Persia Pirotta on Joining WWE in 2019 and How She Got There

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In recent interviews, the former Persia Pirotta, Steph De Lander, has opened up about how she landed a deal with WWE in the first place, back in 2019. Here are some highlights from her interview with Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, who asked her about her thoughts on the subject:

“Yeah. I signed my contract back in 2019,” she said. As a result, I signed my contract in 2019. However, I continued to work on independent films and other projects. Despite the fact that I was still trying to go back home to keep myself safe and relevant, I was also taking a lot of precautions. You see what I mean when I say I pray I don’t get hurt? I was only grappling with folks I had a good relationship with. I couldn’t simply put everything on hold and cover myself in bubble wrap for the next two, three, or five years, lest they burn my contract. It was a difficult moment. Everything I tried failed. As a result, I continued to attend wrestling classes and compete in contests. “Oh my God,” was always the scariest thought. What if I’m injured?’ When I realised how much I had to look forwards to, it was a terrifying concept. However, as previously said, I couldn’t expect to survive on my own for the whole two years. As I said before, I signed my contract for 2019.”

“I wasn’t being paid throughout that period [from 2019 to 2021] because of the contract not taking into force until then.” What a wonderful thing it would have been. “However,” I can see where you’re coming from. In Australia, they could have paid me to sit on my ass for three years. Because of this, I didn’t anticipate being paid during that time period. My actions were completely out of their hands. We were told to “Be safe. Maintain a healthy weight. Make yourself available as soon as we need you.’ After my arrival in WWE, the period on my contract began. So I signed a three-year contract in 2019 for my salary and other benefits, but it wasn’t until I came that it was fully implemented. Then I began receiving the money, and then the contract, I believe, was formally established. Prior to my departure, I had completed and signed all of the necessary documents.”

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On how she became a part of the firm, she says: “Yep.” It took me a lot longer than most people believe it did to complete my project. A Mania week took place in April of this year, to put it simply. On the indies, this was my second or third week of Mania. I appeared on a couple programmes, including an indie show with Indi Hartwell, Shazza, and a few other people. It’s possible that [Jess] was like that as well. Many of us were there at that event. We’d never heard of it and had no idea it was an independent performance in New Jersey. An agreement was reached with Canyon prior to Indi’s meeting with them. I had no involvement with WWE. A month before, I’d made a full recovery from an injury. To sum it all up, I spent about a year in the Caribbean, missed about ten months due to an injury, and returned to the country a month before my journey to the United States. “My Name is FaceBrooke,” the entire “My Name is FaceBrooke” thing” was my first character. As a result, I decided to switch to Steph de Lander instead. Since becoming Steph de Lander, I’d only worn new wrestling gear for a few weeks. Even the Python Powerhouse wasn’t me. I was still trying to figure out who I was. We’re still performing this programme, however. My match was a complete disaster. No music, no nothing. It was like a seven lady gauntlet. It was a free-for-all, to say the least. I was in the middle of a match when everyone started joking about Canyon and Regal being in the room. Because we didn’t know, ‘Oh my God,’ I thought to myself. This was very stupid of me to do in front of them,'” he said.

“Anyway, so it was intermission,” I said when I was given a contract that night. Indi approached Canyon and had a conversation. ‘Should I go and talk to Canyon?’ I asked her. She exclaimed, ‘100%.’ The sooner you go, the better.’ ‘Oh my God,’ I thought to myself. Unfortunately, my performance was less than stellar. I didn’t believe my appearance was very appealing. ‘I have no idea what I’m doing,’ she said. Then she had me go up and introduce myself to Canyon: ‘Hi there! My name is Steph.’ This is what I was anticipating to hear from him when we first met.’ You need to work on your appearance. The situation is not good, and you must immediately rectify it.’ “You looked beautiful as soon as you got out of the shower,” he told me. ‘Who is this?’ I thought to myself. ‘Your name is on the list.’ He said, “Get my email address,” and that was the start of our conversation. “Oh crap,” I thought. It’s all too much. Okay.’ That’s when I returned. In light of the fact that it was Mania week, I decided to hold off on emailing him till then. That email was sent and I didn’t hear back for a few weeks. Oh, what the…?’ I thought to myself. You know what? It’s simply one of those things that happens in wrestling. Sometime around May 11th or May 1st, I guess, is when I always get the date wrong. In 2019, it was midnight on a Wednesday. Indi messaged me when I was in bed. ‘Hey.’ she says. It was only today that Canyon got back in touch with me and made an offer to work with me.’ ‘Oh my God,’ I thought to myself. Really?’ ‘Yeah, 100%’ was her reply. ‘Oh my God,’ I thought to myself. Right now, he’s talking on the phone. I’m going to send him a second text message right now. Another email is in order. In my opinion, it doesn’t matter what anybody thinks about it.

‘Hey, Canyon,’ I call on my cell phone. Not sure whether you’ve already seen it. This is a match,’ DING! I forgot to put my phone down for a second. I’m like, ‘No way.'” He’s not the culprit. Never in a million years.” My phone rings, and it’s Canyon. ‘Hey, Steph!’ he says. After speaking with Mr. Regal, I learned that you’d be an excellent addition to the team as long as you have a positive outlook. Dates in the United States or Great Britain.’ I was very stunned. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was shocked to learn that all it took was a simple text message. Think about it. What if I hadn’t pursued it?

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