Shotzi shared fascinating behind-the-scenes details about her final months in WWE, including how her last NXT run came about at her own request and a subsequently scrapped storyline with Chelsea Green on SmackDown. Speaking on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio, she explained her proactive approach after being cleared from injury.
“I got cleared like December 5 [2024],” Shotzi began. “I’m probably not going to come back until Rumble… I could not for the life of me sit at home any longer. So I texted (Johnny) Russo, and I was like, ‘Hey, I’m probably not going to come back to the main roster for a little bit. Can I get a little run at NXT, find my ring legs back?’ He was like, ‘Absolutely. We can only have you for two months, and then the main roster wants you back.'”
She embraced the NXT opportunity, particularly enjoying working with Gigi Dolin and Tatum Paxley. “I was like, ‘Great, that’s perfect… I want to build up Gigi and Tatum. I really believe in them.’ I thought we were killing it… and then I fell in love with them.”
However, main roster plans then stalled. “I was told, ‘Oh, you’re gonna start a storyline with Chelsea’, which I was all for… They brought me into SmackDown, they’re rehearsing my entrance on the Tron, and then they cut it. Then it was week after week, nothing and nothing,” she recalled. This led to her viral promo: “Then I start to wonder… my contract’s up in a few months. What is going on?… That’s finally when I was like, well, I’m gonna cut this promo, and I’m gonna get some answers.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Busted Open Radio with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
