Layla El stepped away from WWE in 2015 and then largely vanished from public life for nearly a decade, and on Chris Van Vliet’s podcast, the former Women’s Champion explained the headspace behind both decisions.
Layla, who won the 2006 Diva Search and spent nine years with the company, said the grind simply caught up with her. “I’m 38, like, what am I gonna do? My looks, you know, you get to the point, your looks not the same, and I’m getting tired and worn out from just traveling all the time,” she said. “Where was there really for me to go? I kind of done everything, and they were coming in with the new girls, younger, fresh, so I just was like, it’s just time to go.”
She walked into the building in Oklahoma in July 2015 and asked out. “I just made up my mind one day, I went in, and I just asked, ‘ Can I have my release, please? I just want to go,” Layla said, adding that it felt like a mutual decision. She likened the constant fight for a spot to being stuck on a wheel. “I literally felt like I was like a gerbil on the wheel,” she said.
What followed was a near-total disappearance, with Layla staying off social media and away from wrestling events for years. She said the time away was about reclaiming her sense of self. “After being there for nine years, it became my identity, so for me it was a decision that Layla, you’re not this person, you’re Layla,” she said. “I really just wanted to come back to be me.”
Layla was honest about how the spotlight had affected her. “I became very conceited. You get used to being treated a certain way, and having all that attention can get to your head, and for me, being really honest, it really did,” she said.
Ultimately, she believes the break saved her from herself. “I’m just kind of glad I stepped away when I did, because I think I would have made a lot of mistakes, and I would have made those mistakes in the public eye,” Layla said. “I’m very grateful that I didn’t make any of those mistakes.”
If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Chris Van Vliet with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
