Indi Hartwell On WWE Release, Joining TNA, Becoming NXT Women's Champion, Mercedes Moné

Indi Hartwell (@indi_hartwell) is a professional wrestler currently signed to TNA. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studio in Hollywood, CA to discuss signing with TNA and being in the crowd at Rebellion, her WWE release happening during SmackDown, keeping her WWE name, the Dexter Lumis romance storyline, winning the NXT Women's Championship in a ladder match, wrestling in Australia, finally getting a match with Mercedes Mone and more!

Quote I'm thinking about: “Life isn’t about finding yourself. It’s about creating yourself.” — George Bernard Shaw

On signing with TNA:

"I have. I've been wanting to cross the line. Finally did it. I think that partnership came about after I had already left. I was on the main roster. I was gone from NXT, which would have been cool if I could have done stuff as part of NXT with TNA. But now I'm with TNA, so we'll see what happens. I'm sure I'll be mixing it up with some of the NXT people."

On how things have been since her release:

"It's been up and down, like a roller coaster. I remember the first week after I got released, I just felt really grateful. This is how my emotions went first week, I was just super grateful for what I had, I like to saturate my mind with gratitude, and that helps me keep perspective. So first week I was really grateful. Second week, I kind of got frustrated and mad. Third week, I kind of got sad. Then after that, I felt fine. Now it's been like five months, I think six months almost. Yeah, I've been feeling really excited, because there's just so much to do."

On whether she anticipated the WWE release:

"I didn't honestly feel like it was coming, especially when it happened. So my whole time at WWE, I was always scared of getting released. Add another factor to it is that I'm an international, so people don't really understand visas, green cards. But that was something that was always in the back of my mind, being scared of being fired. But it wasn't till my last two weeks at WWE I finally felt comfortable. I finally felt like, yeah, I'm part of the roster. I did the Netflix shoot and then I got released. I have my green card. Shout out to WWE, because they did it for me and they paid for it. This was a few years ago. I'm super grateful. I know a lot of people have to worry about that. I saw what Steph De’Lander went through when she got released. It's something that Americans don't really understand the whole visa thing, but I'm good."

On being released but her match airing on tape delay:

"It was weird. Fun fact, I missed the call when they called me to release me, so I made the call to get fired. I had a text message. I didn't see I had a missed call, and then I had a text message saying, 'Hey, it's blah, blah from TR, can you call us back?' So I called back, I thought it was like for a completely different topic. I had lost my voice as well, so when I called back, I was like, 'Hey, sorry, I lost my voice, haha.' They're like, 'Oh, we're calling with some unfortunate news.' I was so confused, because I wanted to say, What do you mean? I'm on the show tonight. My match was taped last week. I'm on the show tonight."

On some fans not knowing the show was pre-taped:

"People didn't know that SmackDown was taped the week before, so they thought that I got released, and then had to go out that night and wrestle. That would be crazy."

On being able to keep the name Indi Hartwell:

"I just asked. Well, this is how it went. So I've had this name my whole wrestling career. When I started at NXT, when you start wrestling on live events, they make you wrestle under your real name. So I wrestled under my real name for a bit, and then I think I had a dark match at NXT. I just asked Road Dogg, 'Can I be Indi Hartwell for this?' He's like, 'Oh yeah, I'll ask. Why not?' Then they let me be Indi Hartwell for the dark match and then it kind of just kept going. Then I got on TV with it. I got my action figure with that name. I got in the game with that name. Then I think it was when NXT 2.0 started. They went through that whole weird thing of you can't have your real name, and you also can't have a name that we don't own. So they gave me the option to change my name or sell it to them. So I sold it to them, and then it was always in the back of my mind, if I get released, what name am I going to be? That's a big deal to me. So then when I got the call that I was being released, they said, 'Okay, yeah, we're releasing you.' I said, 'Okay, cool. So I sold my name to the company. Is there any way I can get that back?' Then we got it all figured out. I got the rights and stuff to it. I'm very lucky."

On where the name Indi Hartwell came from:

"I used the porn star method. Do you know who Iggy Azalea is? So this was before I started wrestling. I'm a big fan of her, and that's how she got her name. So then me and my friend were just coming up with our porn star name, and it was like your dog name plus your street name, I think. Indi Hartwell was my friend's dog name and street name. Then years later, when it came time for me to wrestle, the promoter was like, What name do you want to be? And I was like, I don't know, Indi Hartwell? It's a good name, isn't it? There's no other Indi’s in wrestling that I know of, but also the whole like Indi Harwell, indi wrestling, I'm Indi Wrestling. So it all worked out very well."

On whether she is still married to Dexter Lumis:

"It's complicated. Not wearing the ring. Everyone asked me that, like all these signings that I've done recently, they're like, are you still with Dexter? I'm like, oh, it's complicated." 

On how her romance with Dexter Lumis began:

"I think it was supposed to be a one-off thing. I think it started with Johnny was having a match with Dexter, and they had me ringside. We just had this moment where we looked at each other, and I think I backed up, and I hit the ring post. That's something that I did in rehearsal, like as a joke, which a lot of things I would do as a joke, and they'd be like, Oh, do that on TV. So we did it, and it got really good reactions. So then every week, the creative was something with me and Dexter, and I didn't know what it was going to turn into, honestly." 

On discovering wrestling:

"I think I went to a local grocery store and I saw a poster for local wrestling. I was like, oh my God, other wrestling exists. So then I begged my dad to take me for ages, and he wouldn't, because my parents aren't the biggest fans of wrestling. They didn't really want me to be into it, I guess because it's dangerous. So then my dad started taking me to these local shows, and that's when I realized okay, becoming a wrestler is a possibility in Australia. But it wasn't until I saw the Bayley and Sasha Banks match NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn in 2015. I remember watching that match being like, Oh, my God, these girls are amazing. I want to do that. I can do that. I know I can do that. Then I opened a new tab on my laptop and just signed up for wrestling school."

On getting on WWE’s radar:

"I was really lucky. I had a try-out really early on. So I started wrestling in 2016. Later that year, NXT came for a tour in Australia, and my trainer at the time, he helped me put together a resume. The resume was nothing I had, like, 10 matches maybe. So I sent the resume off, and they invited me to the try-out. This was the try-out that Rhea got signed from. Everyone calls it the Rhea try-out because they weren't looking at anyone else, they were only looking at her. But I thought that I was going to get signed, I was that confident. Obviously I didn't get signed from that, but I was able to stay in contact with them. The guy at the time, Canyon Ceman, he was the recruiter. So I remember after the try-out, I emailed them being like, thank you. They said, 'Thanks, but we're not going to hire you, you need more experience. Check back in six months.' So then six months to the day, I put it in my calendar, I think I went to America, China, did some indies, and then six months to the day I emailed again. I said, 'Hey, this is what I've done.' They said, 'Okay, check back in a year with us.' So then I go back out, do all this travel around, train, get exposure, experience. Then a year to the day, I email again, 'Hey, this is what I've done. Here's promo, pics, matches.' They said, 'Okay, get back to us in six months.' So it was kind of just like, go away. And I just knew one day that a no would turn into a yes." 

On getting signed to WWE:

"What eventually got me signed was like an indie show that I did somewhere in New York for Mania Week in 2019. Canyon and Regal were in the crowd. I came back from my match and I had an email from them saying that they were going to sign me. Was crazy. Same night. I got back to my phone after the match, and on my lock screen, I have the screenshot of it, and it said, 'Regal and I saw you work tonight. There's an opportunity for you. We'll connect after Mania.' Because it was the week before WrestleMania. And at the time, I think it was Mae Young Classic, they were going to maybe do a third one. He said, 'And just to be clear, it's more than Mae Young Classic.' I was like, Oh my God. Then I got home like a few weeks later, I got a call one night and they told me that they were going to sign me." 

On her NXT Women’s Championship win coming out of nowhere:

"It did happen out of nowhere. I was shocked. Everyone was shocked. Because this is how it happened. I wasn't really being used on TV at the time. I think I was on Level Up, and then I wasn't even booked in the ladder match. It was like a week before, two weeks before I lost my qualifying match. I just really wanted to be at Mania week, because everyone wants to be at Mania week. So I remember I saw Coach Bloom in the gym, and I asked him, 'Hey, is there any way I can help with the try-out, just so I can be there?' He was like, 'Do you have new gear for LA?' And I was like, No. He's like, 'Well, I would get gear if I were you.' Then the next week I had a last chance qualifying match, I got into the match, and I was like, Oh, cool. That's amazing. But then they didn't tell us the ending of the match till the night before, and so we couldn't put together an ending to this match. That was p*ssing us all off, we can't even plan this. Then Shawn Michaels pulled us all aside in the hotel, and I'm just eating an apple because he's probably going to say that Roxanne's going to win it. So I was eating an apple, and he's like, 'Oh yeah, okay, the winner's going to be Indi.' Everyone was shocked, even Sarah Amato. Everyone was like, What the hell, Indi is winning it? I was very surprised. What's crazy is I could have had my family there because it was in LA. So it was just like a short, 15-hour flight. But unfortunately, that didn't happen. But it was a cool moment." 

On why they didn’t do more with the title reign:

"I think getting hurt kind of ruined everything with that. But everything happens for a reason. So I think everything happened how it was supposed to." 

Did you know you were hurt?

"Oh yeah. I thought my ankle was like shattered inside my boot. I just remember laying there being like, I'm never getting called up. Then I looked and there was a doctor next to me. Then they took me to the back, and then Roxy and Tiffany had to call the match on the fly. I was on the medical table, taking off my boot, and I was like, no, no, I can go back out, because I felt bad for them having to do that. Also, I didn't want my title reign to end like that, so I hobbled my way back out there and finished the match." 

On there not being plans for her call-up:

"I don't really know what the plan was. I think they were going to do stuff with The Way, because we had a few segments together. Then the next week the segment would get cut from the show, put on Raw Talk. Then the next week, it would get cut completely. Then I didn't know what was happening, and I didn't feel like I was in a position to ask many questions. I was just happy to be there."

On working with Becky Lynch:

"My anxiety was through the roof that day. I don't think I've ever been more nervous for a match, but she was amazing to work with. I'm so grateful that she spoke up and asked to work with me and I think Tegan and Xia Li, so she helped us a bunch. That was one of my only singles matches on the main roster, because I was in the tag team. So yeah, I learned a lot from her and I just feel grateful that I got to work with her." 

On having doubts after her release:

"Well, first of all, I had to think do I even want to keep wrestling? Because I remember the night that I got released, Bayley called me. She's like, 'Oh, now you can have your dream match with Mercedes.' I was like, 'Dude, I don't even know if I want to wrestle.' But then I snapped out of it and I was like, I'm only 28, I feel like I have so much more to do in wrestling. So I just had to get my brain right."

Why did you want to stop?

"Not from being released. I think just maybe the past year or two of not really getting to do much, it kind of, I don't know, rips away your enthusiasm for it, or your love for it, or your confidence, especially confidence. That's the main thing for me, I’ve just got to get my confidence back up and remember who I was."

On getting the Mercedes Mone match:

"That did wonders for the old confidence as well. After that match, I was like, Oh my gosh, I love wrestling. I love this. It was just such a good experience. Getting to work her, she is amazing, she's doing amazing stuff right now, I'm just like, blessed. Also, that match wasn't even supposed to happen, supposed to be a six-man tag match. Then the night before, I saw in her story, she posted the match graphic of me and her. So I responded. I was like, 'Oh, we're wrestling? This is happening?' I didn't know, was supposed to be a tag match. But I think things got changed around. But no one told me. I just find out things either by watching it on TV or just seeing it online. It was a nice surprise. It was good. So I had because I found out the night before, I didn't really have time to, like, freak out about it, which was good. Everything went so smooth."

On having a theme song by Downstait:

"Downstait are the best. Also, shout out to Chelsea Green, because she's the one that made that happen for me. I think the day after I got released, or maybe that night, she put me in a group chat with Zack [Call], the lead singer, and she connected us. I don't know if they reached out to her to reach out to me, but she put us together. Like I said, at that time, I didn't know if I wanted to keep wrestling, so I said to them, 'Hey, I'm not sure right now, I'll get back to you.' So then a few weeks later, I was like, Okay, let's do it. It was such a cool experience, getting to work with them and getting to collaborate, give them some ideas and see what they came up with. Because they're incredible." 

On a potential WWE return:

"It's not my intention right now to sign with TNA so I can go back to NXT. I went to TNA because TNA is a company I grew up watching. I'm genuinely a huge fan of TNA, and I feel like that's where I can thrive the most. But like I mentioned before, I'm only 28 so I do feel like there is a path back to WWE someday, I'm not closing the door on that. All my friends are still there, and there's a lot that I didn't get to do, so it's definitely something that I can see happening."

What is Indi Hartwell grateful for?

“My girlfriend and my family, my health and my green card.” 

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