Matt Cardona has stepped down from the "Indy God" throne and returned to WWE. In his place, though, now seemingly sits former WWE star Shotzi Blackheart.On "Busted Open Radio," TNA's Nic Nemeth weighed in on the trend of ex-WWE stars, such as Blackheart, modeling themselves after Cardona, who propelled to the top of the independent wrestling scene after his 2020 WWE exit. In Blackheart's case, she's applied her own unique twists to her post-WWE work. Those same twists have turned Nemeth into a major fan of hers as well."You're right, Shotzi kills that aspect of this business," Nemeth said. "She finds a way to stand out and do cool things ... just having all these different aspects and standing out is really hard to do in pro wrestling. Shotzi has applied all of those things that Matt did in the past, but she's always had her own path. She always stands out to me in a very positive way. Without even her coming on here and being a part of our show and doing things, I'm always just quietly rooting for her, which is pretty great."Blackheart departed from WWE in May 2025. The following month, she returned to the indie scene and marked her debut in Major League Wrestling, the promotion in which she now reigns as the MLW Women's World Champion.Nemeth himself left WWE in September 2023 after the company granted his release request.Like Blackheart and Cardona, he too branched out into the indie scene afterward.If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
