Shayna Baszler has nothing but praise for her former tag team partner.
In August 2020, Shayna Baszler formed an unlikely on-screen partnership with Nia Jax. They wasted no time rising to the top of the division, capturing the Women's Tag Titles that same month from Bayley and Sasha Banks. They would remain a team for just over a year, holding the Tag Titles twice during that time. Baszler and Jax split up near the end of September and on November 4, Nia was released from her WWE contract.
Speaking with Alistair McGeorge of Metro.co.uk, Baszler said that Nia really helped her find her footing as a main roster Superstar and as a tag team competitor.
"As experienced as I am in one-on-one combat, she was far more experienced in being on Raw and SmackDown. So she would really help me, “You might wanna try this instead”. She helped me find my footing for sure," she said.
She added that their relationship was one born out of proximity and her not knowing anyone else at the time. Baszler had only been called up to the main roster in February.
"When I came up, I didn’t know anybody so for a while she was the only one I was hanging out with just ’cause we were kind of forced to have this sort of relationship together."
Shayna concluded by saying that the best thing the team did was allow her to show a different side of herself. People can say what they want about how they were booked, but she's more comfortable as a performer now because of it and she believes it shows in her work.
"I think that’s one of the best things that my tag team did, was show a completely different side to me," she explained. "I was still trying to be comfortable and find my footing and get in the groove.
Getting in this tag team and showing this side of me really helped me be comfortable. Now, if you look at my singles run when I first got called up, as compared to my singles run now, I think you can see there’s definitely a difference in comfort level and just how I carry myself in the ring."
Baszler is currently featured on WWE SmackDown and has formed an alliance with Sonya Deville who has been feuding with Naomi.
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