Natalya On Why She Re-Signed With WWE, Taking Outside Bookings

Natalya re-signed with WWE last July, and she recently spoke about her decision to do so and more. The WWE veteran appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show and talked at length about weighing her options when her contract came up last summer, taking some outside bookings recently and more. You can see highlights below, courtesy of Fightful:

On re-signing with WWE:“When I was figuring out what to do with my deal, my deal had come up. It was up at the end of June of last year. So I had this huge decision because I was coming out of a five-year deal. Of course, I’ve been in WWE signed and uninterrupted longer than any other woman in WWE history. I’ve never been let go, I’ve never really had an injury that’s taken me out longer than eight weeks. So I’ve been so steady there. I think about it, as far as other people that have kind of had that, I think about The Miz. The Miz and his longevity and how he’s just gone, he’s so stable, so steady, so reliable, and Miz is incredible. I think he’s an incredible entertainer.

“But for me, I think I was reaching a crossroad where I was like, okay, to be brutally honest, I have been screaming for change for myself for so long, and so I was at that crossroad where I was like, I need more, I want more, and the thing about being in WWE for as long as I’ve been there is that it’s very easy to get comfortable. It’s very to go, ‘I drive a nice car and I live in a nice house and I sleep in a nice bed.’ For me, I don’t sleep well. I don’t sleep well because I’m so hungry. I’m so hungry for more. That’s why, one of the greatest luxuries I have in my life is having my own ring and being able to train there and having that outlet. So that is something that I expressed in re-signing is that I just want more. A lot of times, you have to take a chance on yourself. You have to take a chance on yourself, and you have to do things that are risky. I would rather take a risk and fall on my ass than to do nothing. It is better to take a risk and have it fail than to do nothing.”

On speaking with Triple H about her goals going forward: “So I had expressed some of the things that I wanted to do with the powers that be. Triple H was great, he was extremely supportive, he was very understanding. It was nothing against the management that was before him. Because I’ve had an incredible career, I’ve gotten to do so many things. When I think about all the things that I’ve done, having all those Guinness world records, it’s because I’ve worked so much, I’ve done so much, but I’ve just very much needed change. I think change comes with stepping outside of your comfort zone, which is why, in the last month or so, you’ve seen that I’ve taken on [outside bookings].”

On why she decided to stay with WWE: “Because I have a lot of faith in Triple H. I have a lot of faith in his ability to tell stories, and I’ve seen, just in the last year, the entire company is hotter than it’s ever been, ever. We’re hotter than the Attitude Era right now. Every show is big. It’s not just WrestleMania, it’s not just Royal Rumble. Every single show we’re doing is sold out. Every single show is big, and a lot of it has to do with the direction and how we’re telling stories. Prior to this, this isn’t a dig at anyone by any means, but I would be thrown into a storyline that would just last a week or just thrown into a match or just thrown into this or thrown into that. I think I was always, and I still am, a good sport and a good team player. I always want to kind of do the right thing. I don’t like to make demands or throw my weight around or be difficult backstage, so sometimes I would find myself in certain storylines and things that, I knew that they weren’t going anywhere. Whereas I feel like now, the difference is that Triple H really has a vision, and it takes time to get there, and you see that vision. I see so many incredible changes with people like Nia Jax, with Liv Morgan, with Chad Gable. Those are three people that I feel like Triple H has really changed their whole trajectory and turned everything around for them.

“It’s hard sometimes when you may have a certain perception of you or how you are. I think that he is incredible at telling stories with talent, and it takes time to tell those stories, though. You see the very, very slow build. I think that takes time, but in order for me to kind of reinvent, I have to take chances. So my decision to re-sign comes in my faith in the company’s new direction and where we’re going and with new leadership and just the way that we tell stories. So sometimes it doesn’t always happen right away, but I also think that I have to do my part too as a talent. You cannot get comfortable. When I see people tell me they want it and they’re not in shape, I’m like, you’re comfortable. When somebody tells me that they want it but they don’t train, when somebody tells me that they want it but they’re not a student of the game, you have to be watching everything. I watch everything. I watch wrestling across the board because I want to see what everybody’s doing and I want to find inspiration and I want to go, ‘Oh, I don’t want to do that,’ or, ‘Oh, I want to do this.’ It doesn’t have to just be in WWE. But that’s the thing, I think there’s so many opportunities right now with the company being as big as…just the direction that it’s going and the ability to tell great stories that, for me, I’m really excited to kind of dive into that, but in the right way. I just feel like now, with the storylines and the way the company’s being run, everything’s being so much more well thought out, and I feel like it’s such a great opportunity for me to really do what I always wanted to do, which is tell great stories and just be great. That’s exciting to me. That is so exciting to me, to be able to go, ‘I’m in the best shape of my life. I wake up every single day, pain-free. I love what I do, I love the women that I work with, and I just love wrestling, and I just want to be my absolute best.'”