Collecting Tank-used III: Her iconic color with TV time & more

WWE star Shotzi Blackheart revisits her old NXT stomping grounds on Oct. 18, 2022. (WWE photo)

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It's one step closer to match-used, but still not there -- yet it's still an iconic piece of a moment for a colorful WWE star.

That's how I'd describe the item in this third installment of a series with a tweaked name -- a tank-driven tangent in my Collecting Game-used series to be more specific -- and it's one that didn't take a whole lot of research time at all before I added this to my collection of memorabilia.

As should be obvious, it's once again from Shotzi Blackheart, who I collect rather seriously in the traditional realms involving Panini America and Topps cardboard, and this item, which came directly from her, also is one that's forever captured in TV history and beyond.

Keep reading to see all the details.

THE BASICS ...
Worn wardrobe: Shotzi Blackheart custom-made green and black Wicked Lester spiked shorts
See it in action: Oct. 18, 2022 episode of NXT (Opening of main promo segment is below -- see even more of it here -- and there there are other clips online from during and after the show.)

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What's Buzz-worthy: There was no mystery with this one, unlike last time, as the WWE's Tank Girl had a photo of her with NXT enigma Quincy Elliott in this gear -- and that was enough for me to easily track down the when and where for this piece and have her add that info with her autograph on the back belt area, which just makes this photo-matched piece even cooler. (See that in the gallery below.) It wasn't a cheap addition, but it was a lot less than a new hobby box of Topps Chrome WWE cards, so I went there as a sure thing for my collection -- and this is my third of five pick-ups for this series. Ultimately, a goal would be to land something match-used from each of her styles/times in WWE that all have varying looks but right now any match-used stuff is still on my radar to a degree since that kind of stuff is more pricey. ... This Wicked Lester custom-made piece comes from not long after she was called up to the Smackdown roster -- gear like this being a sign of that as it's pricier vs. a lot of her previous appearance gear -- and when she revisited NXT in advance of its Halloween show. Why? She's one of the WWE's resident horror movie fans who gets into the season. She's donned many a movie-tied costumes during those shows, including Pinhead from Hellraiser, Tiffany from the Chucky series, Edward Scissorhands, The Joker, Beetlejuice and more for segments. This promo helped set her up as the host of the Halloween Havoc NXT event and her co-host was determined in a match that followed this. ... An extra fun nugget here? If you watch the start of that entrance closely, you can see photographers positioned near the ring for the video and a still photo shared from that quick entrance driving her original TCB Tank (that's Taking Care of Business a la Elvis Presley) that was shared on WWE social channels (also in the gallery) also appears on her 2023 Panini Prizm trading card. You can't really see the green on these spiked shorts, but they're there. It's also all those spikes that made this particular set not one that could be used during a match -- just like last month's item. But, without question, these were worn in the middle of a WWE ring so I'm one step closer.

Next month we'll look at something a little newer -- from a different time in her career.

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>> See all past Collecting Game-used stories from Buzz right here

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