Indi Hartwell Wasn’t Expecting To Be Called Up In The 2021 WWE Draft Despite Working Dark Matches

Indi Hartwell had a good experience during her handful of dark matches on the main roster.

Indi Hartwell recently took part in some dark matches on the main roster as WWE was heading back on the road and looking to see who they could call up from NXT to shake things up in the WWE Draft. Unlike her “brother” in The Way, Austin Theory, Indi Hartwell would not be a part of the main roster following the WWE Draft.

Reflecting on her time performing in dark matches, Indi Hartwell tells Sean Ross Sapp in an exclusive interview that she had no expectations that she was going to get called up and that she is hopeful that when the time is appropriate, she is as prepared as she can be.

“I didn’t really think I was getting called up because the dark match kinda of came out of nowhere. I got told the night before I had to fly out. I think it was because someone got injured and I was basically filling in for them. One dark match turned into two dark matches, which I felt like was a good sign and I got really good feedback, had an amazing experience there, and I left both of those matches feeling really good. Hopefully, when the time comes for me to get called up, I’m well-prepared for it,” said Hartwell. 

Having a limited time involvement in a main roster production, Indi Hartwell does confirm that she did not get any time to interact with Vince McMahon but she is hopeful that that day will come soon.I

“I did not (get time with Vince McMahon). I was hoping that it would happen, but unfortunately it wasn’t the time for it. Hopefully that will happen soon.”

Hartwell was featured on WWE Raw television during the early days of the global pandemic as she faced Shayna Baszler in the lead-up to WWE Money in the Bank 2020 in front of an empty WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

Speaking of that experience, Hartwell would say that she had a fun experience working with Shayna baszler and Main roster producers and she does consider it a great learning experience.

“That was a little different, in a different environment. I basically got texted by coach Sara Amato the day before saying, ‘You’re wrestling Shayna tomorrow on Raw. I was like, ‘Ah, okay.’ This is when Raw was filming at the Performance Center, empty arena, no one in the crowd. Great experience working with Shayna and producers on the main roster. Good learning experience. Obviously, being in the empty arena environment is very different to what we’re used to. It was a cool experience and good memory.”

For now, she will stay focused on NXT and she can be seen on NXT 2.0 every Tuesday night. Fightful will have live coverage of WWE NXT every Tuesday.