While she is now maximizing her time in Major League Wrestling and independent wrestling promotions, much of Shotzi’s time in WWE was spent on what ifs and almosts. During a recent appearance on “Insight With Chris Van Vliet,” Shotzi opened up about a few of those possibilities that never fully materialized.
“With Bayley, I wish that was just a little grander,” Shotzi said, referencing their summer of 2023 feud through which she dramatically shaved her green locks after having a piece cut out by Bayley. “We never got a final match where we got to actually go toe-to-toe. We had just a few matches that were like seven minutes or whatever, but we never really got to go for it. I actually love working with Bayley and I assumed together with her cutting my hair and shaving my head that it might go somewhere and it just didn’t.”
Elsewhere, Shotzi wishes she would have had more opportunities to wrestle Alexa Bliss and Asuka, each of whom are former world champions in WWE. Within the case of the latter, she and “The Empress of Tomorrow” tangled on various live events, but never in televised singles competition. Shotzi and Bliss’ in-ring interactions were limited to a pair of Royal Rumbles, one six-woman tag match on “WWE SmackDown,” and the 2022 Women’s Money within the Bank Ladder Match.
“I loved tagging with Charlotte,” Shotzi added. “More recently is forming the group with Gigi [Dolin] and Tatum [Paxley]. I actually loved working with those girls and I assumed we could be just like the latest chick DX. I used to be really in love with us.”
Shotzi Wanted To Lean Into A Psychotic Character
Months after she shaved her signature green hair, Shotzi headed into the 2023 Survivor Series: WarGames event with Charlotte Flair, Bianca Belair, and Becky Lynch by her side. Standing across from her were the members of Damage CTRL, whom she vowed to unleash a frenzy of madness on. Unfortunately for Shotzi, the WWE Universe never got to see her perform that promise, which might have also been paired with a more erratic character.
“I wanted to vary up my character at that time,” Shotzi said. “I desired to be like an entire psycho. Bayley cut my hair. I shaved my head. I just lost it, and [WWE] were immediately like ‘No. No more of that. We would like you to be real.’ After which I used to be like ‘Oh, I assumed this was entering into a totally different direction.’ They weren’t into it in any respect.
“I used to be doing all that stuff with Bayley beforehand, like laughing maniacally, chasing her around with [hair] clippers. I assumed we were on the identical page,” she continued. “I assumed my character was going right into a more psychotic route. Then I cut that [promo] and that is why you type of see me try this after which it never comes back because they were similar to ‘No, we don’t desire that in your character. We would like you to only be yourself.'”
Despite scaling back her in-ring character, Shotzi found herself on the winning side in Women’s WarGames as Lynch pinned Bayley for the team victory. The next month, she received a possibility to unload Christmas-themed chaos on Damage CTRL, specifically in a Holiday Havoc, eight-woman tag on “WWE SmackDown.”
For those who use any of the quotes in this text, please credit “Insight With Chris Van Vliet” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.