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WWE's Shotzi Reveals Impact Bray Wyatt Had on Her Career, Meaning Behind Shaved Head
The former NXT Women's Champion talks Bray Wyatt's legacy and tells the WWE Universe why she shaved her head.
We won't mince words: 2023 has been a tough year for Shotzi.
The WWE Superstar has not only been up against stiff competition on the main roster after enjoying massive success in NXT, but Shotzi has been dealing with emotional issues outside the ring since the summer. As it turns out, the untimely death of Windham Rotunda, combined with Shotzi's sister being diagnosed with an unexpected illness, made life infinitely more challenging for the 31-year-old Superstar. Now, she's opening up about what's been going on.
Shotzi Credits Bray Wyatt For Influencing Her WWE Career
Speaking with WrestlingNewsCo during their October 24 YouTube show, Shotzi revealed the true meaning of her Bray Wyatt tattoo. As we reported earlier this year, several WWE Superstars honored Windham Rotunda by getting Bray Wyatt tattoos. Shotzi joined Corey Graves, Braun Strowman, and Karrion Kross in memorializing Windham, who tragically died on August 24, 2023, at the age of 36. As it turns out, she credits the late Windham Rotunda as the reason she wanted to become a WWE Superstar!
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"I kind of credit me getting into wrestling because of him, like actually starting to wrestle, because I had just dropped out of musical theater college and I wanted to find an outlet for performing and I started watching WWE again," she confessed. "The first crew that I noticed was the Wyatt Family. Me and my sister thought that they were just so cool and we wanted to be the female version of them, and then the rest is history. After watching them, I signed up for wrestling school like a week later and just started taking my first bumps. So I definitely credit Bray Wyatt for turning me into a wrestler."
It's clear that Rotunda's death will have a lasting impact on the world of professional wrestling, but the WWE Universe should be happy to know that the man behind "The Fiend" character touched countless lives inside and outside of the ring. As we've said before – there will be nobody like Bray Wyatt ever again, and the WWE Universe and WWE locker room was lucky to be in his presence.
Why did Shotzi Shave Her Head?
During her interview, Shotzi shifted gears to bring attention to one SmackDown moment that took place in late June 2023. Fans were stunned when Bayley and Damage Ctrl cut off pieces of Shotzi's iconic green hair during a particularly chaotic backstage segment. However, Shotzi took things a step further after SmackDown went off the air, throwing the WWE Universe rightfully for a loop:
Months removed from shaving her head in an act of defiance against Bayley, Shotzi revealed the heartwarming real-life reason for doing so.
"My sister was going through chemotherapy and she started losing her hair," Shotzi explained. "And she told me that, you know, she didn't want to wait for it to all fall out, she was just going to shave it off."
Of course, she couldn't show solidarity with her sister without getting approval from the higher-ups in WWE. So she did what any loving sister would do: Shotzi approached the man in charge and pitched an idea for a storyline.
"So I immediately went to [Triple H] and was like, 'Hey, my sister is going through chemo,'" she recalled. "I said, 'I want to support her, I want to be there for her, and I want to shave my head off, too. Can we make it not weird and make it part of a storyline so I don't just show up one day with no hair?' And he was totally for it."
In addition to honoring her sister, the on-screen head-shaving allowed Shotzi to work closely with Bayley, a WWE Superstar who she has always looked up to during her rise to prominence in recent years.
"I got to work with Bayley with it too, and Bayley has always been a huge role model to me, so to have that moment with her and share this meaningful moment with her was really awesome."
WWE Superstars have gone on the record in the past, citing Bayley as an influence on their wrestling careers; it's a shame that Bayley is currently enjoying an unprecedented run as a villain because we think Shotzi and Bayley could be a tag team for the ages!
Nevertheless, despite her setbacks in 2023, Shotzi's future WWE outlook is strong. As one of the most capable Superstars on the main roster, we believe it's only a matter of time before she captures another championship. We can't wait to see what the future has in store for Shotzi, one of the many up-and-coming Superstars part of the "badass" WWE women's division!
You can tune in to Peacock to watch WWE's Crown Jewel on November 4 and Survivor Series on November 25. In the meantime, catch up on all things WWE Universe on Peacock.
