WWE SmackDown star expected to be out for a long time after suffering an injury during title match - Reports

With WWE now on the Road to WrestleMania, Triple H and Co. will need all their top stars to be available for the biggest wrestling event of the year. However, the company's women's division suffered a major blow recently as Shotzi suffered an injury during a taping of NXT. A new report has provided an update on the superstar's status.

Shotzi took on Lyra Valkyria for the NXT Women's Championship on this past Tuesday’s NXT tapings for next week’s show. However, the WWE SmackDown star suffered a knee injury during the match and the bout was stopped mid-way through. The 31-year-old was also helped to the back.

Providing an update on the situation, Fightful Select has reported that one of their sources told them that Shotzi is expected to be out for a "significant amount of time."

Shotzi was immediately replaced in the title match on NXT as Ava Raine came out to announce that Lyra Valkyria would defend her title in an open challenge instead. The challenge was accepted by Lash Legend, who eventually lost to Valkyria.

---

Shotzi was slated to compete on WWE SmackDown this week

Shotzi has been a part of WWE for about five years now. While she did not get much prominence before, the 31-year-old had recently become a mainstay on the blue brand, even competing in the Women's WarGames match at Survivor Series.

The former NXT Tag Team Champion was scheduled to be in action on SmackDown tonight where she was supposed to face Tiffany Stratton in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match. However, the star won't be able to compete due to injury. Nick Aldis recently announced that she will be replaced by Alba Fyre.

Bianca Belair, Becky Lynch, and Liv Morgan have already secured their place in the women's Elimination Chamber match at the upcoming premium live event. More slots will be confirmed on SmackDown tonight where Naomi will face Zelina Vega while Tiffany Stratton will go one-on-one against Alba Fyre. The last spot will be determined by a battle royal.