As one of Australia’s most well-respected professional wrestlers, Shazza McKenzie is certainly not lacking for excellent stories. Our recent conversation for Love Wrestling was chock-full of them. Whether it be chatting about the recent Jericho vs. Gage matchup, indie wrestling superlatives, and everything in-between, we were never at a lack for a laugh throughout our entire half-hour conversation.

One such story was one that she had fleetingly mentioned in a previous interview. On a podcast a few years ago, McKenzie had briefly brought up her WrestleMania experience in 2013 with Madison Eagles, Dakota Kai, and Jessica McKay, soon to be known throughout the WWE Universe as Billie Kay. I asked Shazza about the experience when we spoke a fortnight ago.

“So in 2013, we went [to WrestleMania],” she commented. “WrestleMania week [and] what it is now was not what WrestleMania week was in 2013. To my understanding from all my trying to figure this out, I think 2013 was like the first time that there [were] indie shows. So there was WrestleCon. There was just WrestleCon. There [weren’t] 50 different venues. It was just WrestleCon, but it was the first time that they did Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and then the show.

So Madison, Jess, Dakota Kai [and] myself, were over for Shimmer [who] was doing a show on the like Saturday at WrestleCon. Which, now I think back and think that’s just so insane that I got to wrestle on the first WrestleCon of this stature. Thinking of how WrestleMania weekend has now evolved into this just event that every independent wrestler has to be at and that I was one of the very few wrestlers that got to wrestle on that first WrestleMania weekend. That’s crazy.”

“I’d already been to WrestleMania in like 2008 with my mom,” McKenzie laughed. “My mom had taken me to WrestleMania. But, for a lot of them, they’d never been to WrestleMania. So we went to WrestleMania. And it was in MetLife – I think MetLife? I don’t know if that’s right. I don’t know.”

As McKenzie went on to explain, that 2013 trip only served to add to the emotion of seeing McKay, along with fellow Australian Cassie Lee, capture the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 35.

“The point of the story is it was in the same stadium that, then, in 2019 when I was back in for WrestleMania weekend, I went to WrestleMania and I watched the person that I’d sat next to in, what, six years earlier in the crowd, sung Mark Henry’s theme song with, we were wearing these $5 Walmart coat things because none of us had prepared to be outside in the cold rain, because we’re Australian and we just didn’t think about that, and I was watching Jessie McKay now in the ring winning the tag team titles with Peyton Royce six years later.

“It’s just insane. In the same building! It couldn’t have been more perfect,” McKenzie remarked before laughing. “I lost my absolute shit. Like I was gone. I collapsed to the ground. I was crying, and my husband had to be like ‘Shazz, you’re being a bit dramatic,'” and I was like ‘I know, but they did it! They actually did it!’ He’s like ‘I know. I’m very happy for them, too. It’s very exciting. But you’re embarrassing me.’”

Dakota Time

Of course, having asked Shazza about both McKay and Eagles earlier in our conversation, I had to ask about the fourth member of their WrestleMania quartet, Dakota Kai. “Not that she hasn’t done great stuff before,” I asked, “but on Wednesday night [what was it like] seeing Dakota Kai take the boot to Raquel Gonzalez. Maybe some thoughts, some feelings, some strong words on that?

“

“I think it’s long overdue,” McKenzie mused. “I like that they’ve been clearly building to this for a while. We’ve all been kind of like waiting for it, waiting for it, waiting for them to just pull the trigger and let it happen. But, I hope it ends with the champion that we deserve. Not that we don’t deserve Raquel.

But you know, I think the women’s wrestling fans and the NXT fans that have been following the product for a long enough feel like it’s Dakota Kai’s time. They feel very ready for this moment and for her to get her flowers and to be in that main position after being a background character and like a supporting cast character for the last few years.

It’s time for her to play the main role. I hope that that’s what we get, and even if we don’t, I’ll still be happy.

Shazza laughed before concluding.

“I mean, I’ll probably be bitchy on the internet but like what the hell.

Who isn’t bitchy on the internet!”

Please credit Spencer Love with any of the above transcriptions, and link back when possible. Thank you!

While everyone is (rightfully) quick to point out Johnny Devine’s excellence inside the squared circle, my lasting impression of my conversation with the former X-Division Champion was simply his excellence in storytelling. Yes, of course, that applies to his in-ring work as well, but throughout our entire recent chat for Love Wrestling, I found myself marvelling at his ability to tell one outside the confines of the ring, too.

In fact, one of my favourite parts of our conversation was a simple-yet-outstanding story involving Eric Young and a pair of incredible impressions.

“There were times before shows and stuff like that where we had four hours of an afternoon sitting on [our] fucking thumbs,” Devine began. “So, we would end up down at the ring while people are going on with matches and stuff like that. People who aren’t doing other stuff, we’d roll around, and we’d act like fools.”

A smirk crept across the former X-Division Champions’ face.

“Eric Young and I used to sell out the front row while we did a skit of Stu Hart versus Andre the Giant.”

I had to laugh, assuming that the story wouldn’t go any further. “I promise I’ll only ask for that one when we’re done recording,” I chuckled.

Rather than shy away from the story, the former Team Canada star doubled down and immediately kicked into what’s become one of my favourite stories told to me as part of an interview.

“I’ll give you the biggest high spot!” he replied. “So, we built this feud up for months at one point. It was awesome.” Instantly, Devine began his spot-on Stu Hart impression ‘because every once in a while I would cut a promo on Andre,’ he said, before instantly shifting to an homage to Andre the Giant, saying ‘and he would cut a promo on Stu.

‘”

As I howled with glee, Devine continued.

“The office got wind of it, and one day, we decided to do like a pre-pay-per-view, pay-per-view pre-show match, strictly for the boys. Stu versus Andre. One of the best parts of that – I can’t remember, I think we were still in Florida for this one – but we did entrances, and each one of our entrances took long enough for like three or four other people to pass us and go on with a match. They’d come back and we’re still coming down the ramp.

Another match has gone on and [then] they’ve gotten to the back, and then the third match is going on when we’ve reached the stairs kind of thing. We’re in this race. It was awesome.”

“I’m just sitting here picturing Eric Young in the Andre singlet riding a motor scooter to the ring!” I laughed.

“There was some gold there,” chuckled Devine to conclude.

“There was some gold there. We had some fun with that.”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any of the above quotes, and please link back when possible. Thank you!

The relationship between Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart has been well-documented to this point. In a recent edition of the My World with Jeff Jarrett podcast, Double J went in-depth into his long-standing relationship with the King of Harts from his first match against Owen to his relationship with the family today.

Frankly, the podcast is essential listening for any fan of either generational wrestler.

However, after listening to the podcast, I wanted to ask Jarrett about a subject he’d only briefly touched on during his show: his winning of the Intercontinental Championship just days after Owen’s untimely passing. I asked Jarrett about the victory and what it meant to him amongst his myriad of championship wins.

“You can’t really put it into words,” began Jarrett. “At that stage in my career in ’99, I’d been wrestling 13, 14 years and won the regional titles, and [I’d] go to Japan, or Puerto Rico or Texas, and then obviously, the first time I won it against Razor. I went into, as you said, I went into really deep, some really deep discussions about that, obviously, as you’re aware on My World.

“

“I didn’t really process at the time, but I know the overwhelming of emotion because [of] what was going on prior to that,” Jarrett continued somberly. “Me and Owen had been teaming, and he was doing the Blue Blazer. I’ll just say that the Intercontinental title wasn’t in the cards, or wasn’t in the plans. So when that opportunity hit, it was overwhelming and it played out right on [for] the whole world to see. So of course, it was special.”

The Intercontinental Championship

Jarrett then went on to describe the prestige of the Intercontinental Championship, describing it as one of the most important titles in the world.

“To me, it’s still, in a lot of ways, the second most prestigious belt in the world. And yes, there’s a RAW belt and a Smackdown belt, and no disrespect any of that. But the Intercontinental title for me, and this is for me, has such a special lineage from I mean, we can go on and on, but Curt Henning and Roddy Piper and Bret [Hart] and Shawn [Michaels] and Razor [Ramon] and just, you know, Stone Cold, and Rock and just how it was through the years. And then in later years, The Miz I think gave it a lot of respect.”

“It’s a special title in the annals of professional wrestling,” concluded the two-time Hall of Famer. “But, for me to win it under those circumstances. I mean, Spencer, you hit the nail on the head, hey, it goes without saying. I can’t really put it into words how special it was.”

Please credit Spencer Love with any of the above transcriptions, and link back where possible. Thank you!