Steph De Lander’s move into Ring of Honor has quickly become one of the more notable recent transitions in the women’s division. After leaving TNA earlier in 2026, De Lander began appearing regularly in ROH and has already found herself in prominent positions, including a Ring of Honor pay-per-view championship challenge against Deonna Purrazzo.
For De Lander, the opportunity is about more than simply landing somewhere new following her release. It represents a rapid climb back after a severe neck injury kept her away from the ring for a significant stretch of time. She returned to action in April, and within months was working on a major ROH event, wrestling established names and exploring a creative environment she feels suits her approach to professional wrestling.
Speaking with TMZSports Inside the Ring, De Lander described how quickly events changed following her in-ring comeback.
“I returned from my injury in April,” De Lander said. “By August, I’m on Ring of Honor PPV. So I’m not just back in the ring. I’m on TV, I’m on PPV, I’m wrestling world champions. I’m working for a new company. I’ve, yet again, as I always do, I’ve exceeded all my expectations and my goals.”
For more background on this topic, read ROH TV Results (October 8, 2026): HOOK, Mark Davis and Hyan Pick Up Wins.
That timeline underlines the importance of De Lander’s current ROH run. A return from a serious neck injury can bring understandable questions about momentum, opportunities and whether a performer can immediately recapture the confidence they had before time away. De Lander has instead moved straight into meaningful matches and a visible platform, making it clear that she views the past several months as a successful reintroduction rather than a gradual rebuild.
Creative freedom has become central to De Lander’s ROH run
De Lander pointed to the creative side of Ring of Honor as a primary reason she is enthusiastic about the new chapter. She said the freedom to develop ideas and bring them into the ring is especially valuable to her, both in terms of her presentation and the work she can create in matches.
“And the best thing for me about Ring of Honor is the creativity, because I can come up with all sorts of stuff, and I can let that bleed out into my matches,” De Lander said. “I’ve only had a few matches there, but I can already see the way that it works. I’m just so excited to get in there and work with a bunch of different people, and be able to be creative with my art.”
The chance to work with a broader range of opponents is a particularly significant part of that outlook. ROH’s women’s roster gives De Lander a fresh collection of potential rivals, partners and matchups. Her recent challenge of Purrazzo for the ROH Women’s Pure Championship at Death Before Dishonor immediately placed her opposite a decorated competitor and showed that De Lander is being presented as someone capable of stepping into high-level programs.
The Pure Championship setting also offered a distinct kind of showcase. Pure rules place an added premium on strategy, ring positioning and adapting under restrictions, allowing performers to tell a different kind of story than in a conventional match. While De Lander’s ROH match total remains limited at this stage, an appearance in that title picture demonstrated that she is not being confined to a peripheral role.
De Lander noted that the freedom she is experiencing in ROH resembles what she had been able to access during her time in TNA. But creative latitude alone did not resolve the issues that led her to request a release from that company earlier in the year.
No current communication with TNA
De Lander was among several former TNA talents who sought and received releases in 2026. Although she has now moved forward professionally with ROH appearances, she made clear that there has been no repair in her relationship with TNA.
“At the moment, there is no relationship,” De Lander said. “There is no communication. There has been no communication. Like, the last communication there was me saying ‘Send me my release papers right now.’ And I got them in an email, and that was that.”
Her comments paint a firm picture of where matters stand at present. There is no ongoing dialogue, no indication of an active reconciliation process and no suggestion that the two sides have resumed a working relationship since the release was granted.
De Lander also said she has encountered TNA higher-ups since departing. Those interactions, she explained, have involved the parties ignoring one another rather than opening a difficult conversation. That detail reinforces how fresh the divide remains, even as the wrestling business regularly creates situations where people who have separated on bad terms can cross paths again at events.
Still, De Lander stopped short of saying she would never return to TNA. In wrestling, circumstances can shift rapidly. New decision-makers, changed priorities, different creative directions and the simple passage of time can all alter relationships that once appeared beyond repair. De Lander acknowledged that reality while stressing that a return is not something she sees in the foreseeable future.
“The way that wrestling is is everyone ping pongs all over the place,” De Lander said. “So I’m never going to sit here and say I will never, ever, ever do this thing. But for right now, I don’t see that as an option in the near future. Again, things can change. But conversations would have to be had, and I don’t care to have them any time soon.”
That is an important distinction. De Lander has not closed the door forever, but she also has not left it open in any practical sense. Any future TNA reunion would require communication and discussions that she presently has no desire to pursue.
De Lander remains a free agent despite ROH appearances
Another major point of clarity from De Lander’s interview concerns her status with ROH and AEW. Her television and pay-per-view visibility could understandably lead viewers to assume she has signed a formal deal with one of the connected promotions. De Lander said that is not currently the case.
“As of right now, I’m not contracted,” De Lander said. “I’m doing pay-per-appearance at Ring of Honor, which I’ve done at TNA, I’ve done at Ring of Honor. They’ve done that with a lot of talent.”
Her current arrangement means De Lander is not locked into an AEW or ROH contract at this time. Instead, she is working on a pay-per-appearance basis, an arrangement that gives both sides flexibility while she continues to build momentum after her return from injury.
Being unsigned does not mean De Lander sees herself remaining on the open market indefinitely. She said she believes a longer-term agreement is likely to become a reality eventually, while declining to forecast precisely where that will happen or when a deal could be completed.
“I’m not going to be a free agent forever,” De Lander said. “That’s just the way that wrestling goes. So again, who, what, where when, how, and why, I don’t really know. We’re all just going to have to wait and see together.”
For now, the key development is that De Lander has a platform in ROH and the freedom to continue defining this phase of her career. Her return has already taken her from an April comeback to a prominent pay-per-view match by August, a notable turnaround after time away with a severe neck injury.
Her immediate focus appears to be on expanding her work within Ring of Honor, taking on different opponents and using the creative freedom she values to shape a distinctive body of work. The unresolved tension with TNA remains part of her recent history, but it is not the story driving her day-to-day professional direction. At least for the moment, De Lander’s attention is firmly on what comes next in ROH.
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Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.