Cathy Kelley Reveals Why She Left WWE And Her Big Return

Hamish Woodward

WWE Backstage Interviewer Cathy Kelly made a huge return to the company in 2022. The former journalist hosted various shows for the WWE during her time in the company and sat on many NXT panels for events like NXT Takeover: Dallas. Using her experience as the presenter of shows like “AfterBuzz TV”, she quickly rose up the ranks as one of the top personalities in the company.

Kelley signed for WWE in 2016 as a correspondent for NXT and Special Events. Debuting at Takeover: Dallas, she quickly grew into her role and became one of the most recognisable faces on the show. Hosting the show WWE Now gave her even more a platform to showcase herself and quickly grew her brand as the top backstage performer in the company.

However, 2020 saw her depart the company in a shocking turn of events. Cathy Kelley announced she was leaving on February 13, 2020 in a social media post, leading to an outcry from her fans in the WWE. She stayed quiet about her time in the company while away so fans were shocked when WWE announced she was returning to the company on October 6, 2022 as a backstage interviewer for Monday Night Raw.

Speaking on Kristian Harloff’s The Big Thing, the star spoke about why she left the WWE in 2020. Cathy Kelley revealed she left WWE because she wanted to explore outside projects, like acting and writing, which she didn’t have the time to do while on the road with the WWE. This is a common gripe with the company and was also the reason why Batista left the WWE in 2010 as well.

“You know, I really wanted room for growth. And it feels like at the time, I had hit a cap there of what I was able to do. So there were other projects that I wanted to work on like writing a movie, which I ended up doing, writing a couple pilots and treatments for projects. With WWE’s schedule it doesn’t always allow you to focus on other creative ventures, and those are things that are — I mean, as you guys know very very very time consuming.”

She also spoke about how she made her big return to the WWE. Kelley revealed she was in constant contact with both Triple H and Stephanie McMahon during her time away, with both of them wanting her back and always keeping the door open for the return. Eventually (after Vince McMahon left the company) she received the call from the couple and her return to the company was in motion.

“So [I] got to do those things um and then yeah, always stayed in touch with Stephanie and Hunter throughout that. So they knew all the projects that I was working on. They made it very clear that the door was always open, and then [it] just kind of happened.”

You can see Cathy Kelley ever week on Monday Night Raw as their premier backstage interviewer. She also posts regularly to her Instagram and Tik Tok page, which you can click the links to see.

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