Charly Caruso Explains Her WWE Departure, Joins ESPN Full Time

Charly Caruso is done with WWE and a couple of weeks ago, there were rumors of “backstage heat” on her, which allegedly helped lead to her departure.

But that doesn’t appear to be the full story.

Earlier this week, ESPN announced that Caruso, real name Charly Arnolt, has signed a multi-year contract extension with ESPN and will be joining the network full-time, appearing as a contributor on SportsCenter, First Take and ESPN+’s SportsNation.

According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Caruso’s WWE contract was coming to an end and she had decided to not re-sign, instead joining ESPN full time.

Caruso was interviewed by TV Insider and talked about her departure from WWE and the rumors of her having “heat.”

“There is always going to be chatter,” she said. “The contract was coming up. Instead of renewing, I’m moving on. Everyone is going to have their own opinions regardless. I never had any issues while I was at WWE. Nothing bad happened. As far as I’m concerned, I’m leaving on a positive note and beginning what I believe to be the next step in my career.

“Once I stopped coming to WWE shows a few weeks ago, knowing this move was imminent, I had a lot of people reaching out. I couldn’t tell them yet until ESPN made the announcement. Now that it’s out, everyone has been so excited for me. The biggest thing I’ve heard within WWE is, ‘You deserve it.’ People know how passionate I am about my career. They know it’s a great thing for me, as much as it sucks not being able to see everyone every week. I know my relationship with friends will not be severed. Nia Jax and I have already tentatively planned a girls trip.”