Before she officially begins her journey in TNA Wrestling, Ash By Elegance (formerly known as Dana Brooke) looks back on her departure from WWE.
In September 2023, WWE released several talents from their contracts, one of which was former 24/7 Champion Dana Brooke. Brooke spent ten years under the WWE umbrella, most recently returning to NXT to help elevate some of the brand’s the up-and-coming stars. During an interview with Ring The Belle, Brooke, now known as Ash By Elegance, opened up about the emotions surrounding her release from WWE, and subsequent free agency.
“It was like crazy emotions going on through my head,” Brooke said. “I had to contain all of them and put them all together and say that this is what’s best. Being in WWE was an amazing experience. It was a great platform that it gave me to be out there and spread my message and inspire other people, but it was time. It was definitely time to explore other options. I want to be in control of my destiny. Want to be the one to know that I can go out there and I can win this championship. I can go out there and achieve my goals and achieve my dreams.”
“Throughout 10 years of wrestling within WWE, again, I can’t say anything bad about it, but it was time for me to spread my wings and fly and take control of what I want. Wrestling has become such a passion of mine. I love being in that ring and I love performing. TNA was just the perfect fit for me. It was a fit that made sense. I have worked with a lot of talent that are in TNA. Everybody was like, ‘You’re going to love it here. This is the place to be. You want to get out there and you want to show the world what you can do? This is the place.’ So I’m super grateful.”
Overwhelming Support
As Dana Brooke now makes the transition to TNA Wrestling, she also credits producers Tommy Dreamer and Gail Kim for further encouraging her to come aboard. Brooke said she received overwhelming support from several of her former WWE colleagues.
“Tommy Dreamer, Gail Kim, they have been in my corner,” Brooke said. “I talked to them throughout the whole thing. They’re like, ‘This is the perfect fit. You’re going toget an awesome opportunity to go out there and shine and show what you can do.’ That’s exactly what I’m looking forward to do. Another thing is so many people had reached out from WWE, my co-workers from there. They’re just so proud because they they saw so much potential in me. They wanted me to go explore other options and not just stop there and have a bitter taste in my mouth. That’s exactly what I’m doing. So, it was so nice to see the support since I have signed with TNA Wrestling.”
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