It’s been over half a year since Shayna Baszler was released from WWE, ending a multi-year run with the company.
For many, a WWE departure could slow down their day-to-day life. For Baszler, she it feels like it made things even busier for her.
The 45-year-old ex-WWE talent is currently taking indie bookings while also serving in a “guest coaching” role for NXT, working backstage on the Tuesday night brand’s programming.
Baszler started working backstage on NXT near the end of her stint as a WWE talent. Then, after she was notified of her release earlier this year, she was told the door remained open for that role.
“When I call about being released, I also got a call that was like ‘You know, take some time, but if you’re still interested in keeping on doing that [coaching], we’re open to that idea,'” Baszler told Chris Van Vilet in a recent interview.
Baszler is not signed to any official backstage role with WWE, but said she is hoping something more could eventually come out of the partnership.
“I’m not, like, officially hired, but I have a good relationship with them,” she said. “I’m officially guest coaching when I can or when the opportunity comes.”
Baszler has worked a few matches on the indies in the second half of this year, making appearances in notable spots like House of Glory and Prestige.
When asked if she sees a future as an in-ring performer for WWE, Baszler left the door open for the opportunity.
“Never say never in this business. I mean, weirder things have happened, right? If I get over with something crazy on the indies and get an offer. I don’t know, it’s a strange question because I don’t know that I’m ever going to be someone that’s like ‘Yeah, I’m ready to be done.’ I just feel like I can go.”
A little later in the conversation, Baszler started to reflect on her mileage as a performer and how that has changed the way she looks at her work currently.
“I want to knee-jerk and say ‘I’m 45,’ but it’s not even my age, it’s the miles,” Baszler said. “I had 20 years of MMA, I had over 10 years total of pro wrestling. It’s just about a quality-of-life thing for my body, maybe. I have found that, on the indies right now, and things change a lot with how I feel, but right now I don’t have that same indie hustle in me that I had before. I don’t want to lug a checked bag of t-shirts like Cardona. That dude has hustle, he makes money, and he works. There’s people like that on the indies, and I’m like, man, I just want to wrestle.”
She continued:
“The wrestling I’m doing now is less about ‘Let’s see what I can do and get as far as I can go,’ it’s more like, I guess to kind of like wet that creative appetite in me. I really feel this sort of responsibility to pass on what I have to give and keep alive this shoot-style catch wrestling. This is not something you see especially out of the women, and I think that I’m finding that I have more concern for wanting to carry this banner than it is, ‘I’m going to make all this money.'”
