Plenty of WWE wrestlers have chaotic stories from their time on the road, and in-ring veteran Natalya is no different. When promoting her new memoir on an episode of Stephanie McMahon’s “What’s Your Story?” “The Queen of Harts” told a hysterical tale of traveling with WWE Hall of Famer Great Khali. The pair had tagged together starting in 2012, but Natalya told McMahon that since Khali couldn’t drive in the United States, other WWE stars were offered incentive to drive him to shows. The star said she jumped at the chance to drive Khali, because he was always “such a sweetheart” to her, but things quickly went south when they arrived to the airport, and got crazier from there.
“We do like a two hour meet-and-greet at the airport because.. everybody and their brother, is recognizing him from WWE, from ‘The Longest Yard,'” she explained. “I don’t want to rush him, because he wants to take pictures with everybody. So, we get in the car. I’m like, ‘Let’s get to the gym. We got to get to the live event. I want to get there early. I want to talk about things with Layla. I want to go over my match.’ Khali says, ‘I’m hungry.’ I was like, ‘Great.’ I’m looking at a Quest bar that I’ve got in my bag from 2018.”
Natalya said that the pair went to a restaurant in San Diego owned by Khali’s friends, who made the a “smorgasbord” of everything they could possible eat. Nattie said that she had plenty of Indian cuisine and it was great, but not something she was used to.
“A lot of different spices,” she explained. “My stomach was starting to turn a little bit… There was so much food that we took some to go, and I was like, ‘This is perfect because I’m about to explode.'”
Road Trip Leads to ‘Awkward Match’
With their food in tow, Natalya said they pulled up to the live event. She explained to McMahon she had to have a conversation with her opponent, Layla, ahead of their bout, as well as the match producer.
“I tell Layla, ‘Listen, no hip tosses. No suplexes,'” she said. “I’m like, ‘I can’t,’ and I’m wearing, spandex is a lot thinner than people realize. I was like, ‘Listen, I can’t.’ I was also starting to break out into a little bit of a sweat because it was spices that I wasn’t used to. So I had a very awkward match with Layla and thank goodness Fit Finlay was the producer and I pulled him aside and I was like, ‘Khali wanted to do dinner prior to this and I’ve eaten a lot,’ and Fit is like, ‘Get through it.'”
Natalya said that after the show, Khali told her he was hungry again after eating their leftovers and wanted to go back to the restaurant, but it was closed. They went to his friends’ house, where they ended up spending the night, much to Natalya’s chagrin. After what she said was an awkward night where she hoped she didn’t have to use the bathroom, Khali told her they were staying for breakfast the next morning. That’s when she said she snapped and told him to get in the car, which she told McMahon was an important story, because it helped her find her voice after being a constant people-pleaser.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “What’s Your Story?” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
