Shotzi Blackheart details the scary surroundings of her Tough Enough journey coming to a quick end after it was discovered that she has a heart condition.
Today, Shotzi Blackheart is one of the top women superstars on NXT, but that was not her first foray into WWE. Shotzi tried out for the 2015 season of WWE Tough Enough which also featured Velveteen Dream, Mandy Rose, and Sonya Deville.
Although Blackheart qualified to join the contestants in the house, she was quickly booted from the show when it was discovered that she has a heart condition. speaking to Taylor Wilde on her Wilde On podcast, Shotzi reveals just how scary it was for her to learn about her heart condition on television and being unmotivated for a brief length of time after the discovery.
“My first experience with WWE was Tough Enough. I was at the last Tough Enough, I made it into the house, but I ultimately got booted off because of medical reasons. They found a heart condition that I wasn't aware of and it was a whirlwind of emotions because I got into the house and I was like, ‘Oh my God, are you kidding me?! This is crazy.’ Then the next day they were like, ‘never mind.’
“I went home after that and like I didn't really know what to do at first because I was kind of scared and I didn't really know what was going on with my body. I didn't know that I had any sort of heart condition. If I wrestle or try to do cardio can I just die? I didn't really have health insurance. It was a long process for me to like get rechecked out, I didn't even have anything to like show a doctor [as proof.] So it was weird for me like coming back from that and I kind of, for a month, was unmotivated to wrestle because I was scared. Eventually, I was just like, screw it. Whatever happens, happens, I'm just going to keep wrestling.”
Ultimately, it worked out for Blackheart who would be signed in 2019 during an EVOLVE event when William Regal came out and personally offered her a contract. Now, she has had many breakout experiences in WWE including hosting Halloween Havoc, competing in WarGames, and being named by Shawn Michaels as one of the NXT Superstars to definitely keep an eye on this year.
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