(Exclusive) The Shazztastic Shazza Mckenzie

Earlier this week, myself and Cris from Wrestlebuddy had the pleasure of getting to have a sit down conversation with the one and only Shazza McKenzie.  We had the chance to ask her about what she has been doing during the pandemic, opponents she wishes to to share the ring with one day, how she became a fan as well as a few other topics of interest.  We’ll hit the bullet points here in this article.  Once you check this out, I highly recommend checking out the interview below as Shazza is a joy to listen to.

On becoming a fan:

Shazza credits one of her ex boyfriends for getting her in to wrestling.  She was reluctant at first, “oiled up men in their underwear?  No thank you!’  Eventually she gave in though and once the two of them split, she fully immersed herself in to the wrestling community by watching it non stop, following all the dirt sheet sites and invading the message boards.  Trish Stratus was the talent that grabbed her attention and really made her take notice to the show.  Fans were being ruthless towards her and she just took it with a smile.  Brock Lesnar was also a favorite of hers from his original run.

On getting in to the business:

She started off as a manger for a few shows because thats what she originally wanted to do.  It wasn’t because she didn’t want to wrestle, she just didn’t have the confidence in her ability to take get punched in the face.  After a few training sessions, she realized that wasn’t going to be a problem.  “Oh no, I want to get punched in the face.  That’s real fun.”  

She also talked about how there were not any names(other than Nathan Jones) in the wrestling business that came from Australia that had reached success.  The idea of wrestling was just so she could wrestle with her friends and that was cool for her.  It wouldn’t be until 2012, when Tenille Dashwood got signed to NXT that she realized that their was an opportunity for her to make something more of wrestling and it encouraged her to travel overseas and give it a real go.

On working in the states:

In 2012, she would quit her job and travel to America to train more and start working shows.  She would debut in Shimmer not much longer after that.  It was a real eye opener to her how big wrestling was in the United States and would make the trip over every 6 months to continue working and building up her resume.  She would wrestle for Shine during this time as well.  Later in her career, she would get to wrestle Tenille Dashwood again but this time for NXT which would be a rematch from Tenille’s last match in Australia.  She would later get another match in NXT against Kairi Sane.  

Before the pandemic would hit, she found herself appearing on AEW at the 2019 All Out event as she took part in the Women’s Casino Battle Royale.  It wouldn’t be much longer after that though when the pandemic would hit and travel restrictions would prevent her from being able to continue work with AEW.

On dealing with the pandemic:

She says that the during her lockdown, her confidence has been killed.  Australia currently has a mandatory lockdown which doesn’t allow her to go out and do as much as we are in the states.  She uses the time to watch wrestling live, which is something she hasn’t been able to do in a long time.  She works out with what she has and also creates any kind of content that she is able to.  (go check out her pinned tweet)  She has also been working promo classes and character development.

On talent she wants to work with and unknowns we should know:

Charlotte Flair is her dream opponent.  She considers her to be “super human” and thinks that in 5 years time, we will all look back and realize how truly great she is/was.

She says that she really wants to get back to the states soon so that she can wrestle with Deonna Purrazzo and Serena Deeb.  She got to wrestle Deonna once in a triple threat in Australia before she got signed.  It hasn’t been an option to get a one on one with her, and it’s a match she really wants.  Serena Deeb has never been an option due to Deeb’s retirement.  Now that she is available again, it would be a dream for her to get in the ring with her.

Jessica Troy is a name she thinks is one of the best in the world and that people really need to look up and/or watch out for.  Charlie Evans is another name that she has got to watch over the years and thinks will be a very big name in the future.  They are young and within 5 years, both will be looked at very highly in the wrestling world.

On the Shazztastic Stunner:

With her size, she felt it was necessary to have a move that she would be able to perform on anyone and wanted to incorporate splits with it.  The stunner just seemed like the most natural fit, so she started working on it.  It was originally a move intended to come off the top rope, but would soon realize that should be saved for special occasions since it was not very kind to her hips.

Here is a link to the interview where you can find all this information and more.  Shazza is very friendly and has a great spirit.  She’s definitely worth your time to take a listen to.

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