Shayna Baszler

Shayna Andrea Baszler (/ˈbeɪzlər/ BAYZ-ler; born August 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand. Baszler is a former two-time and longest combined-reigning NXT Women’s Champion and a two-time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion alongside Nia Jax.

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 gained recognition in the following years for the use of her hammerlock submission set-up while on her back; a set-up which she has used to submit several opponents, including Roxanne Modafferi. In an audio interview on the Sherdog Radio Network, she dubbed the submission, which she created in training, as the “Shwing.” Baszler was signed in 2013 by the UFC to participate on their 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, again receiving training from Barnett. Baszler has an overall MMA record of 15 wins and 11 losses, with 13 wins by submission.

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.[12] 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.[13] Baszler was scheduled to face Jan Finney in the tournament final at FCF 43 on June 12, 2010.[13] However, Finney withdrew in order to compete in Strikeforce and Baszler faced Adrienna Jenkins instead.[14] Baszler defeated Jenkins by first-round armbar to become FCF Women’s Bantamweight Grand Prix Champion.[15]

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.[16]

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.[17] However, the fight was canceled after Davis signed with Strikeforce.[18]

Baszler agreed to face Kelly Kobold in a rematch at Cage Fighting Xtreme: Spring Brawl on April 21, 2012.[19] However, it was announced on March 16 that the event had been canceled.[20]

On February 25, 2017, Baszler was defeated by Reina Miura at Deep Jewels 15.[21] 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.[22] 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.[23][24]

Baszler faced Sarah D’Alelio at Invicta FC 3: Penne vs. Sugiyama on October 6, 2012.[25] She defeated D’Alelio via submission due to a rear naked choke early in round two.[26]

Baszler faced Alexis Davis in a rematch at Invicta FC 4: Esparza vs. Hyatt on January 5, 2013.[27] She was defeated via technical submission due to a rear naked choke in round three.[28][29] The bout was named Invicta’s Fight of the Night.[30]