Priscilla Kelly opened up about struggling with depression during her tenure at WWE, specifically while working on NXT. Speaking on the Rule Breakers podcast, she described her experience there as very challenging, attributing her depression to the shift from complete creative freedom in the independent wrestling scene to the more controlled and structured environment within WWE.
Kelly found it difficult to adjust to the rigid 9-to-5 schedule and the limitations placed on her creative expression, which, combined with personal struggles, led to a loss of self-belief. She confessed, “My time at NXT was very rocky. I never talked about this, but there I went through a very bad depression phase. It wasn’t particularly specific. Being a creative person like India, when I transitioned to WWE, I was told I had a 9-on-5 workload schedule, and something really bad happened—I lost myself.”
Priscilla Kelly was ultimately released by WWE in May. Just before her departure, she had expected to be promoted to the main roster, but that opportunity never materialized. While her future remains uncertain, it’s clear that her WWE experience didn’t align with her creative aspirations.
Fan Take: This revelation shines a light on the mental health challenges wrestlers can face within corporate wrestling environments, reminding fans of the human side behind the personas. For WWE, it’s a prompt to consider how creative restrictions might impact talent well-being and performance, possibly influencing the future culture of the sport.
