37-year-old star claims she felt "held back" in WWE

A former WWE Tag Team Champion has claimed that they felt held back in the promotion. Over the years, many stars have expressed their frustration with the WWE creative and have had to deal with their ideas not being entertained.

This was also the case with a recently released WWE star. In May, former Women's Tag Team Champion Kayden Carter, real name Lacey Lane, was released by the company. Her 90-day no-compete clause has expired, and she recently talked about her experience working for WWE.

During an appearance on the Busted Open podcast, Carter was asked about her feelings on being a free agent by her mentor, Bully Ray.

"It just feels like a relief to me because I feel like I have so much to offer and I feel like I wasn’t able to showcase that. People are used to seeing me in a tag team, and I love that. I will never, ever take anything away from me being in a tag team, but I also want to remind people that I am an individual, that I did have a spark before I got to WWE," she said. [From 1:19-1:39]

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Bully Ray said when he first saw Carter in WWE, he wondered what had happened to her. Carter explained that she didn't feel like she was given the chance to shine.

"So when I got to WWE, I feel like I was just very held back in what I was able to do. I’ve pitched ideas, I put myself out there, I tried new things, and it just felt like, if that wasn’t the direction they wanted, I kind of had to go with whatever they had prepared for us, and then also join a tag team. I felt like I became so selfless, because at some point, I felt like, okay, let me do my teachers some justice," she mentioned. [3:27 - 3:55]

Carter held the Women's Tag Team Title in NXT and on the main roster with Katana Chance. Both stars were moved to SmackDown earlier this year before their eventual release.

Kayden Carter is ready to make an impact outside WWE

While Kayden Carter's WWE run ended on a sour note, she is not giving up ON her dream of making it big in pro wrestling.

During the interview, the 37-year-old star said that she still has the same fire she had when she first arrived in WWE. Carter mentioned that while she liked being in a tag team, she is quite capable as a singles star as well.

"So an ideal world, wherever the opportunity is, whether it’s Japan, AEW, Ring of Honor, NWA, I want to be able to show everyone that I’m very capable and that I can provide something that people really haven’t seen before and bring back my lucha strong style and stuff that really got away from me in WWE so, I mean, anywhere honestly,” she said. [From 1:55-2:16]

Fans are eager to see what's next for this talented star, now that she is a free agent.

If you use quotes from this article, please credit the Busted Open podcast and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.

About the author

Sherjeel Malik is a writer at Sportskeeda and covers pro wrestling. He was hooked on the product from the moment he saw The Hardy Boyz jumping off ladders during the Attitude Era. While he comes from an engineering background, Sherjeel’s love for pro wrestling and content writing led him to pursue a career in sports journalism. Before assuming his current role at Sportskeeda, Sherjeel worked at other reputable organizations for five years.

While writing articles, he ensures that he only relies on credible sources for information and covers relevant subjects that do not project an agenda against a particular person or association. WWE legend Paul Heyman once shared Sherjeel’s work on his social media handle.

Sherjeel’s earliest memory of pro wrestling is watching Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker square off for the WWE Title in the main event of a pay-per-view in 1998. His favorite wrestlers are Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy. While he admires Orton for his character work as a heel, he looks up to Jeff because of his unique wrestling style and risk-taking ability.

If he could go back to the Attitude Era, Sherjeel would like to manage Ken Shamrock and be his mouthpiece. He feels Shamrock’s promo skills prevented him from becoming a main event-level act in WWE. Hence, he would like to help the UFC Hall of Famer get over with fans.

When not writing about pro wrestling, he likes to read classics and fiction books.

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Edited by Sherjeel Malik