Shayna Baszler Reflects On Her NXT Women’s Title Win, And Discusses Ronda Rousey’s In-Ring Debut At WrestleMania

Shayna has proven herself.

After departing from the UFC, Shayna Baszler jumped into the professional wrestling world which is something that she has stated on numerous occasions that she has always had great interest in. Shayna got her first taste of the business when she accompanied Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish to the ring at Ring Of Honor's 13th Anniversary show. Fast forward two years later and Shayna was in the finals of the inaugural Mae Young Classic tournament and although she fell short, nine months later she would be competing at NXT TakeOver: New Orleans for the NXT Women's Championship where she submitted Ember Moon to become the new face of NXT's women's division and the new NXT Women's Champion.

Baszler joined Dave LaGreca & Bully Ray on Busted Open Radio and the crew asked "The Queen of Spades" to reflect on that April 7th night where she obtained the NXT Women's Title.

“Man, its all the affirmation you need." She said. "Its funny because fans don’t see the hours you put in the gym and the extra work you do and who’s there last and who’s there first everyday you know, and winning the title is all the affirmation you need that it’s being noticed, your work is paying off. Beyond everything, it's… I don’t even know what the word is… it's gratifying to know that all that work you’ve put in… and it goes back before all over the years. Everything adds up and it's appreciated and noticed and, you know.”

The following day after her championship victory Shayna made her way to the Mercedes Benz-Superdome to watch her longtime friend Ronda Rousey make her pro wrestling debut on the "Grandest Stage Of Them All". "Rowdy" Ronda shocked the world in a match that had the wrestling world buzzing and some even dubbing the match as one of the best that took place on the entire WrestleMania 34 card. Shayna went on to explain what it was like watching Ronda Rousey perform at such a high level.

“If you can imagine seeing something, lets take something completed unrelated like you see someone play the guitar, and you’re like, ‘Awesome, I think I want to play the guitar’. If someone said to you, ‘Yeah, you can play the guitar, but you’re very first concert is going to have to be in front of… in this huge stadium at this huge show. That’s gonna be your first time ever.’ How many people would sign up for that?" She explained. "I think its pretty ballsy what she did. To have her first… like yeah, ‘I love this wrestling stuff’, but okay you’re Ronda so your first match is going to have to be at the biggest event in the entire industry, ‘is that cool’? And for her to just go, ‘yep’, and then get in the gym everyday and work to get there and the results showed, that’s crazy.”

If you are going to use any of the quotes above, please credit Busted Open Radio with an H/T to Fightful.com for the transcriptions.