WWE star Shotzi has opened up on her relationship "accepting" Triple H who is now running the company.
The 30-year-old began her career in the historic wrestling corporation in October 2019 and made her debut on a live NXT house show just two months later. As the founder and executive producer of NXT since its inception, Triple H has been widely praised for helping cultivate the brand and recruit fresh new talent.
Over the last decade the 14-time WWE world champion has guided the brand to various levels of success including sold-out shows, increased respect for women's professional wrestling, and international expansion. During her WWE tenure Shotzi has developed an understanding with 'The Game', which has allowed her to flourish under his tutelage.
"I would say that I've had more time with Triple H because he ran NXT and so my entire time there, I worked with him," the former NXT women's tag champion said in an exclusive chat with Mirror Sport . "From the day that I debuted he understood my character and was so accepting of my ideas. I do think that he gets me; he gets the 'ballsy bada**', he gets the tanks, he gets the howling and he's all for it, and he accepts my true personality."
Shotzi made her debut on the SmackDown in July 2021 and has made her presence felt with her wacky and eccentric persona which excites many within the WWE Universe. After a year fighting as a singles star on SmackDown, Shotzi has recently been teaming with the powerful and former NXT star Raquel Rodriguez.
They presented a stiff challenge to the current WWE Women's tag team champions Damage CNTRL this past Friday on the blue brand, but just fell short in their pursuit of the belts. The finest moment in Shotzi's career came when she teamed up with former WWE star Ember Moon to win the NXT Women's tag team championships last March.
While initially starting her career as a singles star, the 2020 NXT Breakout Star of the Year credited her former partner for igniting her love for tag team wrestling. "Before I started tagging with Ember, I always thought I just liked being a singles competitor," the 30-year-old explained.
"I always thought that was my niche, I always looked at myself as a lone wolf, but when I started tagging with Ember then I really started finding the fun in tag team wrestling, it's nice having someone to rely on. I've definitely fallen more in love with tag team wrestling and I almost feel like I'm starting to like it more than singles wrestling."
While Shotzi has developed a real passion for tag wrestling, she still has an eye for going solo and would love to tussle with the current SmackDown women's champion Ronda Rousey. "Ronda is constantly the top dog and I would love to have a feud with her," she shared. "The very few matches that I have had with her, I had a blast and she challenged me. So I would love to get in there with her and have a big pay-per-view match against Ronda Rousey."
Despite having lofty ambitions for the future, Shotzi explained her preference of not looking too far ahead, and this Sunday she will team with Rodriguez to face Natalya and Sonya Deville at a WWE live event at the OVO Arena in Glasgow. This will mark Shotzi's first time performing in the UK since losing to Aliyah at London's live event at the O2 Arena six months ago.
The grappler expressed her love for performing in the UK and Europe, while also praising her current tag team partner. "I'm so excited. There's nothing quite like the fans in Europe, there's a specific energy that I can't explain," she said with a grin.
"I love performing in front of them, it's so much fun. I love the food and it's just a good time. I love exploring when I'm there. I wish I had more time to explore, but it's such a blast. I love hearing fans just having fun because wrestling is all about having a good time, that's why we do it. We're here to entertain."
She added: "She is incredibly strong. It is so impressive the strength that Raquel has. It is so awesome to have a woman of that strength next to me. It gives me some confidence having her on my side of the ring.
"I think that the match we had on Friday for the tag titles is one of my favourite matches since getting called up to SmackDown, and I want that again, I want to stay tagging with her."
