In the first WWE Premium Live Event to air from the UK since 1992, Shayna Baszler will face WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion, Liv Morgan this Saturday at Clash at the Castle.
Ahead of their match, Baszler was a guest on the Bleav of Pro Wrestling Podcast where she discussed a variety of subjects. Her dominant run in NXT was alluded to when placed in comparison to her initial run on the Main Roster with fans commenting on this version of Baszler being a sign that she is back. Thanks to Fightful for the transcripts of this interview
Catch the clips from the interview below.
“I think the little bit you’ve seen, this is a totally different evolution of Shayna Baszler, so it took me a second to get my footing on Raw, and I think that’s not a big secret. Millions can see that, you can log into Peacock and watch all of that. But I think, being in the tag division, I know it’s not my thing, like my bread and butter’s the singles stuff, but I think it helped me kinda find my footing. Now, that gauntlet match that night, it’s like, you know what, like it’s go time. Let’s go. Now you see, here I am. But keep watching. Definitely, I’m more comfortable like being where I’m at than I was before, but rather looking at it like Shayna’s back, it’s like, ‘What is Shayna becoming?’” – Baszler
In her time on the Main Roster, Baszler was predominantly in the tag team division with Nia Jax and more recently, Natalya, but her run in NXT saw her a dominant force all on her own.
“I don’t know if I ever really thought the long game timeline in that sense. I’m always very hyper focused on what I’m doing. So I’m, okay, we make this agreement, I’m in the tag division, we’re gonna rule the tag division right now. Obviously, the dream for anybody that gets into this business is win the title on a big show and have your moment. So it just so happens, there’s been, I don’t even think it’s as far back as 2020, but real recently, there’s been this, I don’t know, what am I doing right now? Then that gauntlet came about and it was like okay. It was like the perfect time of like, this change is about, change is in the air, this whole thing happens, and there’s a gauntlet match, and the women open SummerSlam and all this crazy stuff happened. Then like I think that very next Raw, the women were all over the show. I think they had like three matches and it was like okay, now’s the time to really get your poop in a group and get some stuff done. So yeah, regardless of how long it took, it’s happening now, and I’m not gonna waste it.”
And as is such a hot topic in the wrestling world at the moment, Triple H’s new position within the company is also discussed and Baszler already has a history of working under his creative direction after a lengthy tenure in NXT.
“I know Triple H. I worked under Triple H for a few years, and I just kinda know the way things go. He’s always putting new people into the stuff, and I think some new faces needed to be shown, so I knew it was the right opportunity. So luckily I’ve just stayed ready so when the time came, it worked out,” she said.
In a separate interview with the New York Post, Baszler commented further on Triple H now being in charge.
“It’s exciting for everyone all around, not just talent,”
“Production and crew people. It’s just an overall good energy right now. I think you are seeing girls get more time to tell their stories and do matches. For me, that’s like an answer you won’t hear from a lot of other people. Now I don’t feel rushed [in my matches]. I can go in and take my time and torture Liv as long as I need to.”
Do you think that Baszler will become the SmackDown Women’s Champion on Saturday or will Liv Morgan continue her reign?
