Shotzi recently appeared on Insight with Chris Van Vliet and opened up about one of the more unforgettable backstage segments during her early SmackDown days — and the creation of her now-iconic tank entrance.
Speaking about the infamous July 23, 2021 SmackDown backstage segment where she accidentally shot Baron Corbin with her tank, Shotzi revealed the moment was far from spontaneous.
“It actually took 30 takes,” she said. “Corbin wanted it to be good. He was on a mission. So I was just like aiming, so ridiculous. It took so long. So he had to do that whole promo, and then boom. Then if it missed, then do that whole promo again and hit him. But even the last take he was not satisfied with. He just sold it really well. But I really appreciate that he cared so much that we got him in the balls that well.”
Shotzi also went into the origin story of her tank, which began long before WWE production trucks and Full Sail University.
“So I found this Mini Tank at Walmart, and I bought it for the Indies,” she recalled. “I used it only on a couple of shows, because obviously I can’t travel with that tank, I don’t have the buses that WWE does.”
She noted that some indie promotions even bought their own mini tanks just to feature her unique entrance. But once she made it to WWE, she pitched the tank to Triple H in a very DIY fashion.
“I sent Hunter a video of my little mini Walmart tank, and he was like, ‘Can you get it to Full Sail tomorrow?’ And I was like, Oh, yes. And I ordered an Uber XL to get this Mini Tank over to Full Sail.”
Interestingly, WWE later built her upgraded tank entrance vehicle using parts of her original mini model. Now, she’s hoping to get it back.
“My little tank — they actually cut in half to make the bigger tank that you see on TV. So half of that is mine… I was like, ‘Can I have half of the tank, or maybe all of it?’ I’m willing to drive to Connecticut and get it out of the warehouse, if I have to.”
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