Shotzi made her return to television on the December 10 episode of NXT, saving Gigi Dolin and Tatum Paxley from an attack by Fatal Influence (Jazmyn Nyx, Fallon Henley, & Jacy Jayne).
Shotzi had been sidelined since February 2024 with an ACL injury.
Appearing on Busted Open Radio, Shotzi was asked about her mindset upon suffering the injury and returing.
"It's hard. To really explain my thought process, we have to go back to before my injury. I was having really great matches on live events against Charlotte, Asuka, and Bayley. I had a good showing at War Games. Hunter put me over in the press conference. I felt like I was really getting it going. I wanted to ride that momentum. Even though I was on on the live events and being used regularly on SmackDown, I hit up [Baron] Corbin and I was like, 'I want to get on NXT too.' I've always wanted to be that superstar that was on Raw, SmackDown, the live events, NXT, and helping the generation come up. I really felt like I was on the cusp of being that. Then, the injury comes. When you get an injury, your mind goes to so many different places. 'Is there going to be anything for me when I come back?' You're hopeful that when you sacrifice a limb for a company, you're going to come back and they are going to reward you for fighting through all of that.
"I get cleared like December 5th. At that time, I'm thinking, 'It's December, I'm probably not going to come back until Rumble,' which was two months away. I could not for the life of me, sit at home any longer. I text [Johnny] Russo, 'I'm probably not going to come back to the main roster for a little bit, can I get a run at NXT and find my ring legs back?' He was like, 'Absolutely. We can only have you for two months and then main roster wants you back.' 'Great, that's perfect. Give me a little run, put me with these girls, I want to build up Gigi and Tatum, I really believe in them.' I thought we were killing it. I thought we were super hot and I fell in love with them. I was like, 'Can we go to the main roster together? I have fallen in love with these girls.' I was told, 'You're going to start a storyline with Chelsea [Green],' which I was all for. Chelsea is super great. They bring me into SmackDown, they are rehearsing my entrance on the tron, and then they cut it. Then it was week after week, nothing and nothing. Then, I start to wonder, 'Oh man, my contract is up in a few months, what is going on?' Nobody had answers for me. That's when I was like, 'I'm going to cut this promo and I'm going to get answers by cutting this promo.'"
On May 1st, Shotzi posted a social media promo saying that the Ballsy Badass had evolved and nothing could shake her. It was reported that WWE informed her that her contract would not be renewed.
Fans can find Shotzi's comments on her promo by clicking here.
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