Former WWE star Shayna Baszler has warned fans that fake online relationships involving her identity are not a one-off problem, revealing that several people have been catfished into believing they were dating her. The wrestler also delivered a blunt message: going to the police “does NOTHING.”
Baszler shared her experience on X after Deonna Purrazzo went public with her own catfishing story, in which a man drove two hours from Connecticut to meet her at WrestleCon believing the two were in a relationship.
The impersonation scams have repeatedly targeted her, and the victims often refuse to accept the truth even when she tells them directly.
“(Unfortunately common story incoming…) I have had SEVERAL people get catfished into thinking they are in a relationship w/me. They never listen when you try to tell them the truth. And going to police does NOTHING. Document everything and get some sort of security/self defense,” Baszler wrote.
Baszler is not describing a few creepy replies. She is saying multiple people genuinely believed they were in real relationships with her because someone else lied to them online while posing as the wrestler.
Deonna Purrazzo’s Story Sparked The Conversation
Purrazzo’s incident set off the wider discussion. She revealed a man drove two hours from Connecticut to meet her at WrestleCon, then returned the next day to watch her wrestle at a local show.
“Last August, a man drove 2 hrs from CT to meet me at WrestleCon, thinking we were in a relationship. I had let him down gently that he had been catfished. The next day, he drove back to CT to watch me wrestle at a local show,” Purrazzo wrote.
Purrazzo tried to document the situation once she got home, but said Orlando Police told her they could not file a report because the incident did not happen in Florida. That experience, she explained, is why she now trains with firearms, carries pepper spray, and keeps an alarm on her keychain.
Jordynne Grace’s Warning
The thread traces back to Jordynne Grace, who posted a video in which her house could be seen in the background. When a fan commented about wrestlers wondering how people find their homes, Grace fired back directly.
“Come to my house if you want. I have seven dogs and a gun,” Grace responded.
She later added that anyone in the public eye should have some form of security because scrubbing an address from the internet is “virtually impossible.”
Baszler’s message lands as a simple but urgent one: document everything and protect yourself. Catfishing may start online, but it becomes a serious safety issue once someone convinced of a fake relationship starts showing up in person.