Former NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler was one of the most surprising appearances at "WWE NXT Homecoming" onTuesday, as "The Queen of Spades" was released from WWE back in May. During "NXT," Baszler, who had recently spoken on the possibility of heading to AEW, appeared in a backstage segment to offer tag team advice to Women's North American and Speed Champion Sol Ruca and Zaria as they were arguing.
Dave Meltzer provided an update on Baszler's status in WWE in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter and said those in WWE expect and hope she'll be back in a producer or coach capacity.Hesaid that there is nothing in place for her at the moment and her "NXT" appearance was a one-off.
Baszler previouslyworked backstage as a producer during some sort of tryout alongside producer Chris Girard, former WWE star Oney Lorcan, back in July. Baszler reportedly produced a Kelani Jordan match where the former Women's North American Champion took on Lainey Reed. At the time, it was noted that her non-compete clause post-release was expected to end in early August.
She spoke on "The ArielHelwani Show" at the end of August about possibly joining close friend Marina Shafir in AEW.Baszler said there had been talks, but she had also spoken to multiple independent promotions as well. She said that she didn't care about what company she signed for, specifically, she just wanted to wrestle, but doing so alongside her friends would only make it better.Baszler's last match in WWE was a Women's Tag Team Championship number one contender's gauntlet in April where she teamed alongside Zoey Stark.
