Summary

Steph De Lander said TNA wanted to keep Mance Warner even after she asked for her release when the company told her she would not be cleared for in-ring action.

De Lander said she and Warner had already discussed leaving together if she was denied a return to wrestling, and she requested her release during the call where she received that decision.

She added that both of their contracts were set to expire in three months and that they did not expect renewals.

Warner’s last TNA match was on the February 26 episode of Thursday Night iMPACT, where he lost to A.J. Francis by disqualification.

Mance Warner and Steph De Lander exit timing reshapes their short-term plans

TNA trying to retain Mance Warner while Steph De Lander moved to exit shows the company viewed their situations differently, but Warner leaving anyway turned it into a unified departure rather than a split outcome.

With both contracts close to expiration, their decision to leave immediately also suggests they prioritized a clean break over waiting for final contract-end timing.

Quotes

Quote from Steph De Lander

“Mance (Warner) and I had spoken about it beforehand, and I basically said, ‘If they tell me I can’t wrestle, I’m quitting on the spot,’ and he was like, ‘Oh, I am too…’ They called me, I had the phone call. I asked (for) my release on the phone call. I said, ‘Send it to me today,’ and then they called Mance and were kind of like, ‘Hey, you can stay,’ and he was like, ‘I’m not…’ Mance was told he could stay but also the other thing too is our contracts were up in three months and I didn’t think we were gonna be renewed anyways at that point, so, it felt like there was nothing else for us here. We need to leave and we need to leave now.”