Natalya On Competing Outside WWE, Difference Between Natalya & Nattie Neidhart

Natalya has been able to do a number of matches outside of WWE as Nattie Neidhart, and she recently reflected on getting those opportunities. The WWE veteran has competed for Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport, in the NWA and in AAA, where she faced Faby Apache at TripleMania XXXIII. She spoke about getting those opportunities and her brutal match at TripleMania in an interview with DS for Ring the Belle.

On competing outside of WWE: “I think it is about trust, though. You know, they know that I’m going to deliver and I just feel like the women have come such a long way. And like, Vince McMahon gave me so many opportunities, Triple H. We’re working on some opportunities right now, which is really exciting. And like, if it wasn’t for Triple H, I wouldn’t be able to do all this stuff outside of WWE. Which, I said to him the other day at TripleMania. I walked up to him and I got emotional, and I was like, ‘Thank you so much for letting me be Nattie. I needed to be Nattie.” And I still want to — like, I want to do a lot more with Nattie. But I said to him, I was like, I never would have been able to do that outside of WWE had he not given me that permission to do that.”

On her match at TripleMania: “I had a little talk with Undertaker right before I went out. When Undertaker asks you to do something, you do it. I’m not going to say what he asked, but I made sure that Nattie was alive and well that night. I will say Taker was a big inspiration for me to really just unleash. And um I’m happy that Triple H and Taker and Shawn and the powers that be, everybody was there to like really see that Natty character come to life.”

On the difference between Natalya and Nattie: “Well, I think everybody has two different sides, you know. First of all, I’m a Gemini. So, Geminis have two different personalities. The thing about Natalya is that she’s going to be a team player. She’s safe. She wants to help everybody, she wants to elevate. And she survived, she survived a lot. She survived an era where we were — you know, women’s wrestling wasn’t always encouraged, but she did whatever she had to do to survive.

“Nattie [is], I have no sympathy for the weak and I’m like a vigilante. I really don’t — when it comes to, when the bell rings? Everybody can go f**k themselves. Make sure you use a little ‘bleep’ when you when this airs. Faby Apache, she is so respected in Mexico. You can feel that she’s got the soul of a fighter, and I wanted to remind her of who I am. And she learned. She learned and you showed the world that too.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Ring the Belle with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.