Natalya has been an intricate part of the WWE women’s division for more than 14 years, winning titles and breaking Guinness World Records. While on “After the Bell with Corey Graves,” Natalya revealed the common denominator in women who have succeeded in WWE: They all wrestled her.
“I believe that I am at the root of greatness in the women’s division in the WWE,” Natalya said. “Every woman that has done really great things in WWE, with the exception of Bianca because Bianca … these women have started working with me. Like Charlotte Flair, for example, you know, I had a match with her in 2014 when nobody believed in her … I remember having a heart-to-heart with her, saying, ‘The second that I started blazing my own trail in WWE was the second that I started realizing my potential’.”
“Triple H gave us no restraints, he said, ‘You guys won’t have a time limit’,” Natalya said. “It was the first time in my WWE career that I had anybody say, ‘Just go out there and do your thing. Just go out there and make magic … Charlotte rose to the occasion. Triple H let us have our time. We went like, over 20 minutes, we weren’t rushed, we had time to tell a story. I could just wrestle without being afraid, and again, I just felt so proud that I could pass that torch on to Charlotte. I do feel proud of the women I’ve worked with.”
Natalya, daughter of Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart, niece to Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart, and the first third-generation female wrestler in the world, made her in-ring debut in WWE in April of 2008. She won her first championship in 2010 after defeating Michelle McCool and Layla in a Two on One Handicap match for the recently unified Divas Championship. Almost seven years later, she defeated Naomi for the WWE Women’s Championship at SummerSlam 2017 with her uncle’s Sharpshooter submission hold. And in 2021, she won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships alongside partner Tamina Snuka, another woman with a famous wrestler for a father.
Most recently, Natalya has found herself teaming with Shayna Baszler, the woman who helped her train to prepare for her match with Flair back in 2014, and who also happens to be the long-time running buddy of Natalya’s opponent at tomorrow’s WWE Money In The Bank event, Ronda Rousey.
“I’ve held Ronda by the hand,” Natalya said. “I’ll do it again at Money in the Bank when I tap her out and put her Sharpshooter. She’s never been tapped out before, but nobody knows her weaknesses like I do.”
