Ash By Elegance, formerly known as Dana Brooke in WWE, recently opened up about her departure from the company last fall. In a conversation with Busted Open Radio, she reflected on her initial reaction to her release and her subsequent career decisions. Fightful provided some key highlights from this interview.

Discussing her immediate response to her WWE release, Ash said, “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

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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.’”

She further elaborated on her desire for autonomy, stating, “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.”