Former WWE Star Shotzi Reflects On Storylines & Characters She Didn't Get To Perform

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 some of those possibilities that never fully materialized.

"With Bayley, I wish that was a little grander," Shotzi said, referencing their summer of 2023 feud in which she dramatically shaved her green locks after having a chunk cut out by Bayley. "We never got a final match where we got to really go toe-to-toe. We had a few matches that were like seven minutes or whatever, but we never really got to go for it. I really love working with Bayley and I thought with her cutting my hair and shaving my head that it would go somewhere and it just didn't."

Elsewhere, Shotzi wishes she would have had more opportunities to wrestle Alexa Bliss and Asuka, both of whom are former world champions in WWE. In the case of the latter, she and "The Empress of Tomorrow" tangled on a number of 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 in the Bank Ladder Match.

"I loved tagging with Charlotte," Shotzi added. "More recently is forming the group with Gigi [Dolin] and Tatum [Paxley]. I really loved working with those girls and I thought we would be like the new chick DX. I was really in love with us."

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 carry out that promise, which would have also been paired with a more erratic character.

"I wanted to change up my character at that point," Shotzi said. "I wanted to be like a complete psycho. Bayley cut my hair. I shaved my head. I just lost it, and [WWE] were immediately like 'No. No more of that. We want you to be real.' And then I was like 'Oh, I thought this was going in a completely different direction.' They were not into it at all.

"I was doing all that stuff with Bayley beforehand, like laughing maniacally, chasing her around with [hair] clippers. I thought we were on the same page," she continued. "I thought my character was going into a more psychotic route. Then I cut that [promo] and that's why you kind of see me do that and then it never comes back because they were just like 'No, we don't want that for your character. We want you to just 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 following month, she received an opportunity to unload Christmas-themed chaos on Damage CTRL, specifically in a Holiday Havoc, eight-woman tag on "WWE SmackDown."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight With Chris Van Vliet" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.