Shotzi Blackheart’s move to TNA might look like something that came together after her WWE exit, but apparently she was trying to get there way before that. In fact, she was asking WWE to let her work TNA dates while she was still under contract.
During an interview on The G, Shotzi explained that the idea started after she returned from ACL surgery. She had spent a long time away from the ring and was basically desperate to start wrestling again, so she saw WWE’s working relationship with TNA as an opportunity.
“Yeah, you know, I was kind of talking to TNA when I was still signed with WWE. When I had just gotten back from my ACL surgery, I was just really hungry to get in the ring, and I was begging WWE to let me have a run with TNA.”
Shotzi didn’t just throw the idea out there either. She actually started talking with Tommy Dreamer about making something happen, and according to her, Dreamer was completely down for it. WWE apparently wasn’t.
“I was talking to Tommy Dreamer for a little bit, and he was totally down, but for some reason, I wasn’t allowed to.”
So that was pretty much the end of Shotzi’s TNA idea while she was still with WWE. Things obviously changed once her WWE run ended, but Shotzi didn’t immediately run over to TNA and sign another contract. After dealing with the ACL injury and everything surrounding the end of her WWE run, she wanted some time to just wrestle on the independents and get comfortable being herself again.
“But, you know, when I got released, I needed a second to just be on the indies and do me before signing another big contract.”
That ended up lasting around a year and a half, and Shotzi says that period helped her rebuild something she badly needed — confidence. Once she finally felt like herself again, that’s when TNA started making sense.
“And, you know, after a year and a half of just doing me and gaining my confidence back, I felt like, okay, this is the time for me to get back on TV, for me to come to TNA on absolute fire with the most confidence and the biggest balls I have ever had in my career. So, I’m really coming to TNA fired up.”
It’s pretty wild that Shotzi eventually landed exactly where she had been trying to go while still with WWE. The difference is that she’s arriving on her own terms this time, after spending more than a year rebuilding herself instead of simply jumping straight from one company to another.
Do you think more WWE talent should be allowed to take advantage of the company’s working relationship with TNA when they’re looking for additional ring time? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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