Steph De Lander On Her Fears Of Competing In A Deathmatch

Steph De Lander is currently one of the hottest acts on the independent wrestling scene, with herself and tag team partner Matt Cardona known together as the "Indie God and Goddess." Though both have become key members of the GCW roster over the last several months, De Lander recently revealed on the "Notsam Wrestling" podcast that, before returning to the indies in full force, she was not a fan of deathmatch wrestling in the slightest.

"Just before I kind of met [Matt Cardona], then I sat down and I wrote out my ... one-year, three-year, five-year, and lifetime goals, ... and honestly I knew a big part of that was GCW," De Lander said. "Because, when you look around, GCW is the biggest indie. Even in WWE, you could see it. Everyone knows GCW is the place to be on the indies. But for me, that was daunting because I hate deathmatch wrestling. 'The Deathmatch Queen' hates deathmatches. I'm terrified of it. ... I can't even watch it."

As she wondered how she might be able to fit in on the GCW roster, De Lander realized that she could succeed by doing the exact opposite of everyone else. Partnering up with Cardona, De Lander has been able to stand out by playing up her own strengths.

"We are the sports entertainers on a deathmatch indie show, and that's the whole shtick," De Lander continued. So far, the concept seems to be working incredibly well for the duo.

De Lander previously competed in WWE on the NXT roster, where she was known as Persia Pirotta. Pirotta was released by WWE in April last year, but re-emerged on the indies, gaining traction over the last eight months under her current persona, which is her given name with a slight spelling change.