Shotzi Blackheart has welcomed us to the ball pit, and now she's being welcomed to WarGames.
This Sunday, Shotzi Blackheart leads a team into battle against the likes of Candice LeRae, Raquel Gonzalez, Dakota Kai and Toni Storm. The match seems right up Shotzi's alley, but it's the first time she's even been in a cage!
"I’m just really excited," Shotzi told Fightful. "You know, I’ve never had a cage match before. But, it excites me. Anytime metal or weapons get involved, I’m all for it. I have that daredevil kind of style in wrestling and I have been itching for a brutal match like this. This is everything that I’ve been waiting for at NXT. It’s been a year now since I’ve been at NXT, and what a year to cap it off with a War Games match.That’s what I love to do. That’s my favorite kind of wrestling is the reckless kind. I’m just cooking up all the different ways I’m going to use my surroundings, you know, the cage. There’s so many fun things to do there, right?"
Shotzi Blackheart has a wealth of experience at her disposal on the NXT roster, but as far as reaching out to other talent for an idea of how to prepare? Not so much.
"I have been going back and watching a lot of War Games matches, but no, I haven’t really seeked any help. I’ve been pretty busy working on my new tank. It’s just gonna be bigger and ballsier," Blackheart teased.
What's next? A Nerf cannon? Blackheart claims she has something better than that in store for fans.
The prime concern is likely WarGames, and Blackheart admittedly has a team full of people who have found themselves on the receiving end of a few beatdowns of late.
"You know, that’s true, but I have two ex-champions. These girls have been at the top of the women’s division and there’s no way we can’t conquer," Blackheart said.
A whirlwind year for Blackheart involved her hosting the rebirth of Halloween Havoc, a WCW staple, as an NXT branded show. For her, it was a dream come true and a natural transition from her general interests.
"I have wanted to be a horror host since I was real young. I looked up to Elvira, Vampira, like I watched all the late night local horror shows. When they said that, I was like, “Oh, my God. I’m living out another dream through wrestling and it’s crazy.” But, when I found out, I was actually getting a tattoo. I had to tell my tattoo artist. Like, “Hey, I have to break for a second. I have to take a call from work,” and then that’s when they told me. What was extra funny about it is I was getting an exorcist tattoo. So, I was like, “The horror lives on!”
Blackheart also got an opportunity to wrestle on Smackdown this fall in a tri-brand battle royal, making the best of another opportunity.
"It was so great. I look up to so many of those girls and Smackdown just has this energy there. It’s different and it was wild," she said.
Beyond Halloween Havoc and Smackdown, Shotzi is on to WarGames, where she'll lead Rhea Ripley and Ember Moon against their aforementioned foes in the caged structure.
You can check out Shotzi Blackheart on WWE NXT every Wednesday at 8 PM EST on USA Network. She competes in WarGames this Sunday at NXT Takeover: WarGames. Our full interview is at the top of the page. Fightful host Denise Salcedo also spoke to her, which you can see below.
