Shayna Baszler (@QoSBaszler) is a professional wrestler and MMA fighter best known for her time in WWE. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studio in Hollywood, CA to discuss her WWE release and still doing some work for the company as a coach, if a return as a wrestler is still possible, her dominant main roster call-up and feud with Becky Lynch, being Ronda Rousey’s final WWE opponent and a possible Rousey return, her love of WarHammer 40K, and more!

On life since her WWE release:

“Well, actually, strangely enough, I feel like I’m busier and away from home more than I was before, just by the nature of taking every available opportunity there is to just do everything that I want to do. So I don’t know.” 

So what’s keeping you busy?

“I mean, I’m still taking indie dates and doing stuff like that. I’ve been doing a lot of like guest coaching and shadowing producing at NXT. So pretty much if I’m not on the road, I’m helping out there if I can.” 

So are you working for WWE? 

“I’m not officially hired, but I have a good relationship with them. I’m officially guest coaching when the opportunity comes. I don’t hate it. I actually like it a lot more than I thought I would. So how that all came about is that Daniel Bryan, it was during COVID, and Daniel Bryan was always the guy sitting in Gorilla. It’s kind of like, I don’t know if it’s still the same way now, but it’s kind of like only the top guys can sit back on a headset in Gorilla. There’s just too much, it’s not enough room, so you don’t want to crowd the place. But he was talking to me about, if you ever get a chance to sit in the truck or sit on a headset, it completely changed my wrestling. I feel like my wrestling went to another level, because you get to see what they look for, and how they call things, and the time it takes. So you feel weird making a face for too long, but they have just TV stuff.”

And you realize these are being done for TV?

“Yes, and you wrestle differently for television than you do for a live crowd. So I wasn’t in a position at that time where I could do that on Raw or SmackDown. So I thought where I could do that is at NXT, and NXT does live TV, so I kind of was down there, and just asked one day, ‘Hey, do you mind if I just sit on a headset back here during the show?’ Coach Bloom was like, yeah. And if you’re gonna do that, you follow around Mossy, [he] is producing the women’s match tonight. You just as well follow him around all day so you can see the whole process. So I kind of just started showing up there when I was able to and when I wasn’t completely dead from travel. So when I got the call about being released, I also got a call that was like take some time, but if you’re still interested and keep on doing that, we’re open to that idea.”

So this could be a full-time thing?

“If I don’t suck too bad at the guest part of it. You know, it’s pretty smart of them, because during my 90 days, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t a little salty at first, but I kind of was like, You know what? What’s the worst that’s gonna happen? I hate it, and then I tell them I don’t want to do it? So let’s just go in and do it. But they’re smart to have done that, because then I got emotionally invested in the athletes that are there, that I’m working with, and some of the girls, even some of the guys, seeing their growth and seeing collaboration ideas. I’ve been a talent, so I know how to go from creative to the talent and kind of bridge the gap of what creative is looking for and what the talent wants to do. So, I don’t know, I got emotionally invested in everything, so they kind of got me coming back. But yeah, it’s been a lot more rewarding. I’ve enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, to be honest.”

Do you feel like your career as a WWE Superstar is over?

“Never say never in this business. I mean, weirder things have happened, right? If I get over with something crazy on the Indies or something, and I get an offer. It’s a strange question, because I don’t know that I’m ever going to be someone that’s like, Yeah, I’m ready to be done. I’ll always feel like I can go.”

You’re at the Performance Center, there could be a call to say they want you on Raw or SmackDown?

“I’d be open to something like that, even when they had, it wasn’t in-ring, but on NXT Homecoming. I was there that day, shadowing, and they just came up to me and they were like, ‘Hey, so it’s Homecoming, and we just thought it’d be cool if you appeared in this segment.’ I was like, ‘Well, I got to run home and get my cool jacket’, and kind of just did that. So I wouldn’t be against something like that, but on the other side of that, I wanna knee jerk and say I’m 45, but it’s not even my age, it’s the miles. I had 20 years of MMA, I had over 10 years total of pro wrestling. So it’s just about a quality-of-life thing for my body. I have found on the Indies that for right now, things change a lot with how I feel. But for right now, I don’t have that same indie hustle I had in me as before. I don’t want to lug a checked bag of T-shirts like Cardona, that dude has hustle. That dude makes money, and it works. There’s people like that on the Indies, and I’m just like I just want to wrestle. I did that [hustle], and I wouldn’t say I loved it to the same degree, but I didn’t mind it. But I think now that I’m just at a different stage where the wrestling I’m doing now is less about let’s see what I can do and get as far as I can go. It’s more to whet that creative appetite in me. But also, this sounds so cheesy, I really feel this sort of responsibility to kind of pass on what I have to give and to keep alive this shoot style catch wrestling, it’s just not something you see, especially out of the women. I think that I am finding that I’d have more concern for wanting to carry this banner than it is about all right, I want to make all this money doing this now. Maybe some of it is that I know I have the coaching thing as a safety net. So whereas before it was like, gotta make this work. So maybe there’s something to that, but I don’t know. My purpose in wrestling is different than it was when I first started.”

You come from MMA, how difficult is it to pull a punch?

“It’s not difficult to pull a punch. It’s difficult to throw a punch that looks good. Pulling a punch isn’t a thing.”

So throwing a working punch?

“I think just habits that you’ve trained for years. So you talk about throwing a punch. If I throw a punch, I’m not gonna telegraph to you at all that I’m throwing it. I’m just gonna crack it from here. But if we’re in a wrestling ring and you’re way up there and I throw this, it looks really dumb. So we have to wind up and show everyone in this place I’m throwing this big punch. That type of stuff, and getting it out of my head. I had to find this balance, because I come into pro wrestling as this, I represent real fighting, right? So I’m gonna not do the cheesy pro wrestling stuff. But then seeing it on film and being like, Oh, I get it, that looks kind of lame, okay. I explained it to my fight friends that it’s sparring. So I was Ronda Rousey’s sparring partner for years. She’s fighting someone coming up that always drops their left hand when they throw their right well, then it’s my job in the sparring to give her this look, and get cracked. So pro wrestling at its best is sparring. We’re improv stunt work, and I’m giving you looks for the stuff that I know you do.”

On kicking Asuka’s teeth out:

“We worked the whole finish because we knew. Yeah, it was terrible. And she’s so badass. She came to the back afterwards, and was kind of covering her mouth because she’s embarrassed, whatever. But she was like, ‘No pain. I don’t know why.’ She was so jovial. I’m like, ‘I am so sorry. Oh my gosh.’ And she was like, ‘It’s okay. No pain.’ Crazy, just soccer kicked her in the face. She was like, ‘Yeah, it’s fine. Doesn’t even hurt.’ But yeah, I mean, I have to make contact. And so I think doing 20 years of MMA, where I’m working my accuracy lends to this. I’m pretty confident in gaging my distance, in placing a shot properly. So I don’t know, does everyone have the time to spend the years it would take to learn how to do stuff for real? I get it. I get that. That’s not how it is, but I think there should be some aspect of that, or at least if there were that things would be.”

After NXT were you ready for the main roster?

“I think there’s a learning curve regardless of moving from NXT to the main roster. I don’t think I understood at the time that the main roster audience is so much bigger than NXT that most of them don’t know who you are. There is that hardcore crowd, and they show up at pay-per-views and whatever that know [who you are]. But the majority of people who watch SmackDown and Raw do not watch NXT, and so I think that was a bit of a wake-up call for me, because I debut at the Rumble, but the Rumble is a big-time pay-per-view, so you’re talking about like the die-hards are there. So they did know me when I came out at the Rumble. So that feels good. So then they lay out this general plan, we’re gonna put you in a feud with Becky, and this is gonna be your thing. I’m doing house shows and stuff, and people not really knowing in the audience about me, yet, they just know, this is that NXT girl that they called up. There is a learning curve there.” 

Do you feel like you have to win them over?

“I feel like I have to reintroduce myself. I don’t know if that’s about winning them over. They don’t know my signature stuff. They don’t know what I do. They don’t know my style, especially my style. I’m already behind the ball because my style in the United States at that time, it’s a lot better now, but at that time, it was not a style you see very often, so people aren’t as familiar. So just yeah, reintroducing myself to an entire new audience. It helps being put into programs with people like Becky, these people that are really well known, Becky and Bayley and these guys. But I think it was the hardest to get my footing as far as that, especially because a lot of what I do is very up close. So I think at first, before COVID, that’s not something easy for those people we were talking about to see, which is why I think to some extent, COVID helped me, because we didn’t have a live crowd, so the only view that people got was the camera that zoomed in on me. So now, when we get back to an audience, everyone’s seen what it’s about. But yeah, just trouble getting my footing as far as that, and then even just finding, I think Vince, at the time, didn’t watch NXT religiously. So he would get told stuff like, ‘Oh, this is Shayna, she’s a badass.’ I’m just surmising that he’s told about what we kind of are. ‘She’s a badass. She did MMA, she’s friends with Ronda Rousey. Here’s Shayna.’ So even he doesn’t know what I’m about in the ring. So even introducing yourself to him is kind of a thing. So, and then just being generally aware that when you get called up from NXT, you’re gonna get this little push, because you’re the new thing, whether it goes anywhere or not. I don’t want these stars, Becky and Bayley and these girls to think I’m coming in like, ‘I’m the new thing. Guys, Everyone move over. ‘So being very like, I don’t know like it is. It is less about like, I don’t know if I’m ready, skill-wise, but more just finding your place.”

You had one of the most dominant performances ever at the Royal Rumble:

“That’s actually a really funny story about that. So I was in the Rumble, and all I knew was they were talking about me being one of the people that wins it. There’s like a handful of people that they’re like her or her or her, and then two nights before the Rumble, I get a call from Paul Heyman, and he’s like, ‘Hey, I just want to let you know…’ because he was a part of creative at that time, ‘You’re not going to be in the Rumble. It’s not because we don’t want you. It’s because we’ve decided you’re not going to win and we don’t want to waste the opportunity. Everything’s still gonna go to plan. You’re just not gonna be in the Rumble.’ Okay, cool. NXT had a pay-per-view on Saturday. They had their pay-per-views on Saturdays. I go to watch, and then the girls on that pay-per-view that were at Rumble, they have NXT showing up in the Rumble. We’re all getting ready to get on a bus to leave the pay-per-view as soon as it’s done, to go to rehearsal for Royal Rumble. And one of the TR comes up to me, and they’re like, ‘Shayna, did you bring stuff with you? Could you get in a ring right now and do rehearsal?’ Yeah. ‘Okay, well, they want you to go to rehearsal tonight, the Rumble.’ Okay. So I get on the bus, and they’re like, ‘All right, so we decided to put you back in the Rumble. We’re gonna protect you. You’re still not winning. Here’s the plan.’ So it was like, Yeah, I’m in it. Oh no, I’m not. Oh, yeah. Oh, okay. This is crazy. I think there was some discussion, because Santino was in the women’s Rumble, and I think originally he was supposed to be number 30, but I think there was this big to do about that’s such a down. It’s funny, whatever. But as number 30, that would be late, the fans, there’s gonna be backlash. So then I got switched to number 30, and I think that was Hunter going to bat for me too. I think he was like, if Shayna is not in the Rumble and we put Santino at number 30, everyone’s expecting the NXT champion to come out, and it’s gonna be Santino, that’s gonna be bad. So I think he kind of went to bat for me to get me put back in the Rumble.”

It feels like you were being booked like a female Brock Lesnar?

“Yeah, so I had some issue with this, because I don’t think even black and gold, I don’t think I was female Brock Lesnar ever. I think that’s a bad analogy. I think it’s an easy comparison to make, because oh, this badass. And also MMA.”

I think also because you ran through people at Rumble and Chamber:

“I think in that sense, yes. I feel like there was some setup. And it’s hard to say. I know I get a lot of times, and I very much appreciate fans that are like, ‘Oh, man, they really fumbled the ball with you.’ ‘Man, that Elimination Chamber. What were they thinking?’ But it’s hard to say because of what happened in the world. I was originally told, and who knows in this business, but I was originally told, ‘Yeah, you’re gonna go into a feud with Becky and eventually win the title off her.’ COVID happens, and then we all get told, well, there’s gonna be no audience, so we want a title change like that to happen in front of a live crowd. And remember, at that time, we didn’t know this was going to be like a year. So we’ll wait till we get back to live crowds, and we’ll just keep extending the thing, and then Becky gets pregnant, and they don’t want to just award a title to me. So then it was like, okay, Asuka, so maybe we’ll put you in a feud with Asuka. Funny story about that, by the way, I’ll tell this. Nobody knows this story. So COVID happens, and they’re like, ‘Yeah, in front of no audience. What we’re gonna do is we’re gonna shoot cinematic Money in the Bank. You’re gonna win that and then carry your feud on with Becky as the Money in the Bank winner.’ Okay, great, cool, whatever you need. We fly in, which was really weird, because everything was shut down, so it was like a ghost town at the airport and everything. That was really weird. But we get there, and they’re reading us the general idea for Money in the Bank in Titan Towers. And we’re like, all right, and then Asuka climbs and wins. But they had told me, ‘Oh, you’re gonna win Money in the Bank.’ And then so my newly called up NXT fresh meat is going, ‘Oh my god, they’ve lost faith in me. They hate me. They don’t want me to be in this. They’re taking me out of the thing. I don’t know, this is so bad.’ So I’m just beating myself up. And then it was totally kayfabe to the locker room, and everyone, Becky comes out and announces this whole thing about being pregnant, the winner of the Money in the Bank won the title. And I was like, ‘You guys couldn’t have told me, because I’ve been thinking this whole time that I’m the worst and you guys hate me. But you couldn’t have been like, ‘Hey, it’s not you. We can’t tell you why. You’ll find out.” You were like, ‘And then you’re gonna win Money in the Bank.’ Come on, guys. So like, you have no idea I was beating myself up, like, oh crap, it’s the end of my career.” 

Did that match with Becky Lynch still feel like WrestleMania?

“So I remember pulling up to the PC that day for my WrestleMania match, and sitting in my car, I parked outside, and sitting in my car and being kind of down. This is my Wrestlemania match. I have three nieces and a set of twins and then an older one. And at the time, they were five and seven years old, and the twins, five-year-olds, were still at a stage where they believed wrestling. They watched me fight, so I don’t know that they knew that it was any different at that time. I had gotten them all tickets, and they were going to come and sit in the friends and family section at freaking WrestleMania. They love wrestling. They believe it. I’m going to have a title match at WrestleMania. They were going to be there and see this. Anybody that’s seen WrestleMania, could you imagine being five and being a super fan and your aunt that you think is a hero is wrestling, and you’re gonna see this huge thing. And then they couldn’t. I remember being pretty down about that. I am proud of the match that we had. I wish I could have that match with Becky in front of a WrestleMania crowd, because energy changes everything. And definitely the energy, WrestleMania, it definitely would have changed stuff. But I do feel a sort of pride in the fact that we did that, because it was at a time when nothing else was going on in the world. There was no sports, even TV stopped shooting stuff for a while.”

Is that your WrestleMania moment?

“I’ll be honest, I think the tag match I had, me and Nia against Tamina and Nattie. I know it wasn’t like super feature, big time main event title match like Becky was meant to be, but it was emotional for all of us, because it was like the first time back in front of an audience, even though it was only what, like, it’s like 50, 25% maybe.”

Did you sell Ronda Rousey on WWE?

“Ronda has said in interviews that she saw me pro-wrestle. She watched me fall out of love with MMA, pro wrestle, be happy, love it, and therefore fall back in love with MMA. I’ve heard her say that she saw that in me, and it made her want to try it. I was the one that reserved the TV in the house. We were all living together, and I was gonna watch Raw and SmackDown, and we’re gonna watch all the pay-per-views. And at the end of a hard training day, you guys were doing two a days fight practice, you don’t want to move. So Ronda would just park herself on the couch, and then I would turn wrestling on, and she got sucked in. And yeah. Not saying Ronda wouldn’t have done wrestling if it wasn’t for me.”

Did you know that match at SummerSlam was going to be Ronda’s last?

“So I knew, because I’m very close with her. That was the last date on her contract, because she had planned to have another baby, and that was the plan. I mean, Ronda loves nothing more now than being a mom, and so I knew for a while, for so long we wanted to start that story. I think if we would have had longer, I think that would have benefited us a lot, because I think we did a great job with the time that we had. But we were begging for this tag team to start, because we knew it started with us being this tag team. Starts with us being this tag team. And I think, to my understanding, Vince, it might not be true, but somebody had told me that he didn’t believe that the crowd knew that Ronda and I were friends. So if you go back and watch me, and Ronda tried to create these moments for crowd reactions, so that he could see that people know, like when she showed up as a surprise in the Rumble, and then I came out at number 30 that year, I did my thing, cleaned house, and then it was me and her, and it was just me and her and the crowd [cheered]. Then, you know, Charlotte came and took it away. We were like, Oh, for sure, he’s got to know now. Then we had another one where we had a tag match, but we were on opposing teams, and we were like, All right, we’re not going to touch because we don’t want to give that away, but let’s have this moment. And the crowd came for that as well. We’re like, God, he’s got to know. I think I was just in a different place at the time. She was like, top of the card, Ronda Rousey, and I was doing my own thing on the mid-card at the time. So I don’t think he saw our paths crossing, really, but we were begging for it like forever to start this, like, that’s the reason Ronda started wrestling, I think, is we want to do this fun story. But it didn’t work out that way. And like I said, I think we did a good job with the time that we did have.”

Do you think Ronda is done?

“I never think Ronda is done. She’s a crazy person. I don’t know. She loves being a mom. It would take a bit, but CM Punk came back. Ronda Rousey can come back.”

What is Shayna Baszler grateful for?

“My family and loved ones, the opportunities WWE has given me, and that my parents instilled in me that you work hard, stuff will happen.”

Please support our sponsors!
PURE PLANK: The future of core fitness! Use the code CVV to save 10% on Pure Plank designed by Adam Copeland & Christian: https://gopureplank.com/?ref=tibcloux
FACTOR: Get 50% off your first box, plus Free Breakfast for 1 Year with the code INSIGHT50OFF at https://factormeals.com/INSIGHT50OFF

STASH: Go to https://get.stash.com/INSIGHT to see how you can receive $25 towards your first stock purchase and to view important disclosures
SEAT GEEK: Use my code for 10% off your next SeatGeek order*: https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/CVV2025 Sponsored by SeatGeek. *Restrictions apply. Max $20 discount
NORDVPN: Exclusive deal! https://nordvpn.com/cvv Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!

FACTOR: Use code INSIGHT50OFF at https://factormeals.com/INSIGHT50OFF to get 50% off your first box, plus Free Breakfast for 1 Year!

GLD: New customers get 50% Off with code INSIGHT at https://GLD.com

PRIZEPICKS: Download the app today and use code INSIGHT to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup!

TIMELINE: Go to https://timeline.com/insight to get 10% off your order of Mitopure!

VUORI: Get 20% off your first purchase! Get yourself some of the most comfortable and versatile clothing on the planet at https://vuori.com/cvv

ROCKET MONEY: Join Rocket Money today and reach your financial goals faster: https://rocketmoney.com/cvv

MIRACLE MADE: Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to https://trymiracle.com/CVVand use the code CVV to claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF

ZOCDOC: Instantly book a top-rated doctor today at https://zocdoc.com/insight

BONCHARGE: Use the code CVV to save 15% off your infrared sauna blanket at https://boncharge.com/cvv

BLUECHEW: Get your first month of BlueChew for free with the code CVV at https://bluechew.com