Kaitlyn didn’t walk away from WWE because she had some big master plan waiting for her. She left because she felt like she couldn’t keep going anymore.
The former Divas Champion opened up about her 2014 WWE departure while speaking with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, and she made it clear that asking for her release came after a long period of struggling behind the scenes.
Kaitlyn said one of the hardest things she carried for years was the feeling that she had been given a massive platform in WWE and hadn’t done enough with it.
“For so long, I struggled with the belief that I did not do enough with the platform that I had when I was there. And when I left and I asked for my release, it’s because I was struggling and I didn’t see how I could continue to do what I was doing mentally, emotionally. Like my body was, I was gaining weight.”
Van Vliet asked if she immediately regretted asking WWE to let her go. Kaitlyn said it was actually the complete opposite.
“Initially I was so glad. I was so relieved. It was just like, it’s kind of like that valve release that I was talking about after that first time I was on television. I just felt like I could breathe for the first time in so long. And I didn’t know what I was going to do.”
She didn’t have her next chapter completely mapped out, but she knew she wanted to build something outside wrestling and create a new identity for herself.
“I knew I wanted to start a business and build this new identity and do something different, especially after this belief that I had in myself after what I had just done in my WWE career after having zero experience in the way that I started. So I felt confident in my ability to recreate myself.”
That relief didn’t last forever. Once Kaitlyn got further away from WWE and began feeling more emotionally stable, she started wondering whether things might have gone differently if she had known how to explain what she was dealing with.
“I didn’t have any regret in leaving until later when I started to have, when I started to feel more stable and I started to kind of feel more emotionally regulated and looking back, I’m like, if I knew how to talk about what I was going through and if I had someone I felt like I could talk to about it, maybe it could have been different.”
Kaitlyn said one of the biggest problems was that she didn’t feel like she had anyone inside WWE she could open up to, while people outside wrestling wouldn’t necessarily understand what she was experiencing.
“I struggled a lot with being able to actually articulate what I was experiencing because I didn’t think a lot of people would understand outside of the industry that I was in. And I didn’t feel like I had anybody that I could talk to within the structure of the people that I was working with, talent. Like I just, I didn’t feel like I, I didn’t know what to do.”
Around six months later, she started questioning whether leaving had been the right move.
“I started to say maybe, maybe that wasn’t the best decision maybe six months later, but I had already, I started a business six months later. I wish I had handled it different. Those were the thoughts that I was having.”
That regret wasn’t necessarily about wanting to reverse the decision. Kaitlyn said the bigger issue was feeling like she could have accomplished more with the opportunity WWE gave her.
“The biggest thing that I struggled with for so long, and this was like a decade of, I just wish that I had done something more with the time that I was there.”
The actual exit was just as emotional. Kaitlyn said she didn’t even tell some of her closest friends in WWE that she had asked for her release, including AJ Lee and Big E. She simply wanted out without turning it into a huge backstage situation.
“I didn’t tell anybody. I didn’t even tell AJ. And I was really close with Big E then too. Like we’re very, very good friends. I didn’t tell anybody. I didn’t want it to be a big deal. I just wanted to leave. I just wanted to be done.”
“That is one of the things I kind of regretted because I cared about a lot of people there. But I was just, I needed to remove myself. I just needed space.”
WWE eventually gave Kaitlyn one final match against AJ Lee on Main Event, but she said she felt sick to her stomach throughout the day and just wanted the situation to be over.
Years later, Kaitlyn would eventually return for the 2018 Mae Young Classic, but her comments make it clear why that original WWE exit felt necessary at the time. She wasn’t thinking about another run, another championship or what fans might think. She just wanted room to breathe.
What do you think about Kaitlyn admitting she initially felt relieved after leaving WWE but later wondered if things could have gone differently? Do you think she could have had a much longer run if she had stayed? Let us know in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
