Ladies of the Indies: Exclusive Interview with Shazza McKenzie
First of all, I want to thank The Scrap for awarding this the 2019 Most Creative Column. This column is one of my proudest accomplishments and I’m excited to bring it back this year!
Shazza McKenzie was a bit late in discovering the world of professional wrestling. “I started watching when I was 15, the moment I started watching it sucked me in,” said McKenzie. The passion she had for the wrestling business was so strong, she dropped out of High School nine months after she began watching.
“As soon as I started watching wrestling I knew that was what I wanted to do.”
She wanted to get a job and start training as soon as possible, to make her dream come true. When she embarked on her dream and began training, she checked out all her local wrestling schools. She chose the school that had the most accomplished trainer. “I ended up changing to PWA and I’ve been there for the past 11 years,” said McKenzie.
Shazza started training over 12 years ago, so the first day is a bit fuzzy. However, she does remember one detail, involving CM Punk. “I do remember wearing a CM Punk shirt, I somehow thought it would make me look cool.” Whether she looked cool or not, she showed that she was determined to succeed. She was the only one that became a wrestler, out of 16 in the class.
McKenzie is from Australia, and her favourite promotion to wrestle for is the one at home, Pro Wrestling Australia. However, next to Pro Wrestling Australia, SHIMMER is close to her heart. Without SHIMMER, it would be nearly impossible for a female Wrestler from Australia to have an international impact.
“There’s no way I would’ve ever been on AEW or WWE’s radar without SHIMMER.”
She has wrestled countless matches over the years, but there is one in particular that stands out. She wrestled Madison Eagles in 2017 at House of Hardcore, and it is a special match to her. “The fans weren’t there for wrestling, but they got into it from the work we did,” said McKenzie. This represents something women still go through to this day, sometimes they have to win over the crowd.
She has many goals in wrestling, but there is one goal that Shazza holds above all else. “My number one goal is to be able to live in America so that I can wrestle professionally full time,” said McKenzie. “I would ideally like to do this for AEW as I strongly believe in the product they produce… It is impossible to move to American full-time without a company sponsoring me, so AEW is the number one goal.”
About Post Author
Austin Luff
About Post Author
Austin Luff
Austin Luff is a broadcasting student at Durham College and one of the original writers at The Scrap, contributing since the site’s inception. Passionate about MMA, Professional Wrestling and Influencer Boxing, Austin also produces video content for The Scrap’s YouTube channel. With his large TikTok following and creativity, Austin was meant to be a Paul brother in this lifetime.
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