Zoey Serrano thought the hardest part was over. She had spent more than a year fighting her way back from a devastating knee injury, survived an exhausting rehab process, and believed she was finally getting ready to return to WWE television. Instead, the next phone call changed everything.
Speaking with Denise Salcedo, the former Zoey Stark admitted she completely broke down after learning she was being released, saying the timing made the news almost impossible to process after everything she’d just gone through.
“Um, so right after it really hit me. I actually really feel bad for the gentleman that had to call me and tell me that I was released because I broke down. I started crying.”
Serrano explained that the call blindsided her because she’d spent the previous year and a half doing everything possible to get healthy again after her ACL injury. Instead of celebrating a return, she suddenly found herself looking for a new career path.
“It was just one of those things that I wasn’t expecting, you know, after a year of rehab and working my ass off to come back and then almost having to go through surgery twice during that whole rehab process. To get that phone call, I just broke down.”
As shocking as the release felt, Serrano admitted there was part of her that had been expecting it. Looking back, she says something just didn’t feel right in the weeks leading up to the call. She even remembers saying it out loud to her husband.
“Yeah… Um, you know, it’s crazy. So, my gut was telling me something was happening. I just remember my husband and I were driving to the store and I just look at him, I’m like, ‘I think I’m getting released.'”
Her husband immediately tried to reassure her. After all, she’d just been medically cleared: “‘Don’t say that. Like, you just got cleared. There’s no way.'” But Serrano couldn’t shake the feeling. She said she kept sending ideas to WWE creative, yet the responses she received felt different than before.
“But I was sending in ideas and everything like that. And I was just getting weird responses to the point where I was like, something… something isn’t sitting right. So yeah, I kind of saw it coming, but I didn’t want to believe that it was happening.”
Serrano also acknowledged that releasing injured talent used to be extremely uncommon in WWE, but believes that’s starting to change.
“Not a lot of people don’t get released coming off of an injury. It’s really rare. But now it seems like it’s happening a little bit more, which is a little scary, you know.”
Even so, she made it clear she isn’t interested in burying her former employer. In fact, she went out of her way to say she still loves WWE and appreciates everything the company gave her.
“Um, I don’t know. I don’t want to say too much and get in trouble because I don’t want to burn any bridges. Because I still love WWE. They gave me a lifetime of memories. And they made a little girl’s dream come true, you know? So, I still love them. I absolutely love them.”
Now back in the ring after her lengthy recovery, Serrano is focused on the next chapter of her career. But judging by her comments, the way her WWE journey ended is something she’ll never forget.
What did you think of Zoey Serrano’s comments? Were you surprised WWE released her after such a long recovery? Let us know in the comments below.
Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.
