Shotzi Blackheart On WWE Letting Her Keep Her Name & Gimmick

Shotzi Blackheart recently spoke with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated to promote this week's WWE NXT episode on the USA Network, which will see Blackheart and Tegan Nox challenge Sasha Banks and SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley for their WWE Women's Tag Team Titles.

Blackheart was asked how she plans to show the wrestling world what she's capable of tomorrow night. She said she likes to go into her matches "balls to the wall" and this will be no different.

"I like to go into a match balls to the wall, so that's what I'm going to do. I like taking risks. I like to sling my body everywhere and just run wild," she said.

This will be Blackheart's biggest match since she came to NXT. She was asked about her reaction to getting in the ring with stars like Banks and Bayley, who shares a hometown with her.

"The first thing in my mind were the amazing matches that Bayley and Sasha put on together against each other," Shotzi said. "They broke ground for women's wrestling at [the first Brooklyn] TakeOver. I've always been a big fan of theirs. Bayley is from San Jose and I was born in San Jose. It's all just really cool and really insane to me that this is happening."

Blackheart also commented on how she will ensure that people watching tomorrow night will feel her work.

"I'm very aware that this is the biggest match of my life so far, and it's against two amazing women that give it their all in the ring," she said. "There's going to be a lot of chemistry, and I'm just excited to get in there with two girls that are just as passionate as I am."

Shotzi made her debut on the indies back in 2015 and was signed by WWE in 2019 after NXT General Manager William Regal offered her a contract at EVOLVE 137 on October 11. Blackheart could've signed with a few different promotions but she said there's no where else she'd rather be. She was asked why NXT was the right fit for her.

"It was always my dream to come to WWE," Blackheart said. "I didn't really know about the indies or anything else, I just slowly fell in love with it. I love working here, I love the environment, the people I'm surrounded by, and how much I'm pushed. There is nowhere I'd rather be."

WWE let Blackheart keep her name and gimmick that she used on the indies. She was asked if there was ever a possibility that she was going to have to change her name and no longer be Shotzi Blackheart. She said she had a feeling that WWE wasn't going to re-brand her because her character is that good.

"Deep down, within me, I had a feeling they weren't going to rebrand me," Blackheart said. "I feel like, you just can't. I'm just too loud. You can't contain me too much.

"I did get told by a lot of people, 'Oh man, you're going to have to change your name, you're going to have to change your gimmick. You won't be able to do this or do that.' So it was great to come here and learn that everyone was on-board with what I already had going on. I'd already done it on the indies, and it was working, so why mess with it?"