Shayna Baszler Announced For Non-WWE Event The Week Of WrestleMania 40

Recent years have seen several WWE talents propelled outside of their usual territory for rare matches in companies such as Reality of Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH, and All Japan Pro Wrestling. This trend will now continue as former WWE Women's Tag Team Champion Shayna Baszler gears up to participate in Josh Barnett's Bloodsport.

As announced on X (formerly Twitter), Baszler will make her official GCW debut at Josh Barnett's Bloodsport X event on Thursday, April 4. While the capacity in which Baszler will appear has yet to be confirmed, Barnett has hyped her upcoming debut, writing, "What does it mean when a Queen takes up the sword and marches to war? Blood. Victory. Glory. From battlefields all over the world – MMA & the @ufc , @WWENXT , @WWE , @wwr_stardom , and more – to now step into a ring she was made for from the beginning. The Warmaster's disciple, 'The Queen of Spades' Shayna Baszler, comes to Josh Barnett's: Bloodsport X."

Per usual, Bloodsport will be hosted under the umbrella of the GCW Collective. This year's series of events will be running throughout WrestleMania 40 weekend in Philadelphia. Unlike traditional wrestling shows, Bloodsport competition takes place in a ring without any ropes or turnbuckles. And as an added stipulation, victories can only be secured via submission or knockout.

Following news of her Bloodsport appearance, Baszler proclaimed (via X) that while GCW "adopted" the Bloodsport concept, she was born in and molded by it. "From Billy Robinson the gene seed of the Warmaster himself.....BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!!" Baszler wrote.

Baszler isn't the only performer slated to make her GCW debut at Bloodsport. Amidst his ongoing post-WWE tour, Nic Nemeth (formerly known as Dolph Ziggler) will be making a stop there as well. For this occasion, Nemeth is tasked with facing former TNA X-Division Champion "Speedball" Mike Bailey, who enters this event with two previous Bloodsport matches already under his belt.