In the latest edition of “Independent Wrestling Spotlight,” PWMania’s Scott Mitchell (@ScottsScoop44) sits down with one of the hottest professional wrestlers on the indie scene today, Mazzerati. In this interview, we discuss everything from her beginning, up to her working with Ring of Honor, Impact, AEW, and more.
The Beginning of Mazzerati
When she was a kid, Mazzerati was quite the tomboy and quite the athlete. One time when flipping through the channels she saw two guys beating each other up and thought it was cool. This was around 1996-1997, right before the Attitude Era.
“I just became such a big wrestling fan,” Mazzerati told PWMania. “Back then, we didn’t know about wrestling schools, so I did Tae Kwon Do, Kickboxing, and stuff like that.” Come 1998, Mazzerati knew she was dead set on becoming a professional wrestler.
Growing up, Mazzerati fell in love with the Hardy Boyz and Lita. “They felt like the underdogs, which I loved,” Mazzerati said. “Lita is a big reason why I’m here now. When I first started training in 2015, I was athletic and came into the business thinking I could do a bunch of cool flips and moonsaults. I started as a heel, and after understanding the business more, I love it even more and I get it now.”
When she began training, Mazzerati got in contact with Leon Hatre of FSW. “He was the first person to take me under his wing and train me,” she said. “He told me to come down and watch a show. Matt Hardy was the current champion at the time. I was sold watching that show right there.”
Hatre would tell Mazzerati about the women’s classes they had going on and invited her to come down, so she did. “We were rolling around on mats while training because the ring was still at the show venue.”
Going into training, Mazzerati was a big fan girl because this was the start of her dreams coming true. “It’s been a lot of fun. Leon was always great, and he was very patient. If it wasn’t for him, I would have never come to school.”
After Hatre, Mazzerati also got to work with Disco Inferno, Kenny King, D-Lo Brown, Sinn Bodhi, and Remi Marcel. “Disco Inferno taught us some of the old-school stuff. He was stern, but was a cool guy,” Mazzerati said. “If it wasn’t for Remi Marcel, Mazz wouldn’t have the confidence to deliver the promos she does. D-Lo, Kenny, and Sinn are all beyond amazing too. We have a great group.”
Mazzerati would go on to have her first match at CAC in an eight-women elimination match. “It was pretty intimidating but it was great. I got thrown over the rope, and my partner was there so he semi-caught me.”
However, the first time Mazzerati would step in the ring came at a GFW show. “I got to valet with Allie Parker for the Bollywood Boyz. Christina Von Eerie was there and she gave me my first bump in the ring. I was excited and it was great to be a part of that moment.”
However, her first actual solo match came at BVW against Allie Parker. “It was decent for my first one. When you think you’re ready, spend a lot of time and train. I cringe watching a lot of my old matches but I embrace it now. Everyone starts somewhere.”
Mazzerati’s Time in the Indies
In her early days, Mazzerati got to work with quite the resume of incredibly talented wrestlers. One of those wrestlers was Shotzi Blackheart. Shotzi and Mazzerati would have a couple of matches back in 2016 at BVW.
“Kudos to Shotzi. I’m so happy to watch her be able to be her. I love her and she was cool to me when I first started. She’s never been one to talk negatively about. She’s someone I appreciate, look highly on, and hope to get to her level.”
In September 2020, Mazzerati also picked up a big accomplishment. She became the new OVW Women’s Championship in a five-way match after defeating Haley J, Joselinne Navarro, Salena Dean, and Sarah The Rebel.
“2020 was a crazy ride. The shutdown had just happened. I was working so many jobs so I did lose some of them. My main one was at risk though where I worked for mentally disabled adults.” OVW wanted to continue to book Mazzerati though and she had a tough choice to make.
“One day they asked me to come out and there was an extra day I needed to be out there. I had to let my main job know I couldn’t make it to work one day and they said I’m probably not going to have my job when I got back.”
“I said this was what I wanted to do with my life, so I had the match, and it was a lot of fun. They didn’t tell me until right before I was going to win the belt. I was like wow, that’s insane. Al Snow and they looked up to me and put me as the face of the OVW Women’s Divison and it was just an honor.”
“I won the belt, went home as a champion, but went home without a job. After they fired me, I didn’t feel bad at all. I was living my dream right now, and after that night my career started to take off. I started to do more with bigger companies. It’s been a crazy roller coaster ride, but I don’t take anything back. Things happen for a reason.”
More recently, Mazzerati has been working closely with Maria Kanellis in Kanellis’s new promotion, Women’s Wrestling Army. “It’s amazing what Maria is building there. I love all the women there, but it’s just something we need and I give her so much respect for it.”
“They take care of us, it’s great. A lot of love in the locker room. I’m someone who loves to just spread love. I’m a villain in the ring, but in real life, I just love to spread love. Building the great relationships I’ve built there, everything has been amazing and I’m all for it.”
Mazzerati Comes To Ring of Honor
Mazzerati credits Ring of Honor as probably one of the main companies to have her back for a while. Back when Ring of Honor used to work with FSW, Mazzerati would help out doing ring crew while in training.
“I was hoping to one day get a spot, then Bobby Cruise asked me to be the timekeeper. Every time I was asked to be the timekeeper, I got so invested in the match and one time I forgot to ring the bell. I’m just watching and so invested in the match as a wrestler, and I would remember I had to be a timekeeper today.”
After that, they kept bringing back Mazzerati and wanting to work with her. “I was in China for a good six months. Once I came back everyone said I got better after being there. The minute I came back they put me in a match where I teamed up with Katie Forbes against Sumie Sakai, and Mayu Iwatani.”
This match was a lot of fun for Mazzerati, although she would come up in the losing effort. “Tagging with Katie was chill, Sumie is someone I always looked up to so that was amazing as well. After that, they kept bringing me back to do things. When they reached out to me to be a part of the Women’s Tournament, I was screaming for happiness on the inside.”
Mazzerati would come up just short in the Ring of Honor Women’s Title Tournament match against Nicole Savoy. She also got the chance to work with Angelina Love throughout her time working with Ring of Honor.
“She was amazing and such a good ring general. I was taking all the knowledge in while she was leading me in the ring. I just took notes and she’s a phenomenal heel. That’s my main thing and it was just great. Being in the ring with these women I grew up watching was intimidating but exciting.”
Mazzerati Makes an Impact
This was a very exciting moment for Mazzerati as she got to square off with Madison Rayne in an Impact Wrestling ring. “Funny story, I was there the first day because I was one of the undead brides with Su Yung, which was very cool. I had to work the next day at NAGA where I would be a timekeeper over there.”
“IMPACT gave me a call and asked where I was and they told me I had a match. Dave Mizany, who I was working for at the time, I told him and thankfully I brought gear with me in my bag. So, they got an uber for me to come to IMPACT.”
Mazzerati recalls getting ready in the back of the Uber. When she got there, Gail Kim was the agent for her match and her nerves were crazy. “It was a fun match,” Mazzerati said. Although she came up just short, it was an honor for her to share the ring with a ring general like Madison Rayne.
Mazzerati Goes All Elite
Mazzerati describes this experience as awesome. Earlier this year, she got to work with both Kiera Hogan and Mercedes Martinez. These were two people she always wanted to work with and something she was very grateful to have accomplished.
“The beginning of this year has been great. I’ve been having non-stop matches of people on my bucket list, and these were no different. Kiera was great. I’m always going to be nervous going out of the curtain. This is my dream, and I want to entertain, do it right, and keep my opponents safe at all times.”
Mazzerati sees Kiera as someone she would like to vibe with more in the future and hopefully get closer to her. “She was very sweet, not selfish, and just super great to work with, and I hope to work with her again too.”
“Mercedes was amazing as well. She’s a ring general. I took a lot of notes and would love to work with her again too if presented with the chance to. It was nerve-wracking challenging Mercedes for the Ring of Honor Women’s Championship.”
Mazzerati didn’t know she was getting an entrance. When she heard her music go off she was told to just go out there and be herself. “I was like, bet. I go down there, be me, and walked myself around the ring and took my time. They cut my music because I accidentally took up too much of Mercedes’ time.”
Mazzerati would apologize to Mercedes for this and thankfully Mercedes was super chill and cool about it. “Everyone was so cool, and I got great critiques. Working for All Elite Wrestling was a lot of fun and hope to go back soon.”
What’s Next for Mazzerati?
Looking ahead, Mazzerati has one thing in mind. She’s just trying to make it, like everyone else. “I still work a few jobs while trying to make this a full-time thing,” says Mazzerati. “The momentum I had before the summertime was great, but I had to take some time off and it was hard to get back into it.”
“There are so many good people and talent who deserve to be seen as well. I’m happy for everyone, but don’t want people to forget about me either. I just want to see everyone win.”
Mazzerati would like to make her debut with the NWA, as well as work with SHINE and Shimmer, as well. She also wants to hit more of the east coast. “There are so many people I’d like to work with. B3CCA, Janai Kai, Masha, I want to work with everyone and just make magic and moments that the fans will remember for a lifetime.”
“I want to be signed, and be happy at one of the places that will accept me. I want to be me, pay my bills, travel, and just entertain everyone I can. I love giving back to the fans, whether I’m good, or bad. If I can do that while paying my bills, that’s what I love to do and that would be the ultimate goal.”
If you would like to follow Mazzerati, you can find her on Instagram, and Twitter. She sells her merch as well if you shoot her a message and want to buy a shirt, 8×10, or sticker.
