Steph De Lander has compared the creative freedom she has experienced in WWE, TNA and Ring of Honor, explaining how each promotion has approached her input.
In a recent interview with TMZ Sports’ Inside the Ring, De Lander was asked what she enjoys most about ROH compared with TNA. She identified returning to in-ring competition as the most meaningful part.
“I mean, I have to say the best part is being back in the ring, you know, physically wrestling. It’s incredible. It’s what I’ve wanted to do my whole life. It’s what I’ve spent the last 10 years doing. And to have that almost taken away from you and be able to overcome, you know, a neck injury and come back from that and be back in the ring and not just back in the ring, but within a few months.
“I mean, I returned from my injury in April. By August, I’m on Ring of Honor pay-per-view. So, I’m not just back in the ring. I’m on TV. I’m on pay-per-view. I’m wrestling world champions. Um, I’m working for a new company. Like I have yet again, as I always do, I’ve exceeded all of my expectations and my goals,” she shared.
De Lander also praised ROH’s creative environment, saying she can bring “all sorts of stuff” and see her ideas reflected in her matches.
“I mean, you know, we were having a conversation before this interview, and I’m sure you saw how excited I was and I saw how excited you were discussing ideas, right? That’s my favorite part of this whole thing.
“So, being able to come into something like Ring of Honor with a bunch of ideas for my matches and gimmick and storyline and whatever else, you know, I’ve only had a few matches there, but I can already see the way that it works, and I’m just so excited to get in there and work with a bunch of different people and be able to be creative with my art,” she added.
The 29-year-old Australian also said she had creative input in TNA, though her opportunities were limited because she spent much of her time there injured.
“At TNA, I was allowed to be very creative as well. Um, and a lot of that was I, you know, I didn’t wrestle much at TNA. For a majority of the time that I was there, I was injured, right? So, I was very lucky that even though I was out, I was in a huge major storyline.
“I had a wedding, you know, so I was able to write my own wedding vows and basically like plan out a whole TV wedding. I did an engagement, you know what I mean? We had like so many—we got—we were divorced cuz my husband actually went insane in real life and quit the company. So, and then I did later. Um, but no, so there was there was actually for me so many moments where I was allowed to be really creative at TNA,” she added.
Although De Lander said both TNA and ROH gave her room to contribute creatively, she described WWE as more restrictive. Still, she understands why WWE maintains tighter control, given its television format and enormous scale.
“So, I understand why there’s different levels of, you know, restraints on things. But no, for me, I was allowed to be creative in TNA. I’m excited to be creative in Ring of Honor. That’s kind of the part of it that I love the most.”
De Lander recently faced Zayda Steel on the Sept. 8, 2026 edition of ROH.
