Shotzi On Returning To NXT: ‘It’s Just Like Being Home’

“NXT feels so familiar, it’s just like being home.”

Night Two of NXT’s Halloween Havoc takes place this evening.

Cohosted by Shotzi and Scarlett, last week saw a phenomenal main event where Lyra Valkyria defeated Becky Lynch to become the new NXT women’s champion–as well as some outstanding costumes from Shotzi, especially as Pinhead from Hellraiser.

“I didn’t even sleep last Monday night because I was meticulously putting my costume together,” said Shotzi. “That was insanity, I was so stressed.”

Courtesy WWE

While Shotzi is spending Halloween wrestling on WWE’s UK tour in Glasgow, it is only fitting that she is able to embrace her love of all things supernatural–and reappear on tonight’s show.

“I’ll find a way,” said Shotzi. “Halloween means so much to me, I couldn’t miss it. I’ve always been drawn to the spookier side of things. I’ve always loved horror movies, and I think I inherited that from my dad. I love this too much not to be involved.”

Shotzi’s work is so appealing because of its authenticity. Her love of horror bleeds into wrestling and her persona–the howling was inspired by Wolfman, and her signature green hair was inspired by Creature from the Black Lagoon.

The first horror movie she ever saw was Puppet Master, a frightening film for people of any age–particularly children.

“I was real young when I watched it, and it scared the bejeebers out of me,” said Shotzi. “I didn’t fully understand what was happening, but I was terrified of all my toys afterward.”

Shotzi is no longer sporting her long green hair. Bayley shaved it off, further escalating their rivalry, but there was a more significant reason behind the scenes why it actually took place.

“My baby sister was going through chemotherapy,” said Shotzi. “She shaved her hair off as soon as it started thinning out.”

Shotzi immediately messaged WWE Head of Creative Paul ‘Triple H” Levesque, emphasizing the importance of standing in solidarity with her sister.

“I asked Hunter if could make this work in a story instead of me just showing up one day with no hair,” said Shotzi. “And yeah, he made it work for me. My sister is my best friend, so I had to be there for her. She’s good now, and we’re growing our hair back together.”

In addition to her wrestling, another priority has been the Chamber of Horrors show she cohosts with Scarlett. The finale of the seven-episode season just aired, and it has been a thrill to experience some of the most haunted places–like the famed Lizzie Borden House–in existence.

“Last week’s episode was the scariest episode we’ve ever done,” said Shotzi. “This week’s is terrifying, too. You have to watch to believe it. Weird stuff happens.”

The opportunity to film Chamber of Horrors further strengthened her friendship with Scarlett, as the two share a lot in common–primarily an affinity for horror.

“People look at Scarlett and think she wouldn’t be into the horror and the spookier side of things and the paranormal, but she is,” said Shotzi. “We were the only two in our group the day we started at NXT. We kind of just started traveling together after that, and I found out she was into horror movies. The friendship started from there, and now we’re hunting for ghosts all over America.”

Courtesy WWE

Shotzi was honored to return to NXT last week. Her work on the main roster keeps her away more than she would like, but she is thrilled to reappear in NXT as often as possible.

“The only way I can describe it is coming home,” said Shotzi. “NXT feels so familiar, it’s just like being home.”