Tonight’s episode of NXT includes several anticipated match-ups, but only one would bring the Women’s Tag Team Championships to the black and gold brand. It falls on Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox to make it happen, as they are set to take on current Women’s Tag Team Champions Bayley and Sasha Banks, who retained their titles at Backlash against Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross and The IIconics. ComicBook.com recently had the chance to talk to Blackheart about the big-time matchup and the possibility of bringing the titles to NXT, and while there were three different possible scenarios heading into Backlash, she is glad that Bayley and Sasha are the team her and Nox are facing off against.
“I’ve been a big Sasha and Bayley fan for a really long time, especially since Bailey is from San Jose and I was born in San Jose,” Blackheart said. “So yes, I was really pushing for them to retain.”
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It would mean quite a bit to not only take down Sasha and Bayley in a match but to also be the ones who brought the Tag Team Championships to NXT, so the stakes are high. Bayley and Sasha are also known for playing a little dirty, but Blackheart has some tricks up her sleeve too.
“I have a lot of pride for NXT, so I think that’s like added pressure for me because I really want to bring those titles to the NXT brand, black and gold all the way. But you know what? I have to say that I like bad guy Bayley, and I can be sneaky too, so I might know what she’s about to do.”
Blackheart and Nox have already notched a win as a tag team duo, though they aren’t necessarily an official tag team. That said, Blackheart loves working with Nox, so she’s just kind of going with the flow.
“It kind of just organically happened,” Blackheart said. “I think we were getting picked on by the same people, and I decided like, “Yo, Raquel and Dakota, you messed with me and now you’re messing with this cool chick, and I’m not having it anymore. Obviously, if we win, we’ve got to start strategizing more, training together and making this a possibility. I love working with Tegan. She brings a lot of energy into the ring, and she’s just so much fun to be around, and we do already have this chemistry between us, and I think that we work really well together. So yeah, I would definitely love to still team with her, even if it doesn’t come out in our favor tonight.
Now, every tag team needs a catchy name, and after Blackheart’s suggestion of The Lady Wizard Dads, it’s going to be hard for anything else to live up to that fantastic title. It’s not official yet, but it totally could be.
“It’s not the official name,” Blackheart said with a laugh. “Me and Tegan haven’t really discussed that, but that’s just what I’m flowing with. I think it sounds really great. So I mean, if you like it, I like it. Maybe I should try and push for it a little more.”
We love it, so we are definitely team Lady Wizard Dads.
We also had to ask about Blackheart being part of the crowd at SmackDown and other shows, as she can always be seen dancing, cheering, and even doing impromptu squats.
“So, I think it’s a lot of fun, because I mean, I was a wrestling fan before becoming a wrestler,” Blackheart said “So, I love dancing to Asuka’s music, and I love The New Day and just watching wrestling and hanging out. I’ve been cooped up at home, and it’s kind of nice to watch some live wrestling and dance.” As for the squats, Blackheart likes to multitask when she can, so why not get a mini workout in. “Oh, yeah. You know what? That’s just me being like, ‘well, I got to get here really early, so I don’t have time to get a workout in.’ So I was like, ‘Well, might as well get a thousand squats in during this taping.’”
Blackheart recently got her first WWE shirt, and the design itself is pretty slick, but if you grab one during the first month the proceeds will go towards helping The Trevor Project, a project close her heart.
“The shirt kind of came as a surprise to me,” Blackheart said. “I wasn’t even told that it came. I already had approved the design, and I was just kind of waiting for it to come out. Then I got a tweet from a fan saying that, ‘Oh, look, Shotzi’s shirt is up.’ I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh. Yay. It’s finally up there,’ and I immediately knew that I wanted the first month to go to charity. I knew instantly that I wanted to help the Trevor Project, especially with it being Pride month. So all month long, all my proceeds from my shirt will go to The Trevor Project, and that hits home for me just because I had a rough childhood, and I dealt with a lot of depression as a kid, and I would like to hope that in some sort of small way I could help a kid that was in my shoes.”
Blackheart has already become a favorite on NXT and seeing the moment where she got her NXT contract will probably make you love her even more. It’s incredibly genuine, and we wanted to know what was going through her mind at that surreal moment.
“I was just thinking that all my hard work on the Indies have primarily paid off, and it was just really emotional to me because I was busting my butt on the Indies and wrestling like five times a week and just really trying to get my name out there,” Blackheart said. “It was finally that recognition that like all those hours you didn’t sleep and all those times you slept in the airport and drove all those hours. Like it’s all worth it now. This is it. You’ve made it kid.”
You can root for Blackheart and Nox on tonight’s episode of NXT, which hits USA Network every Wednesday at 8 PM EST. You can also check out live commentary from yours truly on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
