Shotzi Blackheart has addressed her recent WWE departure and what the future holds for her in the professional wrestling world.
On May 2nd, news broke via Fightful that multiple members of WWE’s main roster and NXT had been released from their contracts. The following day, news also broke that Shotzi’s contract would not be renewed when it expired, meaning that she would also be exiting the company but did not have the no-compete attached, meaning she could appear for another promotion much quicker.
Now a free agent, the former WWE star recently made a surprise appearance at Hoodslam and GCW. While speaking with Ariel Helwani, Blackheart admitted that the feeling was bittersweet as it meant that the WWE exit was official:
“Obviously, it being my first match back to the indies, it makes it real that I’m not with WWE anymore, so it’s bittersweet. But once I made my entrance and that crowd went insane, and I just got to have a match that was stress free and just wild and balls to the wall. No one was telling me, ‘No, you cannot use glass’ or ‘No, you cannot do that crazy thing.’ “It was a lot of fun and really helped with my confidence, already.”
After suffering a torn ACL in February 2024, Shotzi missed most of the year due to injury. Speaking about the injury, Blackheart stated that she tried to stay positive about coming back, but was ultimately let go in 2025:
“When you’re going through such a huge injury like that that puts you out for almost a year, you start getting in your head a little because you’re stuck at home, you’re still in rehab and thinking like, ‘Oh man, what if they’re not gonna use me when I get back? Like, what if it’s it for me?’ You try to stay positive and you hope that, ‘Well, if I work really hard and come back even better, maybe I’ll get rewarded for coming back from such an intense injury.’ But unfortunately for me, I was let go.”
Would Shotzi Blackheart Return To WWE?
As has been seen many times with previous releases such as Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre, many former stars can make their way back to the company and have more successful runs than before. When asked about a possible return, the former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion stated that she would be very open to one more run:
“I would love to be back at WWE. I loved working there. I didn’t love not working there, you know what I’m saying? It was only when I wasn’t being used that I was unhappy. But anytime I was being used, good time. Loved the locker room, loved everyone I was working for.”
Shotzi also expressed an interest in signing with AEW:
“I love their freedom. I have a lot of friends there who are doing really awesome things. I’ve heard many stories of how Tony treats talent. So yeah, I do love that he really cares for his talent. That is super important to me.”
“And like, hot girls get to make out with each other,” she added with a laugh.
H/t to F4WOnline for the use of transcription.
Featured image credit: WWE
