TNA's Shayna Baszler Looks Back On WWE Run With Pure Fusion Collective Stable

Looking back on what could have been, it appears that three of WWE's former most accomplished grapplers: Shayna Baszler, Zoey Stark (now wrestling as Zoey Serrano), and Sonya Deville (now under the name Daria Rae) were all sold on a dream that the Pure Fusion Collective was going to rule all three brands. But the entirety of it all was short lived and did not prosper to the lengths they had envisioned. Speaking with reporter Denise Salcedo, Baszler believes the idea of their group was solid, but it just happened at the wrong place and at the wrong time.

"I don't feel like we ever really got our wheels on the ground with that," Baszler said. "We had these expectations when we got told about this cool group. I don't even know if Zoey and Daria know, like Hunter [Triple H] had pulled me aside, and was like, 'Do you know anybody else that's kind of like a brawler shooter that we can add here?' I'm like, 'I don't know. Let me think about that.' So, we just thought, 'Oh man, there's big ideas...'At that time, it's funny to say now because we all know what happened; we didn't really get off and running. But at the time, we were like, 'Oh man, Judgment Day's kind of breaking up right now. Maybe, we can move into this spot...' We had these visions...I think at that point in time, there were just so many stories going on... especially when it's a new character or faction or something, you have to put time into telling that story, right? And so, I think it was a mixture of bad timing."

Initiated on-screen by Deville, the Pure Fusion Collective tied in the extensive knowledge and MMA background all three stars came into the WWE with. Their alliance formed in the summer of 2024 and wrapped up around the late spring of 2025, when Deville's contract expired with no option for a renewal and Baszler was released from her WWE contract (though she's produced, coached, and made several on-screen appearances for "WWE NXT" after). Nearly a year later, Stark, too, was released, as part of WWE's annual post-WrestleMania cuts.

Since their departures, all three powerhouses have landed in TNA, where Baszler and Serrano reunited to become the new Knockouts World Tag Team Champions at Bound for Glory. As for Rae, she calls the shots for TNA as its on-screen Director of Operations.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Denise Salcedo" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.