Natalya Says SummerSlam Is “The Hart Family Pay-Per-View”

– Natalya recently did an interview with The Whig Standard. Highlights are below.

On Competing At SummerSlam: “I feel like SummerSlam is the Hart family pay-per-view,” the always upbeat 37-year-old Calgary native said over the phone with a chuckle. “(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.”

On Losing Her Father, Jim Neidhart: “Everybody was very supportive and kind to me when my dad passed away, which was awesome,” she said. “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,” Natalya said, fighting back tears. “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.

On Paul Heyman: “Whenever Paul was there previously, when he was with Brock (Lesnar) or working with Ronda (Rousey), when he’s been backstage over the last few years, Paul’s somebody that I personally have always been able to turn to, even when he wasn’t in this position he’s in now. Paul built the entire company when he ran ECW,” she said. “He built an entire business off of passion and people. They may not have always had a lot of money in ECW, but Paul knew that he had a lot of people who had a lot of grit and determination and passion. That I respect so much of Paul because he understands what it takes to get to the top even when the resources aren’t there, even when the timing’s not there. Paul’s mentality, which is instilled in me and a lot of the other talent, is to turn every no into a yes. In a lot of ways, it’s funny saying this because I know that Paul plays a different role on TV, but the edginess, the grittiness and that kind of never-say-never mentality that Paul carries, it’s made me almost want to step out of the box and say ‘I don’t want to be so politically correct, I don’t want to always say what the right thing is for the company. I want to say what Nattie feels.

On Becky Lynch: “Becky and I, we share so many similarities. Her journey to get to WWE was not easy. My journey to get to WWE was not easy. We wrestled together 14 years ago in Japan. We met in Canada for a show called SuperGirls. This was our dream. I’m not bashing a Lacey Evans or anybody else for whom wrestling wasn’t their journey, but I wasn’t a model who became a wrestler. I wasn’t a dancer who got a job here. I wasn’t a girl who tried out for this company. I actively sought out my job for WWE. I wanted to be a lady wrestler since I was a teenager. And Becky was the same. And very much like Paige, we started out at a very young age. Becky has this certain grit about her that I have. She has that ‘never say never, do or die’ mentality that you need to make it to the top of WWE. In a lot of ways, Becky’s been super inspiring to me because she didn’t give up. I respect the hell out of Becky, but I am more driven than I’ve ever been because Becky has awoken this part of me.”