Shayna Baszler brought a spotlight to Warhammer 40k with her ring gear during all her WWE wrestling matches, and now she has won Summer Slam!
We’ve seen a lot of celebrities talking about Warhammer, or even posting about painting (yeah, we’re still thinking about you, Henry). This time though, it’s a pretty sweet cosplay, and let’s be honest, there have to be people who watch wrestling who would want to play Warhammer.
After winning her match and advancing to the semifinals of the Queen’s Crown tournament, she posted her walkout gear over on her Instagram. She isn’t the only fighter or wrestler who loves nerdy stuff either, looks like nerds are pretty good at the sport!
Shayna Baszler Wins WWE Summer Slam as 40k Black Legion: (August 8th, 2023)
“DEATH TO THE FALSE EMPEROR!!” — Black Legion#warhammer40k #fightingsolveseverything #SummerSlam @warhammer @JoyToyWarhammer pic.twitter.com/DkJTZCRd02
— Shayna Baszler (@QoSBaszler) August 6, 2023
Coming straight from her Twitter (or X now), she shows off the amazing outfit! She does a good job of capturing the feel of the Black Legion, while still making a really cool outfit that people who don’t know anything about Warhammer can appreciate.
If you aren’t a huge WWE fan, she used to be partners with Ronda Rousey, but the two started feuding at WWE Money in the Bank, where Shayna turned on Ronda, causing them to lose the tag team championship. That set up an MMA rules match between the two, and Shayna eventually came out with the win by choking Rousey out with a Kirifuda Clutch (basically an RNC).
The match was fun, and seeing the Black Legion come out on top is great for any Warhammer players! As we said though, this is just the tip of the iceberg for her Warhammer 40k exploits.
Shayna Baszler Warhammer 40k Dark Angels Gear Wins in the WWE: (Feb 22, 2022)
View this post on Instagram
The suit is pretty awesome and hey, there’s a chance she’s might also be one of a Fallen as she has worn a Choas star before, but she never said that was specifically Warhammer. This is really cool to see and her posting it on Instagram might bring some of those wrestling fans over to the hobby fold.
Get The New Sci-Fi Ruler Miniature!
She’s obviously a fan because not only has she walked out with this amazing costume, she’s also repped the Sisters of Battle before while playing a VR game about them fighting in the trenches.
The Battle Sister gameplay looks okay, but again it’s just awesome to see more light brought to Warhammer by somebody who has a totally different fan base. As we said before, it also seems like wrestling fans could be turned to Warhammer. Shayna originally got her start in MMA and if you don’t know, her coach Josh Barnett is also quite the hobbyist himself as well!
Josh Barnett Loves Magic
Josh Barnett has been pretty open about his love for Magic and has been seen at plenty of tournaments. But in the video above, he actually takes on Day[9] in a really competitive game of Magic, and obviously knows what he is doing.
Josh Barnett is also an extremely accomplished fighter, being the youngest (at the time) fighter to hold the UFC belt, won the Openweight Pride Grand Prix, and has amassed an insane number of wins in both submission grappling and MMA.
So yeah, just another group brought to the hobby by a serious badass!
WWE Superstar Shayna Baszler Storms Warhammer World: (February 19th, 2022)
This time, she took Cesaro with her all the way to Warhammer World to explore, as GW hosted them! If you love wrestling and Warhammer, the recent collaborations have been really cool and it’s also nice to see GW take such a good stance on this. Instead of getting mad that she’s been putting the costumes on, they really seem to be embracing it. The outfits didn’t stop there, however.
Even hitting the hashtag of Death to the False Emperor on the post here! It’s just the only way to go when you dress up as a true traitor legion. The good news is not only will she be doing more, but she also says she will be doing them in order!
Does that mean we could see 18 costumes (we know there is technically 20, don’t worry)? That would just be awesome! Now that her love is confirmed, let’s check out the segment that started it all.
What Started the Warhammer 40k ‘Challenge’
Shayna Baszler threw down a challenge from all of the Warhammer hobbyists out there to Graham Norton, and it feels just like a good WWE promo cut! While she was filming a feature for G4, she went on to say how great the community is and that Graham shouldn’t take the Warhammer Community so lightly.
If you haven’t seen the interview that this all stems from, the clip above Graham gives him a somewhat hard time for playing. At the 35 second mark, Graham even says that “He lets his nerd flag fly high,” which, there’s nothing wrong with that. Because at this point, if you talk about Warhammer on national television, you really are flying the nerd flag from the highest of banner poles, and we’re so happy he does!
When he explains the hobby further, Graham makes a little more fun of him and the crowd laughs at the idea of grown men playing with toys. At least Spidey stood up and asked for an invite! Anyway, we all already knew all this.
Now Shayna is also jumping to the defense of Warhammer 40k fans everywhere.
Shayna Baszler Challenged Graham Norton Over Warhammer 40k: (December 14th, 2021)
Do not defame our love of #warhammer40k!!! @WarComTeam https://t.co/UoGAupFho4
— Shayna Baszler (@QoSBaszler) December 10, 2021
She goes full WWE on this challenge and with three other wrestlers behind her, it’s quite menacing. Either way, this is pretty fun and we’ll have to see if Graham responds. Plus, it would be so much fun to see Graham and Shayna go at it in the ring.
Also, more things like this will change the perception that Warhammer is played by normal people, and guess what? It is!
Between the WWE and Hollywood, Warhammer seems to quickly becoming more and more mainstream. Check out more articles on Warhammer going mainstream below!
- Actor Henry Cavill Confirms He’s a Warhammer hobbyist!
- Henry Cavill Proves He Listens to Warhammer 40k Fans
- WWE Superstars Storm Warhammer World!
- Spider-Man Just Asked Superman To Play Warhammer
- Shayna Baszler Challenges Graham Norton Over Warhammer 40k!
- Even The BBC Agrees With Henry Cavill’s Warhammer Love
- Henry Cavill Wants to Make a Warhammer 40k Movie & More
The Celebrities That Play Warhammer Will Surprise You
What brought you to the hobby? Do you think this will bring people to the hobby?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
