| Steph De Lander | |
|---|---|
.jpg) De Lander in April 2024 | |
| Birth name | Stephanie Josephine De Landre[1] |
| Born | (1997-01-21)21 January 1997 (age 28) Melbourne,Victoria, Australia[2] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | FaceBrooke Steph De Lander Persia Pirotta |
| Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)[3] |
| Billed weight | 187 lb (85 kg)[3] |
| Billed from | Sydney, Australia[4] |
| Trained by | Madison Eagles Robbie Eagles Mick Moretti |
| Debut | 8 April 2017[3] |
Stephanie Josephine De Landre (born 21 January 1997), better known under thering nameSteph De Lander, is an Australianprofessional wrestler. She is signed toTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where she is a formerTNA Digital Media Champion. She is also a mainstay on the American independent scene, most notably inGame Changer Wrestling (GCW). She is also known for her time inWWE, where she performed on theNXT 2.0 brand under thering namePersia Pirotta as part of a tag team with real life best friendIndi Hartwell. She has also made appearances forAll Elite Wrestling (AEW) andRing of Honor (ROH) in recent years.
Stephanie Josephine De Landre was born inMelbourne, Victoria, and moved toSydney,New South Wales when she was 5 years old. She grew up in the northern suburbs ofAvalon Beach. De Landre dropped out of high school at 15 years old to become a hairdresser, before deciding to pursue professional wrestling at age 18.[5]
In 2015, De Landre began training at the PWA Academy in Sydney, under coachesMadison Eagles,Robbie Eagles and Mick Moretti. In 2017 she debuted as a masked character named FaceBrooke,[6] and quickly rose through the ranks in the Australian independent scene. As FaceBrooke, she wrestled for NHPW in Perth, and made appearances for multiple promotions across Australia such as BCW, PCW, Wrestling GO, PWA, Rock n Roll Wrestling, Newcastle Pro Wrestling & PWA.
IN 2018, FaceBrooke made her American debut for acclaimed all women's promotionShimmer Women Athletes. She also performed for RISE, Nova Pro Wrestling & IWA Midsouth during this tour, competing against wrestlers such asShotzi Blackheart,Veda Scott, Allie Katch & more.
After returning to Australia, she was sidelined for almost a year due to a shoulder injury. Upon returning to the ring in 2019, she stopped going by FaceBrooke and adopted the Python Powerhouse gimmick, and started going by her real name, stylized as "Steph De Lander". She continued to appear in various promotions across Australia, such as Melbourne City Wrestling and Venom Pro Wrestling .
In 2019, De Lander returned to the US for another tour, making appearances for SHIMMER this time tagging alongside Indi Hartwell as 'Australia's Hottest Commodities'. They tagged against names like Jessica Havoc & Nevaeh. Steph debuted for Black Label Pro & Battleclub Pro during this trip.
De Lander continued to rise up the ranks in the Australian wrestling scene, competing in high-profile matches at top promotions PWA & MCW. In August 2019, she defeatedIndi Hartwell in her farewell match in Australia, before Hartwell moved to the United States to join WWE. At MCW Endgame in September 2019, De Lander lasted 3 rounds in a tournament where she defeated Kellyanne to become the inaugural MCW Women's Champion. In February 2020, she competed in a cage match in the main event of PWA against Jessica Troy.
In June 2019, De Landre participated in the first ever all Women'sWWE tryout in the United Kingdom. She was the only international talent at the tryout, with all the other women being from the UK. De Landre has since revealed in interviews she was offered a contract with WWE during this tryout.
It was reported on 14 March 2021 that De Landre was one of two Australian wrestlers signed byWWE. Under the ring name "Persia Pirotta", she made her NXT debut as the close friend ofIndi Hartwell who had come all the way from Australia for Hartwell's wedding withDexter Lumis.[7] On 26 October during theNXT: Halloween Havoc television special, Pirotta and Hartwell teamed again to compete in aTriple ThreatScareway To Hell Ladder match againstToxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin andJacy Jayne) and the reigningNXT Women's Tag Team ChampionsIo Shirai andZoey Stark, establishing herself as aface in the process.[8][9] She had her first victory in WWE on 16 November episode of NXT, defeating Gabby Stephens and Jenny Levy in a two-on-one handicap match.[10]
After she returned in January 2022,[11] Pirotta and Hartwell started afeud with Toxic Attraction which resulted in a match for women's tag team titles atVengeance Day where they were unsuccessful in winning the match.[12]
During their match on March 14, 2022, where Pirotta, aided by her partner and loverDuke Hudson, lost to Indi Hartwell and her partner and loverDexter Lumis. After the match ended, the two couples proceeded to have a kissing contest, embracing their partners. This controversial angle was featured on popular media news site TMZ on March 16, 2022, for its PG-13 content during the PG era of WWE NXT. Another article was released the same day featuring photos of Pirotta and Hartwell posing in bikinis for the media site Hot Shots. Pirotta was released by WWE in April 2022.[13]
In February 2023, De Landre made her debut forImpact Wrestling as Steph De Lander.[14] In her debut match, on 9 February episode ofImpact!, she established herself as aheel and facedJordynne Grace in a losing effort.[15]
On the March 28TNA Impact!, De Lander returned to TNA and, with help from an also returningMatt Cardona, with whom she has been aligning herself with in the independent circuit, won an8-4-1 match to become number one contender toJordynne Grace'sTNA Knockouts World Championship atRebellion.[16][17][18] At the event, De Lander was defeated by Grace.[19]
On the September 7 episode ofImpact, De Lander, now competing as aface during her current on-screen relationship withPCO, confronted Cardona about his actions. There, Cardona revealed that when he and De Lander teamed up over two years ago, De Lander had signed a contract with Cardona that lent her services to him in exchange for several benefits, which he claims effectively made her his "property".[20] AtVictory Road on September 13, De Lander revealed she needed neck surgery.[21]
De Lander made her return from injury on the January 23, 2025 episode ofImpact, confrontingSami Callihan, while holding theTNA Digital Media Champion, claiming to be the "23" who has been tormenting the latter, and to have won the championship "in a divorce", where in storyline, she divorced her on-screen husband PCO and won custody of the championship in the process, which was to explain the situation where PCO’s contract in real life was not renewed by TNA and he attempted to destroy the title at aGame Changer Wrestling event earlier that week instead of appearing to drop the belt in his last contractual date for TNA. Her real-life fianceMance Warner would make his TNA debut, attacking Callihan and aligning himself with De Lander, turning De Lander heel once again.[22]
De Landre is ofMaltese descent.[23] She came out asbisexual in 2019,[24] and is engaged to American professional wrestlerMance Warner.[25]
