During a recent interview with PWInsider, Shayna Baszler commented on the WWE NXT women’s locker room, moving to the main roster, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On the NXT women’s division: “I think NXT has always placed big emphasis on the Women’s Division and being a part of that legacy as the two-time champion is a huge honor. I think I would put the NXT Women’s locker room up against any other locker room in the world and we’re going to deliver. We’re going to outperform and we’re going to do everything. That being said, I’m the top of this division so the world gets to see it now and it’s exciting.”
On a possible move to the main roster: “First of all, any roster I’m on is the main roster, but I think this is more of a lateral move now. I don’t think it should be called a call-up anymore. It’s definitely a lateral move and I think, with everything that’s happened, we don’t have to think like, “Wow, I want to go there in order to have my WrestleMania moment.” I think it’s conceivable now that, as the NXT Woman’s Champion, I can show up and win money in the bank. Or, as the NXT Woman’s Champion, I can go have a WrestleMania moment. That’s more realistic now than it ever has been. I think it’s less a thing about what my dreams were before. They’re actually even more achievable now. I’m just being the best and that’s the goal. Everything else kind of just takes care of itself.”
On what she learned from MMA that plays into how she portrays herself in wrestling: “I think that when I was in MMA, I wasn’t fighting for the purpose of pro wrestling. I was truly fighting behind that curtain to be the best fighter I could possibly be. Just like anybody that does that, I wanted to be the best. I think if I had done MMA for the purpose of pro wrestling that wouldn’t have felt the same. You know what I mean? Not that I wouldn’t have wanted to win, but I think my heart would have been in it differently. I think because I was in MMA to be… I was behind the curtain in order to step out and beat someone up and they thought they were better and I’m going to prove I’m better. I know exactly what that feels like. So, I know exactly what that feels like when I’m behind the curtain at a Takeover ready to come out, or behind the curtain on TV tonight. It feels exactly the same to me because it’s familiar. My body is behind a curtain going, “Oh, this again,” and it’s been the same thing I’ve done for 16 years. I guess I got lucky in that way that the path led here in the way that it did or I wouldn’t be who I am.”
