“It’s only been a year. You could look at a year and think that’s a long time, but in reality, I’ve been wrestling for 10 years. So, the past year at TNA is only 10% of my career. So, there’s still more to come, still more to learn, more to grow,” Indi Hartwell concluded.
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