Shotzi Blackheart Opens Up About WWE Denying Her TNA Request

Shotzi Blackheart wanted to work with TNA Wrestling long before officially joining the promotion earlier this month.

During a recent appearance on the Generation of Wrestling podcast, the former WWE Superstar revealed that she attempted to secure permission to wrestle for TNA while still under contract with WWE, but her request was ultimately denied.

Blackheart explained that she had been eager to return to the ring following her recovery from a torn ACL suffered in 2024. She even held discussions with Tommy Dreamer about a potential TNA run, with Dreamer reportedly supportive of the idea.

“I was trying, I was kind of talking to TNA when I was still signed with WWE. When I had just gotten back from my ACL surgery, I was really hungry to get in the ring and I was begging WWE to let me have a run with TNA. I was talking to Tommy Dreamer for a little bit and he was totally down, but for some reason I wasn’t allowed to,” Blackheart said.

Following her WWE departure in May 2025, Blackheart decided against immediately signing another major contract, instead spending time rebuilding her confidence while working on the independent wrestling scene.

“And then when I got released, I needed a second to be on the indies and do me before signing another big contract,” she continued.

“After a year and a half of just doing me and gaining my confidence back, I felt like, ‘Okay, this is time for me to get back on TV, come to TNA on absolute fire with the most confidence and the biggest balls I have ever had in my career.’ So, I’m really coming to TNA fired up.”

Blackheart also discussed the challenges of recovering from her ACL injury, admitting that the mental struggles associated with rehabilitation were often more difficult than the physical demands.

“Yeah, it’s almost more grueling mentally than physically, showing up to PT and doing the workouts that you’re told to do is the easy part, right? But the mental part of the pain and the struggle to walk and the struggle of knowing whether or not you’re going to be able to come back to doing the thing that you love is so so hard.”

She credited her friends, support system and several personal interests with helping her through the recovery process.

“Getting past that mental point is so difficult. But I just tried to stay focused on the physical and hang out with friends as much as possible, finding my support system and seeking out nature and writing a ton. I did a lot of writing while I was recovering from my ACL surgery and just reconnecting with all the things that you love.”

Blackheart originally suffered the injury during an NXT match against Lyra Valkyria. After leaving WWE in May 2025, she made appearances for promotions including GCW, MLW and Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling before officially signing with TNA earlier this month.

Now back on television with TNA, Blackheart has made it clear that capturing championship gold is among her primary goals.