Baszler was trained in
mixed martial arts (MMA) by former
UFC fighter
Josh Barnett and in
catch wrestling by
Billy Robinson. She had her first professional MMA fight in 2006 and later gained recognition for her skills as a submission grappler. Baszler was signed by the UFC in 2013 for the reality television series The Ultimate Fighter – she would go on to have two professional bouts (0-2) in the company. In 2015, she was cut from the UFC and started her
professional wrestling career that same year, being trained by Barnett again.
Martial arts background and persona
Baszler, a khun kru (teacher)[6] in
Muay Thai and a
Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, wanted to begin incorporating Josh Barnett's catch wrestling style into her MMA training. This proved to be somewhat difficult because she could not train with Barnett in
Southern California, so Barnett wrote a syllabus and filmed a video to teach her the step-by-step techniques and concepts of catch wrestling and give her tips on how to improve her verbal skills.[11]
Barnett suggested that Baszler carry an electric guitar to the cage to show that she was outspoken. Baszler reluctantly agreed, and the guitar became a signature of her rockstar-like persona. Later, Barnett gave Baszler "The Queen of Spades" nickname due to her ability to perform card tricks – the card magic nickname also gives a nod to her "
submission magic." Baszler refers to her fans as the "Queen's Army."[11]
Mixed martial arts career
Early career (2006–2007)
Baszler faced Amanda Buckner at MFC: USA vs. Russia 3 on June 3, 2006. She lost the fight by TKO in the third round.[12]
She faced Samantha Gavere at NFF: The Breakout on March 10, 2007. She won the fight by kimura submission in the first round.[13]
Elite XC and Strikeforce (2007–2010)
Baszler debuted for
EliteXC at a
ShoXC event on July 27, 2007. She submitted veteran
Jan Finney with a first-round armbar and repeated the feat three months later against
Jennifer Tate. After defeating
Keiko Tamai with an impressive Twister submission at a third ShoXC event, Baszler moved up to the main EliteXC cards.
Baszler entered the Freestyle Cage Fighting Women's Bantamweight Grand Prix at FCF 39 on January 30, 2010, in Shawnee, Oklahoma. She submitted
Megumi Yabushita with a twister submission in the first round of their quarterfinal bout. It was the second time that Baszler had won an MMA fight with the unique submission.[17] Baszler faced late replacement
Alexis Davis in the second round of the FCF tournament at FCF 40 on March 27, 2010. She defeated Davis by unanimous decision.[18] Baszler was scheduled to face
Jan Finney in the tournament final at FCF 43 on June 12, 2010.[18] However, Finney withdrew in order to compete in Strikeforce and Baszler faced Adrienna Jenkins instead.[19] Baszler defeated Jenkins by first-round armbar to become FCF Women's Bantamweight Grand Prix Champion.[20]
On November 19, 2010, Baszler faced
Elaina Maxwell at The Cage Inc.: Battle at the Border 7. Baszler defeated Maxwell by submission due to a kneebar in the first round to become the first TCI Women's 140 lbs Champion.[21]
Baszler was scheduled to defend her TCI title in a rematch with
Alexis Davis at The Cage Inc.: Battle at the Border 10 on July 30, 2011.[22] However, the fight was canceled after Davis signed with
Strikeforce.[23]
Baszler agreed to face Kelly Kobold in a rematch at Cage Fighting Xtreme: Spring Brawl on April 21, 2012.[24] However, it was announced on March 16 that the event had been canceled.[25]
On February 25, 2017, Baszler was defeated by
Reina Miura at
Deep Jewels 15.[26] This marked Baszler's last MMA fight.
Invicta Fighting Championships (2012–2013)
On April 28, it was announced that Baszler would face
Sara McMann in the main event of
Invicta FC 2: Baszler vs. McMann. The event took place on July 28, 2012.[27] In a back-and-forth affair, Baszler lost the fight in what was considered to be a controversial unanimous decision. The bout was named Invicta's Fight of the Night.[28][29]
Baszler faced
Alexis Davis in a rematch at
Invicta FC 4: Esparza vs. Hyatt on January 5, 2013.[32] She was defeated via technical submission due to a rear naked choke in round three.[33][34] The bout was named Invicta's Fight of the Night.[35]
Ultimate Fighting Championship (2013–2015)
The Ultimate Fighter
In August 2013, it was announced that Baszler was one of the fighters selected to be on
The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rousey vs. Team Tate.[36] In her fight to get into the TUF house, Baszler faced
Colleen Schneider and won via an armbar submission in the first round. Baszler was then selected by
Ronda Rousey as the first team pick and the first fight of the season against
Julianna Peña. Baszler lost to Peña after tapping out due to a rear naked choke in the second round.[37]
For her promotional debut, Baszler faced
Bethe Correia on August 30, 2014, at
UFC 177.[40] She lost the fight via TKO in the second round.
Baszler faced
Amanda Nunes on March 21, 2015, at
UFC Fight Night 62.[41] She lost the fight via TKO in the first round after taking multiple leg kicks. After going 0–2 with the promotion, Baszler was released from the organization and went on to pursue a professional wrestling career.[42]
Professional wrestling career
Independent circuit (2015–2017)
On March 1, 2015, at
Ring of Honor's
13th Anniversary Show, Baszler accompanied
reDRagon to the ring for their
ROH World Tag Team Championship defense. After they won, she helped cut a celebratory promo, where they described her addition to the team as "[finding] our
Ringo".[43] After training under
Josh Barnett, Baszler made her professional wrestling debut on September 26, 2015, losing to
Cheerleader Melissa for Quintessential Pro Wrestling (QPG) in Reno, Nevada.[44] Baszler was attacked by
Nicole Matthews after the match, setting up a future match between them. On October 30, Baszler defeated Matthews in their first match against each other,[45] but lost in their second meeting, a KO or submission only match in January 2016, won by Matthews via KO in just over 9 minutes.[46] On July 17, Baszler defeated Ruby Raze to become the Premier Women's Champion at Premier XIII.[47]
Baszler debuted for Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW) in April 2016, losing to
Mia Yim. She returned to the promotion in June, defeating
Veda Scott, and then again the following month, defeating Annie Social.[48] On September 9, she defeated
Heidi Lovelace to become the AIW Women's Champion.[49] She made her first successful defense against
Britt Baker on November 5,[50] and again retained the championship against Ray Lyn and Ayzali in a three-way match for Rise Wrestling on November 10.[51] She once again retained the championship against Lovelace in a rematch on November 25.[52]
In June 2016, Baszler made her debut for
Shimmer Women Athletes at Volume 81,[53] defeating Rhia O'Reilly.[54] She defeated Solo Darling at volume 82,[55] and at volume 83, she unsuccessfully challenged Nicole Savoy for the Heart Of Shimmer Championship.[56] She once again defeated Mia Yim at Volume 85.[57] She returned in November, teaming with
Mercedes Martinez in a loss to The Aussie Squad (
Kellie Skater and
Shazza McKenzie) at volume 86.[58] At Volume 87, she faced
Kay Lee Ray, Heidi Lovelace and
Vanessa Kraven in a fatal four-way match, won by Kraven.[59] At Volume 88, she lost to Shazza McKenzie by disqualification.[60] At Volume 89, she once again lost to McKenzie in a no disqualification match.[61] At Volume 90, she once again defeated Heidi Lovelace.[62]
World Wonder Ring Stardom (2015, 2017)
In October 2015, Baszler worked two events for Japanese promotion
World Wonder Ring Stardom, during their American tour in
Covina, California,[63] first teaming with Brittany Wonder and Datura in a loss to
Oedo Tai (
Act Yasukawa,
Kris Wolf and
Kyoko Kimura),[64] and unsuccessfully challenging Cheerleader Melissa for the GRPW Lady Luck Championship two days later.[65] She returned to the promotion in January 2017, this time touring Japan. She made her debut on January 3, teaming with
Jungle Kyona and
Mayu Iwatani to defeat
Kagetsu, Kyoko Kimura and
Sumie Sakai.[66] The following day, she teamed with
Nixon Newell and Kay Lee Ray to defeat Iwatani,
Kairi Hojo and
Konami.[67] The following day, she faced Himomi Mimura and
Viper in a triple threat match won by Viper.[68] On January 15, she took part in another triple threat match, this time defeating Momo Watanabe and Jungle Kyona.[69] On January 29, she teamed with
Deonna Purrazzo and Christi Jaynes to defeat Kagetsu, Kris Wolf and Viper.[70] On February 23, Baszler unsuccessfully challenged
Io Shirai for the
World of Stardom Championship.[71]
Baszler made her
NXT debut at a
house show on August 10, 2017, where she teamed with
The Iconic Duo (
Billie Kay and
Peyton Royce) to face Kairi Sane,
Aliyah, and
Dakota Kai in a losing effort.[75] On August 12, she made her singles debut by defeating Zeda.[76] On October 3, WWE officially announced that Baszler had signed with the company and started training at the
WWE Performance Center.[77]
On the December 6 episode of NXT, a vignette aired teasing Baszler's televised debut.[78] She made her televised debut by attacking Kairi Sane on the December 27 episode of NXT.[79] On the January 10, 2018, episode of NXT, she made her in-ring debut, defeating
Dakota Kai by referee stoppage.[80] Baszler continued to attack Kai until
NXT Women's ChampionEmber Moon made the save, leading to a title match at
NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia on January 27, where Moon defeated Baszler to retain the title, but was attacked by her afterwards.[81] Baszler received another title match against Moon at
NXT TakeOver: New Orleans on April 7, where Baszler defeated Moon by technical submission to win the NXT Women's Championship.[82] She then began a feud with
Nikki Cross, culminating in a title match at
NXT TakeOver: Chicago II on June 16, which Baszler won.[83]
On the November 1 episode of SmackDown, Baszler was the first NXT wrestler to invade the show, when she attacked Nikki Cross,
Sasha Banks, and
SmackDown Women's ChampionBayley; later that night, Baszler joined
Triple H and the rest of the NXT roster as they declared war on both
Raw and
SmackDown, and vowed to win the
Survivor Series brand warfare.[92] At
NXT TakeOver: WarGames on November 23, Baszler and her team lost against
Rhea Ripley and her team in the first ever women's
WarGames match.[93] On the next day at Survivor Series, Baszler won the
triple threat match against
Raw Women's ChampionBecky Lynch and SmackDown Women's Champion
Bayley to win Survivor Series for the NXT brand.[94] On the December 18 episode of NXT, Baszler lost the championship to Ripley, ending her reign at 416 days, making her the sixth longest reigning women's champion after
Sensational Sherri's reign of 441 days.[95] On January 26, 2020, at
Royal Rumble, she would enter the women's
Royal Rumble match at #30 and go on to eliminate 8 contestants, which tied the record for most eliminations in a women's Royal Rumble match, before being the last woman eliminated by
Charlotte Flair, who would win the match.[96] On the January 22 episode of NXT, Baszler defeated
Shotzi Blackheart in what would be her final match in NXT.[97]
Teaming with Nia Jax (2020–2021)
On the February 10 episode of Raw, Baszler made her main roster debut by attacking Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch, biting the back of Lynch's neck furiously.[98][99] At
Elimination Chamber on March 8, Baszler won the
Elimination Chamber match to become the #1 contender for the Raw Women's Championship, while also setting a record by eliminating every other woman.[100] On the first night of
WrestleMania 36 on April 4, Baszler failed to win the title from Lynch after a roll-up pin,[101] with her
push reportedly being cancelled by
Vince McMahon over criticisms about her MMA style, despite other talents such as
Brock Lesnar using the same.[102][103] At
Money in the Bank on May 10, Baszler failed to win the briefcase which contained the Raw Women's Championship instead of the contract,[104] also reportedly due to her push being cancelled.[102][105]
On the May 31 episode of Raw, Baszler began feuding with
Alexa Bliss, claiming that the use of Bliss' "powers" were the reason why Baszler and Jax lost the titles.[111] A match between the two was scheduled for
Hell in a Cell on June 20,[112] which Bliss won.[113] Tensions kept rising between Baszler and Jax, and on the September 20 episode of Raw, their alliance ended when she brutally attacked Jax after their match against each other.[114]
On the October 28 episode of SmackDown, Baszler attacked Natalya in a backstage segment, ending their partnership and aligning with SmackDown Women's Champion and real-life best friend
Ronda Rousey in the process. The following week, with Rousey in her corner, Baszler defeated Natalya. At
Survivor Series WarGames on November 26, Baszler helped Rousey retain her title against
Shotzi. On Night 2 of
WrestleMania 39, Rousey and Baszler won the Women's WrestleMania Showcase fatal four-way tag team match despite Rousey barely being involved in the match.[128] As part of the
2023 WWE Draft, Baszler and Rousey were drafted to the
Rawbrand as a team.[129][130] On the May 29 episode of Raw, Baszler and Rousey won a fatal four-way tag team match for the vacant
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.[131] On the June 23 episode of SmackDown, Baszler and Rousey defeated
Alba Fyre and
Isla Dawn for the
NXT Women's Tag Team Championship to unify the two tag team titles.[132]
On July 1, at
Money In The Bank, Baszler turned on Rousey by attacking her and walking out of the match, turning
face for the first time in her career, allowing
Liv Morgan and
Raquel Rodriguez to take advantage and pinning Rousey to regain the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, ending their reign at 32 days.[133] On the July 3 episode of Raw, Baszler confronted Rousey, frustrated as she had to pay her dues to get to the WWE, while Rousey had her first match at
WrestleMania.[134] This led into a brawl between the two, which ended with Baszler kneeing Rousey in the face.[134] On the July 10 episode of Raw, after Baszlers match versus
Emma, Rousey came out and another brawl broke out. This ended with Baszler barely escaping the ring after receiving an arm bar from Rousey. The following week, after defeating Nikki Cross in a match, Rousey called out Baszler from the skybox, then Baszler challenged Rousey to a fight after calling her out for taking the easy way into WWE while she herself had to work hard to get into WWE, though Rousey refused and instead offered to face Baszler at
SummerSlam in a MMA rules match.[135] Baszler defeated Rousey at SummerSlam, choking her unconscious and winning by technical submission.
Various alliances (2023–present)
On the September 4 episode of Raw, Baszler defeated
Zoey Stark by technical submission after Stark passed out to the Kirifuda Clutch. After the match, Baszler gave praise to Stark's toughness.[136] In the following week, Stark ran out to save Baszler when Baszler was attacked by
Chelsea Green and
Piper Niven after Baszler's match with Green.[137] At
Crown Jewel on November 4, Baszler competed in a
fatal five-way match for the
Women's World Championship against Stark, Jax,
Raquel Rodriguez and defending champion
Rhea Ripley, but failed to win the title.[138] At
Raw: Day 1 on January 1, 2024, Baszler teamed up with Stark for the first time to defeat
Tegan Nox and Natalya to become the number 1 contender for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.[139]
Baszler made her WWE video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K19,[141] and returned for WWE 2K20. She would also appear in WWE 2K22 and WWE 2K23 as well as WWE 2K24.
Baszler was a key spokesperson in the movement to create a South Dakota athletic commission for combat sports. She once delivered a speech that touched opposing Rep.
Steve Hickey, who once labeled MMA as the "child porn" of sports. After visiting Baszler at the Next Edge Academy of Martial Arts, the training place of Baszler, as well as other mixed martial arts fighters and practitioners, Hickey changed his mind about the sport.[144]
Baszler is also a fan of the Warhammer 40,000 franchise and occasionally incorporates the designs of certain
Space Marine chapters into her ring gear.[145][146]
Championships and accomplishments
Mixed martial arts
Freestyle Cage Fighting
FCF Women's Bantamweight Grand Prix Championship (1 time)
^she lost the fight by TKO due to kicks and punches. seems end of the road in the UFC for Bazler Sargent, Robert (January 30, 2015).
"Amanda Nunes vs Shayna Baszler Added To UFC Fight Night 62". mmarising.com.
Archived from the original on February 3, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2015.
^Bell, Brian C. (May 13, 2020).
"What if WWE openly acknowledged LGBTQ identities?". Outsports. Retrieved July 29, 2020. Being able to hear the stories of Baszler, Atlas, Deville, Piper Niven, Mercedes Martinez and any other LGBTQ people WWE houses only helps endear them to the wider WWE audience.