Shotzi Blackheart | |
---|---|
Shotzi in August 2019 | |
Birth name | Ashley Louise Urbanski[1] |
Born | Santa Clara County, California, U.S. | March 14, 1992
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Joey Ryan's Penis[2] Missy Highasshit Missy Hyasshit[2] Pizza Cat[2] Shotzi Shotzi Blackheart[2] |
Billed height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm)[3] |
Billed weight | 125 lb (57 kg)[3] |
Billed from | Oakland, California The Black Lagoon |
Trained by | WWE Performance Center |
Debut | April 20, 2014 |
Ashley Louise Urbanski (born March 14, 1992) is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Shotzi (shortened from her previous ring name Shotzi Blackheart).
Ashley Louise Urbanski was born in the San Francisco Bay Area suburb of Santa Clara County, California, on March 14, 1992.[1] She is of Filipino and Polish descent.[4]
Urbanski began her career at Hoodslam in Oakland, California in 2014 as Missy Highasshit, a cheerleader valet for the Hoodslam stable Stoner U.[5][6][better source needed] She also frequently appeared on the California independent scene, wrestling for promotions like All Pro Wrestling, Bar Wrestling, and Big Time Wrestling. In June 2017, she would face future fellow NXT wrestlers Candice LeRae and Rachael Ellering at APW Cow Palace Royale.[7]
Urbanski made her debut for Shimmer Women Athletes on November 11, 2016.[8] In 2018, Blackheart began to appear at Impact Wrestling. At Evolve 137 on October 11, 2019, William Regal offered Urbanski a WWE contract during an unannounced appearance.[9][10][better source needed]
In 2015, Blackheart, under her real name, took part in the trials for the sixth season of WWE's competition Tough Enough. She was initially selected as one of 6 women who would take part in that season's competition, but had to withdraw from it before it began, due to a previously undiagnosed irregular heartbeat causing a failed medical. She would be replaced in the competition by Gabi Castrovinci, who ended up finishing in 10th place.[11]
On October 15, 2019, it was reported that Blackheart had signed with WWE and would report to the WWE Performance Center.[12] Blackheart made her debut on a live NXT house show on December 5, 2019, losing to Chelsea Green. She made her televised debut on December 18 episode of NXT in a loss to Bianca Belair.[13] On the January 15, 2020, episode of NXT, Blackheart entered a battle royal for an NXT Women's Championship opportunity at NXT TakeOver: Portland, where she eliminated Shayna Baszler.[14] This led to a match against Baszler on the following episode, where Blackheart lost to Baszler.[15] At the Royal Rumble, Blackheart entered the women's Royal Rumble match at number 26 before being eliminated by Baszler, managing to last until the final seven in the match.[16] Additionally, she was attacked backstage by Deonna Purrazzo after the match, resulting in a match between the two on the January 29, 2020, episode, where Blackheart defeated Purrazzo.[17] On the June 17 episode of NXT, Blackheart teamed with Tegan Nox to challenge Bayley and Sasha Banks for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful.[18]
On the September 16 episode of NXT, Blackheart challenged the NXT Women's Champion Io Shirai in a non-title match, but was unsuccessful. At NXT: Halloween Havoc on October 28, she served as the host during that episode, preventing Shirai during her match against Candice LeRae from being a attacked by a mysterious person wearing a Ghostface mask (later revealed as Indi Hartwell).[19] She formed an alliance with Rhea Ripley, Io Shirai and Ember Moon to compete at the Takeover: WarGames pay-per-view, where they faced off against LeRae, Storm, Raquel González and Dakota Kai in a WarGames match, which her team lost.
On the March 10, 2021, episode of NXT, Blackheart and Ember Moon, defeated Kai and González to win the NXT Women's Tag Team Championship, her first title in NXT.[20] At NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, they successfully retained the titles against The Way (Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell). On the May 4 episode of NXT, Blackheart and Moon dropped the titles to The Way in a Street Fight, ending their reign at 55 days.
On the July 9 episode of SmackDown, Blackheart, now under the shortened ring name Shotzi, debuted alongside new tag team partner Tegan Nox as Shotzi & Nox,[21][unreliable source?] but the team was disbanded when, as part of the 2021 Draft, Nox was drafted to the Raw brand while Shotzi remained on the SmackDown brand.[22][23] On the October 29 episode of SmackDown, after her match with SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair in a championship contenders match, Shotzi attacked Sasha Banks who was at ringside, thus turning heel for the first time in her career.[24] She participated in the 5 on 5 Survivor Series elimination match at Survivor Series, but was eliminated by Bianca Belair.[25] She participated in the Royal Rumble match at the namesake event on January 19, 2022, entering at #29 but was eliminated by the returning Ronda Rousey.[26] On the June 24 episode of SmackDown, she defeated Tamina to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match,[27] where she was unsuccessful in winning the match.[28]