This week on RTX Spotlight, we take a look back at the career and transformation of the RTX World Champion (one of the most dominant, with 11 consecutive successful title defenses (some not listed on this blog)), "The Bloodrayne" Shandi Essick.
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Shandi, early in her RTX career, was really
more like a cheerleader than anything else. |
Shandi has been a part of RTX ever since its inception in late September 2007. She was the first woman ever to not only main event an RTX pay-per-view, but she was the first to fight a male wrestler, the first woman to hold a World title, and the first woman to compete in a specialty match. Shandi's first RTX match was at our first pay-per-view,
Desecration, on October 18, 2007. There she wrestled and lost to then-Women's Champion Gail Kim. Although it would be years before she would become the Women's Champion (which would be deactivated in spring 2015 due to a downward spiral in the women's division), Shandi definitely showed she was worthy of having gold around her waist. In May 2008, Shandi made history as the first woman ever to fight a man, as she took on her own brother, Caleb Essick at the first
RTX Reborn pay-per-view. In a surprise turn of events, Shandi not only defeated her older brother with a rollup, but the siblings made peace after the match and became, seemingly, close friends. On the first televised episode of RTX Live on December 9, 2008, Shandi defeated Shawn Michaels in one of the biggest upsets in RTX history to earn a shot at the RTX World Championship at
RTX Road to Redemption: Night 1, which would be held December 19. By that point, Shandi was just your typical female wrestler, although many superstars and Divas in the locker room noted something odd about her. Her "oddity" aided her out in many matches, as she seemed to snap in some matches and completely lose her mind. It also helped her win the World Championship from CM Punk at
Road to Redemption. With her brother, Caleb, by her side, Shandi made several successful title defenses over the next four months. However, in early April 2009, Shandi, in a non-title match, was defeated by her and Caleb's cousin, Chris Sky, guaranteeing Chris a title shot with Shandi at
RTX Cataclysm on April 19. At
Cataclysm, Caleb turned on Shandi by hitting her with the title belt after the referee went down, allowing Chris to win the World title. Shandi then began a lengthy feud with Caleb which finally ended at the
2nd Anniversary Show on October 17, 2009, where Shandi defeated Caleb by submission to end the feud.
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After a feud with her brother, Shandi
debuted a darker, crazier side to her personality. |
After the unbelievable feud with Caleb ended, a darker, crazier side of Shandi began to show. She began screaming for seemingly no reason during matches, dyed her hair black, wore black lipstick, and even sometimes carried a hairy tarantula, which she named Fang, to the ring with her in her matches. She seemed to easily win matches with her new personality, and her new finisher, the Tombstone Piledriver. She won the RTX Women's Championship for the first time at
Victory Road on March 13, 2010, from Angelina Love after hitting Love with a lead pipe she had sneakily placed under the ring during her entrance. The lead pipe became her trademark weapon, but it didn't help her very much at
Cold Day In Hell on August 7, as she lost the title to Velvet Sky after numerous interferences by the Beautiful People. Her new personality also got her noticed, as she gained several shots at the RTX Championship, which was then held by Triple H. After being defeated by Triple H at
Hunt3d on January 14, 2011, Shandi seemingly went crazy, attacking several people at ringside and even "stomping on" and (kayfabe) "killing" her pet tarantula. Shandi disappeared from RTX after this breakdown and wasn't seen again in RTX for over a year, claiming she needed some time off to "find her mind again" because "she clearly lost it".
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| Shandi during the days of being in "The Brood" |
Shandi returned at the
5th Anniversary Show on October 20, 2012, instantly targeting her brother Caleb, who, at that point was the Tag Team Champions with Chris Sky. In early December of that year, Chris and Caleb split up as a tag team and the Tag Team Championship were vacated. Shandi began to team with Chris, managed by Gangrel, as "The Brood", which showcased a darker side of Shandi than ever before. The duo, along with Gangrel, would make their entrance by seemingly levitating up through a ring of fire in the stage. At
RTX Tables, Ladders, and Chairs on December 22, 2012, Shandi and Chris defeated the newly formed team of Caleb and Ryan Davis (Generation Apocalypse) to win the vacated Tag Team Championship in a ladder match. It was Shandi's first run with the Tag Titles, and the duo held the titles for well over 160 days. On June 1, 2013, Shandi and Chris lost the titles to Caleb and Ryan in a No Disqualification Match after Ryan hit Shandi with one of the tag title belts. Shandi and Chris got a rematch at
Fall From Grace on June 14, but were again defeated when Caleb pinned Chris. Shandi assaulted Chris after the match and began a brief feud with him. During this feud, Shandi cost Chris the RTX Championship at
World On Fire on July 27. In late 2013, Shandi began stalking Chris's neice, Kimberlyn, and it lead to a match between Shandi and Kimberlyn at
Final Battle on December 13, which Shandi won. Shandi went back to the women's division in early 2014 and captured the title for the second time from Paige at
Reborn on May 17. Shandi went on to be the longest-reigning RTX Women's Champion in company history until she lost the title to AJ Lee at
Hunt3d on January 23, 2015. Shandi took a brief break from RTX until March 7's episode of RTX Xtreme, where she helped Caleb and Chris win the Tag Team Titles. After a few months of feuding with the Revolution, Shandi suffered a shoulder injury during a match against James Storm in November 2015.
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| Shandi making her return to RTX in May 2016 |
Shandi returned in May 2016, and was displaying characteristics of the darker, crazy character she was in the 2009-2011 period. Upon her surprise return at Night 1 of RTX's
Fade To Black PPV on May 9, she defeated Jay Lethal to win the RTX World Championship for the second time, dodging interference by Truth Martini and debuting her new finisher, the Pedigree. However, Shandi would lose the title back to Lethal at a house show only five days later after Martini hit her with the Book of Truth. After disappearing from the title scene for a while, Shandi won her third RTX World Title from Lethal in a rematch at
Fall From Grace on June 11. Shandi made her first successful defense against Roderick Strong on June 18 on RTX Xtreme. At the end of that match she began showing signs of a possible heel turn when she used the tights to defeat Strong. Shandi realized her mistake and gave Strong a rematch on July 2. Shandi defeated Strong, dodging interference by Mandy Leon and hitting two consecutive Pedigrees to win the match.
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Shandi coming to help Chris during the World
Title Match on July 26. |
After this victory over Strong, Shandi seemingly mentally snapped. Many fans believe she has gone crazy. Her first appearance under this new mentally broken character was her World title defense against Chris Hero and Jay Lethal on Night 1 of
RTX World on Fire on July 16. Since that night, Shandi has been displaying vampire-like characteristics, wearing blood-red contacts and even carrying a small vial of "blood" with her to the ring for every match. If she becomes frustrated she spits the blood into her opponent's face. Her title defenses on both nights of
World on Fire were both successful. After defeating Lethal and Hero on Night 1, she defeated Bear and Strong on Night 1, using a sharpshooter on Strong's injured knee to make him submit. On July 19, Shandi gave Strong his final shot at the RTX World Title, and it was a Last Superstar Standing Match. Shandi won with a backflip Shan-End off the top rope through a table on the floor. Despite using the blood in the vial, Shandi lost the World Championship to Chris Sky on July 23. On July 26 at the tapings of the July 30 episode of RTX Live, Shandi defeated Mike Bennett to win a shot at the World Title at
Cold Day In Hell on August 13. Later on that night, Shandi joined the No Remorse Corps during Chris's title defense against Kenny Omega. The Young Bucks attacked Chris and Shandi ran out and attacked them before helping Chris win.
Despite her numerous character changes, despite her current mental state, one can not doubt that Shandi Essick is one of the greatest in RTX History. She has broken numerous gender barriers in RTX, has held the RTX World Championship more times than many men in RTX, and is currently even part of the most dangerous group in RTX, the No Remorse Corps. Any RTX fan will tell you that they enjoy watching Shandi Essick because, with her personality, you never know what will happen next. She is "The Black Widow", "Scream", "The Bloodrayne", and without a doubt one of the RTX Elite, Shandi Essick!
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