In WWE, fans have long known her as Natalya, a respected, third-generation technician hailing from the Hart family. Outside of WWE, though, she is Nattie Neidhart, the “lowkey legend” with a tougher, more shoot-style presentation in the ring. On a recent episode of “Busted Open Radio,” WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray weighed in on the possibility of seeing the more aggressive character debut on WWE television.
“Nattie’s thing is working under their umbrella, under their roof. It’s right there. It’s almost like this split personality,” Ray said. “You could see Nattie doing promos where she tells people, ‘Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like Nattie when she’s angry.’
“… Nattie is being given the blessing to go do Nattie the way you want to do Nattie,” he continued. “They have access to it whenever they want. Fingers crossed that they’re just allowing Nattie to get some more time under her belt with this Nattie character, this Nattie story, with this Nattie creation. But it’s not like Nattie is a spring chicken. It’s time to do something with it. Why wouldn’t you have that Nattie character just show up one day and just start cross facing b****es left and right, dumping them on their heads, completely stripped down in that one piece that she wears? Mouth guard in, hair slicked back, flipping everybody off with her entourage. There is something there.”
With WWE’s permission, Natalya has been able to compete as Nattie in promotions such as Game Changer Wrestling, Reality of Wrestling, and the National Wrestling Alliance. Given past examples, such as himself and Matt Hardy, Ray is not confident that WWE will let Natalya fully present her alter ego on its own company programming. In Hardy’s case, he popularized his “Broken” Matt Hardy gimmick in TNA. Upon his return to WWE in 2017, Matt took on a “woken” persona with some changes.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Busted Open Radio” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
