Former WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Kayden Carter has opened up about her departure from the company, stating she felt her team was often put in positions to fail. Carter and her partner, Katana Chance (formerly Kacy Catanzaro), were released by WWE in May of this year following a run on the main roster.
In an interview with Denise Salcedo, Carter discussed the transition from NXT to the main roster. The duo had previously been the longest-reigning NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions in history before being called up in 2023. According to Carter, the reality of their main roster run was complex to accept because they believed in their team’s ability.
Carter said, “Kacy and I, we had our ups and downs together, and thankfully, we had each other to be there for those moments. I just remember her and I returning to SmackDown in the UK, it just felt like we were set up for such failure. We tried to do our best, to do whatever, and it just felt like we were set up just to fail, and it was the hardest thing.”
Carter thinks that the team felt pressure to deliver high-quality performances in very short timeframes. She noted that despite their history and chemistry, they often felt they were fighting an uphill battle.
Carter continued: “She [Chance] said, ‘I just feel like we’re always set up to fail and we have to always work so hard to make something out of nothing. We have to go out there and kill it in three minutes or whatever situation they put us in.’ We know in our hearts that we fought so hard to be such a good tag team. We’d been a tag team for our whole existence in WWE pretty much, and that’s why it was hard for us.”
Since their release, the two have taken different paths. Carter is currently wrestling on the independent circuit and for promotions like Ring of Honor and AEW under the name Lacey Lane. She recently competed in a championship match against Mercedes Mone on AEW television. Katana Chance has not remained active in professional wrestling since her exit from WWE.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Denise Salcedo with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription. Check out the full interview on Denise Salcedo’s YouTube channel.
