‘I Broke Down And Started Crying’

The aftermath of WWE WrestleMania 42 included a number of talent releases, with the likes of Kairi Sane, Aleister Black, Zelina Vega, Zoey Stark, and others affected. In Stark’s case, the move put an end to her 5-year WWE career and understandably caused a wave of emotions to flood in.

“So right after, it really hit me,” Stark told Denise Salcedo while reflecting on the phone call that informed her of the release. “I actually really feel bad for the gentleman that had to call me and tell me that I was released because I broke down and I started crying. It was just one of those things that I wasn’t expecting. 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, and to get that phone call, I just broke down. Had to build myself back up. I had to take the time to find myself and who I am. I quickly realized that I didn’t really have a life outside of wrestling.”

Under the name Lacey Ryan, Stark made her professional wrestling debut on the indie circuit in 2013. Across the next eight years, she notably appeared in TNA (formerly Impact), Future Stars of Wrestling, and Mission Pro. Her signing with WWE then came in early 2021.

As she looks toward a post-WWE life now, Stark expressed hope to discover who she is outside of the wrestling bubble; at the same time, she aims to continue bettering herself in the ring, regardless of whether they belong to new or familiar promotions.

Further reflecting on her exit from WWE, Stark admitted that her heart didn’t want to acknowledge the possibility of it happening after WrestleMania 42; her instincts, however, sounded the alarms.

“My gut was telling me something was happening,” she said. “I just remember my husband and I were driving to the store. I just look at him, I’m like, ‘I think I’m getting released.’ I just had this weird, deep sunken feeling of it. He was like, ‘Don’t say that. You just got cleared. There’s no way.’ I was sending in ideas and everything like that, and I was just getting weird responses to the point where it was like something isn’t sitting right. So yeah, I kind of saw it coming, but I didn’t want to believe that it was happening.”

Stark spent nearly a year on the shelf due to a torn ACL, MCL, and meniscus she suffered on “WWE Raw.” WWE then reportedly granted her medical clearance to return to the ring in the spring of 2026. Unfortunately for Stark, her on-screen comeback never materialized as WWE then released her before she could make it.

Fellow former WWE stars Karl Anderson and Ridge Holland faced similar situations when the company released them in the midst of their recoveries from torn rotator cuff and foot-and-neck injuries, respectively, in 2025.

“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,” Stark said. Now as a free agent, the former Pure Fusion Collective so far competed in a trio matches for RevPro.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Denise Salcedo with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.