In TurnbuckleTimes’ latest exclusive interview, Shazza McKenzie (@Shazza_McKenzie) sits down with TBT’s Scott Mitchell (@scott44mitchell) to discuss Freelance Wrestling, her upcoming match with Celest on Friday night, being a part of the locker room, working with Regan Lydale, Trent Wrigley, and Sean Login, her goals in Freelance, her recent Las Vegas Boulevard Brawl with Nixi XS at PoderMania last month, her match with Nixi XS at GCW last weekend, her goals, dream opponents, and much more. You can watch the interview in its entirety down below.

Let’s jump right into it. This weekend, on Friday, you will be squaring off with Celest at Freelance Wrestling. What is your mindset heading into this one?

“My mindset is going to be the same as it’s been all year at Freelance. I am sick of these kids. These God damn kids. F**k them, kids. Truly, I love Freelance. Freelance is home. But I’ve been at Freelance since 2019, and I’ve never had a title shot, but these kids come through the academy, and they get everything handed to them. I just want to remind them that I’m Shazza Fricking McKenzie. I’m not going to keep letting these kids take the opportunities and the things that should be mine. So, Celest, it’s her main show debut. She’s been doing it for a little while. I’ve watched her on the Academy project before the shows for a while now. She likes to party rock. I know that’s her vibe. But there will be zero party rocking. It will just be Shazz, whoop whooping, her ass.”

Freelance Wrestling is a promotion that you’ve had the privilege of turning into your home. What does it mean to you to be a part of that locker room?

“I truly love Freelance so much. I remember when I first came over in 2019, and I remember thinking that this was the closest to a locker room that reminded me of my PWA roster locker room back home in Australia. It’s very team-oriented. We’re all in this. We’re all trying to make sure we have the best show. This was my attitude. Nobody is the star, and we’re all collectively here. That was my attitude, and that’s why I didn’t get any opportunities. I made the mistake. Now, I see the error of my ways. Now, I’m going to take what’s mine. That’s what initially attracted me to Freelance and encouraged me to be so enthralled with what they’re doing.”

“Also, it didn’t hurt that they were one of the first major companies to put their major belt on Kylie Rae, a female, and really fight for equality, for women’s wrestling, for intergender wrestling, for all of that. For professional wrestling. For all of us to be seen as equals. I think that’s something that Freelance does, which is so special, except for those kids, because they’re not equal to me. But everyone else, we’re all equals.”

We’ve seen you embroiled in a bit of a rivalry with Trent Wrigley and Regan Lydale, which saw you enlist the help of Sean Login. What is it like to work with all three of these names that are some of the top up-and-comers on the Chicago scene?

“Kids. That’s what I’m saying. That’s the core of my problem at Freelance. Regan. Trent. White Meat. I’m done with these kids. White Meat called me ‘unc.’ I’m not standing for that. You don’t call me ‘unc’ and get away with it, I’m real cool. Clock it. Clock it. Would ‘unc’ do that? I know what I’m talking about. I’m very cool… He’s a kid, but he and Mason, both kids, but they understand that I’m a star, and it’s about me. They understand that I’ve been hard done by, by management, for so long, that I’ve just been a good little soldier and did what I was told, but it’s 2026.

“Shazza is in the best shape of her life. She’s having the best matches of her career. She’s all over social media; she’s all over everything. Why would they not want to be on board the Shazza McKenzie train? They understand I’m a star. As a result, I’m going to help them. I’m going to help them along the way. I’m going to show them the way to stardom. That’s why we work. Mason is there, cheerleading me on. Sean’s there handling my content, making sure all the business is handled. It’s just a perfect little trio, honestly.”

Looking ahead, at Freelance specifically, do you have your eyes on anyone/anything specifically?

“Look, Trevor has gotten that belt now. I fought him too many times, and I don’t really want to deal with that man again. Maybe someone can take that belt from him, and then I can fight that person, because God, if I have to deal with that clown and Trevor again, that sounds exhausting. My goal is to take over Freelance. To become a champion, to at least get a title shot. So, I guess I have to win some of these scrambles or win a number one Contendership somehow, even though the flavor of the month gets to come in and get a title shot without winning anything.”

“But that’s neither here nor there. We’ll deal with that later. But I’ve been on a winning streak. I haven’t lost in 2026. My calculations indicate that there should be a title shot in my future. Then, Mason and Sean will help me, and I’ll be victorious. I’ll be the champion. It doesn’t matter which belt. It could be Chico’s belt, or it could be Trevor’s belt. But I will be a champion. That is the goal. We’re going for gold.”

One of those matches was at PoderMania, where you faced off with Nixi XS in a Las Vegas Boulevard Brawl. This match was simply insane, and arguably one of the most fun of the whole weekend, including a run-in by Blair Onyx in the end. What was it like for you to compete in this one?

“I love Blair, and I love Nixi. I hate them when I’m in the wrestling ring. Both of them continue to be a thorn in my side. But I’m very proud of them. I met Nixi the week that I moved to America in 2023. I think she had just had her first match. So that was three years ago, when she first started wrestling. She lives in St. Louis, and I’m so thankful that I met her and that I met someone so talented, so motivated, and so inspired. Just someone who’s such a hard worker and will just keep going. I’ve seen that in her since the day I first met her. I’m very proud of the reputation she’s been able to build on her own.

Nothing has ever been handed to her. She’s someone who has taken every single opportunity that has ever been given to her, and has really run with it, even if it’s 10 seconds on TV to look and serve the “c-word.” She’s always making the best of every opportunity. Just like she took the best of the opportunity to steal the win from me in Vegas. This was a continuation from last year, when we had a Last Show Girl Standing match, which was equally as ridiculous. Who knows what we’re going to do? We’ll see what the third one in the trilogy is, because now we’re 1-1. So, who’s going to win the trilogy at PoderMania, and what’s the stipulation going to be? Ed always makes us choose the stipulations, so if you guys have any suggestions for whenever this does happen, let us know.

And then Blair. Blair, at some point last year, decided to really just annoy the crap out of me all day, every day. Scare me whenever she could. Pop up wherever she could. She is just showing up at places, like Vegas, to scare me. That’s some BS. But, I’m sure I’ll get my comeuppance on Blair at some point for her outrageous behavior. Blair is another person whom I’ve been so blessed to know. I knew Blair when she first started training at Black and Brave, because she was there with one of the Australian girls. I’d see them training, and I’ve followed her since she was training to be a wrestler. I remember her having her first match and all these things.

“As much as she annoys me, it’s been very cool to watch her figure it out and see her figure out who ‘Blair Onyx’ is. She is spooky AF. That’s who Blair Onyx is. She’s spooky AF. But, it’s been really cool to be able to watch that progression as that’s happened over the years.”

Just last weekend, you and Nixi ran it back at GCW. What was it like to once again work with her, and also on a platform such as GCW?

“It was really fun. There was something very calming about it because it’s Nixi, I know what to expect. I’ve done this a thousand times at this point. We’ve wrestled all over America at this point. Maybe not so much recently, but there was a solid year where we were car buddies, listening to Taylor Swift, listening to Sabrina Carpenter, and getting our wrestle on. To be able to be there for her singles match, GCW’s debut was really cool to be able to have that with her. Not happy she beat me, but it is what it is, and I know it just means that she has a bright future ahead of her.”

Looking ahead for you, what are your future goals?

“For me, I’ve been having fun. This year, I finally got my green card, which has been a giant weight off my shoulders. I feel like I can finally make plans for life and figure out what I want to do in the future. That’s why I’ve been on this fitness kick. I was able to have a regular, structured life to some extent now, and not just living in fear constantly. Having that, and just being able to embrace my work and be able to create something. I don’t have specific tangible goals.

Actually, I do have some. I would love to have a main event at Freelance. I’d love to win a million belts. There are things like that, but there’s nothing like super, ‘I need to get signed’ or ‘I need to wrestle for this company.’ I’ve done so much. There’s a whole other generation that needs to get opportunities. But, I genuinely would love to be able to sign a contract, just one, just to say that I was a signed contract wrestler at some point. But I genuinely love my life and what I do now, so I don’t know what that would be.

Maybe something like a TNA where I can still be Shazza the way that I’d like to be Shazza independently,  but still have some more TV experience and some more higher profile stuff. Plus, I have some cool friends there. I’d love to be able to hang out with Maggie (Lee), Heather (Reckless), and Indi (Hartwell); that would be cool. That has been the overarching goal. I want to add more states. I’m at like 35 states, 36 states that I’ve wrestled in. I want to get to 40, which seems insane, but why not? Would love to add another country. I’m at nine and need to make it an even 10 because that’s going to annoy me.

I’m just enjoying what I do. I want to make sure that everything I put out, you can see the passion and creativity. I love to be able to help people. I’d love to do more producing and agenting. I obviously know my body at some point, but I don’t want to throw it into the ground until I’m 60. So, if I could learn some other skills in wrestling, back of house, that would be amazing. I just want to keep vibing and thriving.”

Do you have anyone you’d really like to share the ring with?

“I’ve technically shared the ring with her, but if I don’t wrestle Deonna Purrazzo this year, I’m going to strangle someone. At this point, I’ve been asking for this match since 2017/2018. At this point, I don’t even know what I’d do. But, we’ve wrestled in a triple threat in 2018 with Indi in Australia, then I wrestled her for 90 seconds on Rampage in 2024. If I could have a good, solid, independent match, where I can just wrestle, that’s my dream; it would be for me.“

“Sometimes you have to do selfish things. I think she’s one of the best technical wrestlers, and I love technical wrestling. I just want to be able to go and do it. Give me a Pure Championship title match, give me a proving ground match, give it to me. Come on. Give me a buzz. I’ll hang out at Ring of Honor for a day. I’ll go do it wherever you want me.”