Cathy Kelley Describes The Circumstances Surrounding Her Initial WWE Exit

Cathy Kelley became the backstage correspondent for "WWE Raw" in October of last year, marking her return to the company. Prior to then, she had come on board in 2016 as the backstage correspondent for "WWE NXT", but left the company in 2020. Speaking with Ryan Satin on "Out Of Character," Kelley detailed what led to said exit.

"I think at the time, I said that it was for reasons of [pursuing] other things and I still believe I could've pursued all of those things within WWE, but I felt like at the time, I really needed to step away," Kelley said. "My mental health had declined. I struggled with depression and panic attacks, anxiety basically from high school on and off. It was really tough."

Kelley tried to do things such as creating live content for WWE's social media platforms and going from a brunette to a blonde in an effort to make herself stand out to upper management. Still, she felt stagnant in her position within the company given that her end goal was to be a backstage correspondent on either "Raw" or "SmackDown"

"I remember having a conversation with Michael Cole, who wasn't even my boss at the time but after having all of these live hits with 'NXT' and being told that wasn't going to happen. It was really defeating."

Fortunately for Kelley, things worked out for her in the long haul and she ended up where she wanted to be.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Out Of Character" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.