WWE star Natalya was recently interviewed by The Kingston Whig Standard to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Natalya talked about SummerSlam being the “Hart family pay-per-view,” her father’s passing away, and not being pushed around by RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch – who she’ll face at SummerSlam.
Here are the highlights:
SummerSlam being the “Hart family pay-per-view”:
I feel like SummerSlam is the Hart family pay-per-view. (When I think of SummerSlam), I think of one of the greatest matches in the history of SummerSlam, the British Bulldog versus Bret (The Hitman) Hart, SummerSlam 1992, sold-out Wembley Stadium, in front of more than 83,000 people.
For our family, it was just such a special moment. Obviously, most people know that my uncle Davey, the British Bulldog, is deceased, but for him that was one of the shining moments of his career and something that our family still talks about. His kids, they still go back to that match and just how special it was. It was one of the most special matches in Bret Hart’s career as well.
Her father’s passing:
Everybody was very supportive and kind to me when my dad passed away, which was awesome. When you lose somebody that close to you, everybody reaches out and they really, really care. But there were some people – even my coworkers — who said to me, ‘I can’t believe you went back to work five days later.’ I went back to work a day after my dad’s funeral.
Honestly, at some points, I didn’t even know if I could continue wrestling. I was thinking, ‘How do I find the strength to continue doing what I love? How can I, after losing my dad, which was the biggest personal and professional blow that has happened to me, move on? How do I move forward? I felt at times like I was paralyzed inside. I didn’t know how to move on from that kind of deep pain, that deep void.
Not being pushed around by Lynch:
I’m not going to be pushed around, even by Becky Lynch. She wants to talk about how she is the women’s evolution… No. The women’s evolution has been built on the backs of women like me. I wasn’t one of the Four Horsewomen in NXT. I wasn’t in the right place at the right time.
I was part of WWE when there wasn’t the women’s evolution, when women weren’t being featured, when women weren’t at the forefront, when women were having 45-second matches. I was part of the company when we weren’t being highlighted.
I stuck it out through dance contests and diva dance-offs and Santa’s Little Helper matches and 45-second matches with Alicia Fox on Raw, through some really hard times,” she said, adding that she even had to endure a period when her character was known for her flatulence.
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