Ash By Elegance Says She Felt Freedom After WWE Release

Ash By Elegance recently discussed her release from WWE last fall and her reaction to the news. Ash was Dana Brooke in WWE and was released in September as part of the post-UFC merger release. She spoke on Busted Open Radio about how she felt when she got the call, and you can see some highlights below (per Fightful):

On her reaction to her release: “The moment I got the call. I’m not going to lie, it was the moment I got the phone call. It was Thursday that I received the phone call, and previously, from that Monday or Tuesday, I received a call that I was going to be booked for a pay-per-view for NXT. When I got that phone call, it was a bit of confusion at first. ‘Wait a second, I was just told I was working Sunday.’ It’s fine because I felt a sigh of relief and freedom. I can’t describe this feeling of a weight lifted off of my shoulders. ‘Wow, I can control my own destiny.’

“That was something I was battling with for quite some time. I felt as if, in my entire life, ever since I was a little girl, I was controlling my destiny. If I wanted to take gymnastics to that next level, I did. Fitness and bodybuilding, if you don’t bust your butt, you’re not going to get the results you want. I was grinding. I got to the point in WWE, which is an amazing platform to inspire and touch millions of people around the world, but you’re controlled and you cannot explore freedom.”

On wanting to control her destiny: ” That’s something I was yearning for. I wanted that control of controlling my own destiny. I want to get out there and empower women on my own and not be told, ‘You’re booked to go here this weekend. You have to go here and do this. This is what you’re doing on TV and this appearance.’ I got comfortable and I feel as though that was the scary thing coming out of this. This is really happening and I need to go and get it. It was a blessing in disguise because I’m close with my family and my parents were like, ‘Ash, you’re going to make it. Do not think WWE defines you as a person because it doesn’t. You define yourself.’ That really touched me.

“From that moment that I got the call, I felt freedom, and you best believe when I hung up the phone, I started getting on it and hustling to see where was the best fit for me because I knew it was not the time to hang up my boots and WWE was not going to be the one to tell me I’m stopping my career. TNA was the perfect fit, it was everything I was looking for. Talking with Tommy Dreamer and Gail Kim was the best and it made me feel this is the place to be. This is where I can explore freedom and opportunity all in one.”