Former Layla El is opening up about the moment she realized her WWE career was over — and according to her, the decision happened fast.
During a conversation with SportShadow.com, Layla revealed there was no emotional retirement speech, no long goodbye backstage, and no giant final sendoff after her WWE run came to an end.
Instead, she said she simply woke up one day and mentally hit her breaking point after nearly a decade on the road. Layla explained that while she originally planned to keep wrestling, years of travel, pressure, and physical wear finally caught up to her.
“I don't think there was a plan. I think in my mind I was going to keep going and keep going. But I think that I was, like, 38 at that time. So realistically like, it was I've been there 9 years. I've done everything you could possibly do at that time. And it, it was just time to go both from WWE and for myself.”
She admitted she wishes she could have exited WWE with more closure, but the reality was far less glamorous. Layla said she went through a normal day backstage before suddenly realizing she no longer wanted to continue wrestling. That realization led to an immediate decision.
“Would I have liked to have gone out better? Would I have liked to have been able to have made a bigger deal about my career retirement? Probably. But I just woke up one day and I, I was, went to the gym and got to the got to the arena for like, you know, call time and I just was like, ‘I don't want to do this tomorrow. I don't want to do this. I'm done.’”
“And so I just said, ‘I'm sorry. I just want out. I want done.’ And that was it. And I flew home. That was it. I just, it was just something in me that just had enough.”
The wild part is Layla had already signed a brand-new three-year WWE deal after speaking with Vince McMahon. Even after locking herself into a new contract, she still realized within months that she was mentally finished with wrestling.
“I'd spoken to Vince. I think in July he was the one that gave me the 3 years contract which I signed and then like, I said within a few months I just was like, ‘I don't want to do this anymore,’ and I went in and spoke to talent relations with Mark Carrano at time and, I just said, ‘You know, I'm done. We're done. I'm just done.’”
Layla made it clear there was no backstage explosion or falling out tied to her exit. If anything, she says finally leaving WWE gave her relief.
“It wasn't dramatic. It wasn't anything. It was just and, as big as that moment was for me, in that like decision to just let it go. It actually felt like I could just breathe.”
These days, Layla says she’s considering stepping back into the public eye with social media projects, podcasts, and even a possible book after years away from wrestling.
Do you think WWE should have given Layla a much bigger farewell before she quietly walked away from the company? Drop your thoughts and feedback in the comments below.
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