Kacy Catanzaro Opens Up On WWE Release

Kacy Catanzaro's eight-year WWE run came to an end last month, and she is now coming to terms with it.

The 35-year-old made a name for herself during her run on American Ninja Warrior, showcasing her jaw-dropping aerial abilities and athleticism. She was picked up by WWE in 2017, and would appear in the following year's Mae Young Classic before making her unofficial main roster debut in the 2019 Royal Rumble.

But on May 2, the former Katana Chance was let go by WWE alongside several others as part of roster cuts. It's not something she necessarily saw coming, and she opened up to Chris Van Vliet about her feelings towards it.

"I think at first I thought that I was in shock and not able to process it, because I feel like when you work there, there is a joke of, you could literally be fired at any time. We're nervous about it often. Not like I'm sitting there upset every day. But enough that someone will make a random joke every now and then like, oh, something happened.

"Well, what if we get fired? It is in the back of your mind because it does happen, and you know how the business works. But I actually was very surprised. It wasn't on my radar," she told Van Vliet in an appearance on his podcast.

She and her partner Kayden Carter were former WWE and NXT Women's Tag Team Champions, and jumped to the main roster full-time in 2023. Both were let go as part of the talent cuts.

"Then as I was telling the story of kind of how it led up to it, at first I was like, 'Yeah, I really didn't have any notice.' Then as I told the story, I was like, 'Wait, maybe I could have taken some of those as signs that something could have been coming.' But also things change so often," she acknowledged.

"If every time something got pushed, or every time we didn't travel I went into a spiral thinking that we were gonna get fired, I wouldn't have enjoyed my time."

Catanzaro noted there had been some signs she could be at risk of losing her job, including disappearing from discussed creative pitches ahead of WrestleMania season, and not being able to attend a charity event she typically supported. She ultimately found out while she was working out at home.

"So I feel like I was surprised. It was a shock, but I had been there for so many years that I think that's normal. So now I'm just working on really letting myself process it and kind of feel everything, figure out how I feel. So I'm not really sure. I'm bummed because I know that I have a lot more potential that I could have shown that I didn't get to. But if I think about it, I could really say that about anything I've done. There is no top, there's always more you can do," she said.

While she hasn't closed the door on wrestling, she told Van Vliet she's not entirely sure what her future path contains. Still, she was thankful for the run she had in WWE, even if it came to an abrupt ending.

"So I think I will come to terms with that," she said. "It's just, you kind of have to grieve it, appreciate it, be grateful. Be okay that it's sad and then be kind of excited for whatever's gonna come next."

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