Indi Hartwell on Dexter Lumis storyline: ‘The best time of my career’
Indi Hartwell called her storyline marriage to Dexter Lumis “the best time” of her career in a new interview.
Hartwell will challenge Kelani Jordan for the TNA Knockouts World Championship at Bound for Glory tonight. Ahead of the pay-per-view, Hartwell spoke with Metro UK about being a lifelong TNA fan and the excitement she feels heading into the show.
“There’s a lot of emotion, a lot of excitement going into it,” Hartwell said. “I’m very excited to be part of the biggest TNA show of the year. I’m a lifelong TNA fan, I grew up watching it.“
Hartwell was released from WWE in November 2024 and debuted for TNA Wrestling in May. She noted in the interview with Metro that her release meant focusing on being a singles wrestler again.
“When I got released, I’m like, ‘Damn. I’m a singles wrestler now,’ and I forgot what I can do because I’d been having short matches, short tag matches, or not being used,” she said.
Hartwell specifically mentioned that wrestling Mercedes Mone at a House of Glory event in March helped her come out of her shell:
“Wrestling Mercedes, she helped bring me out of my shell, and I feel like we were doing things in the ring that I normally wouldn’t even like give a chance to. Being in there with her made me feel so confident.“
Hartwell also addressed how she developed during her storyline with Dexter Lumis in NXT as well, calling it the best time in her career.
“His character at the time was just like, no emotion, nothing. So I would always try and make him break,” she said. “That was definitely the best time in my career.”
“I was still quite new to NXT and WWE at the time, but it really helped me come out of my shell, and also helped me find my love for the other side of wrestling that’s not the in ring stuff.”
Hartwell also mentioned an unusual moment from one 2021 scene she filmed with Lumis, where the storyline couple had a pillow fight. Hartwell says WWE edited in moaning sounds during the segment.
“Filming that was weird. But then watching it on TV was weirder because they edited in, like, moaning, which wasn’t me.“
“I don’t know where they got this girl moaning from, but they edited that in. And I was, ‘Oh my God, my parents are gonna watch this’, but it’s all good! It’s all in good fun, and it’s all for the job.”
Hartwell’s full interview with Metro is available here.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.