Shayna Baszler

Shayna Andrea Baszler (born August 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, kickboxer, and former mixed martial artist.

She is currently 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 former record-tying three-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion.

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 later gained recognition for the use of a hammerlock submission set-up while on her back, dubbed the "Shwing; a set-up which she has used to submit several opponents, including Roxanne Modafferi. Baszler was signed by the UFC in 2013 for the 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, being trained by Barnett again.

Baszler, a khun kru (teacher) in Muay Thai and a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner, wanted to begin incorporating Josh Barnett's catch wrestling style into her MMA training.

This proved to be somewhat difficult because she could not train with Barnett in Southern California, so Barnett wrote a syllabus and filmed a video to teach her the step-by-step techniques and concepts of catch wrestling and give her tips on how to improve her verbal skills.

Barnett suggested that Baszler carry an electric guitar to the cage to show that she was outspoken.

Baszler reluctantly agreed, and the guitar became a signature of her rockstar-like persona.

Later, Barnett gave Baszler "The Queen of Spades" nickname due to her ability to perform card tricks – the card magic nickname also gives a nod to her "submission magic."

Baszler refers to her fans as the "Queen's Army."

Baszler faced Amanda Buckner at MFC: USA vs. Russia 3 on June 3, 2006.

She lost the fight by TKO in the third round.

She faced Samantha Gavere at NFF: The Breakout on March 10, 2007.

She won the fight by kimura submission in the first round.

Baszler debuted for EliteXC at a ShoXC event on July 27, 2007.

She submitted veteran Jan Finney with a first-round armbar and repeated the feat three months later against Jennifer Tate.

After defeating Keiko Tamai with an impressive Twister submission at a third ShoXC event, Baszler moved up to the main EliteXC cards.

Baszler next faced Cris Cyborg on CBS television at EliteXC: Unfinished Business on July 26, 2008.

She lost the fight via TKO in the second round.

Following EliteXC's closure, Baszler debuted for Strikeforce at Strikeforce Challengers: Villasenor vs. Cyborg on June 19, 2009, in a fight against Sarah Kaufman, but lost by unanimous decision.

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.

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.

Baszler was scheduled to face Jan Finney in the tournament final at FCF 43 on June 12, 2010.

However, Finney withdrew in order to compete in Strikeforce and Baszler faced Adrienna Jenkins instead.

Baszler defeated Jenkins by first-round armbar to become FCF Women's Bantamweight Grand Prix Champion.

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.

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.

However, the fight was canceled after Davis signed with Strikeforce.

Baszler agreed to face Kelly Kobold in a rematch at Cage Fighting Xtreme: Spring Brawl on April 21, 2012.

However, it was announced on March 16 that the event had been canceled.

The event took place on July 28, 2012.

In a back-and-forth affair, Baszler lost the fight in what was considered to be a controversial unanimous decision.

On February 25, 2017, Baszler was defeated by Reina Miura at Deep Jewels 15.

This marked Baszler's last MMA fight.

On April 28, it was announced that Baszler would face Sara McMann in the main event of Invicta FC 2: Baszler vs. McMann.