This past Sunday at SummerSlam, Natalya defeated Naomi to become the new SmackDown Live Women’s Champion. Nattie recently spoke with the Calgary Eyeopener & shared her thoughts on becoming the new face of SmackDown Live’s women’s division.
Natalya: “It was just a surreal feeling to win my first ever woman’s championship and to do it in front of the world, [World Wrestling Entertainment] is in over 180 countries. Anybody that was watching SummerSlam on the WWE Network or on pay-per-view could see me win the championship. It was something I wasn’t expecting.”
“I do feel like I’m following in my family’s footsteps. We all share this passion for wrestling and the WWE, so it’s just very, very cool and surreal to carry the torch they passed me. I was the first girl, my father was very apprehensive about me being a wrestler when I started wrestling, as my dad knows how physical it is. He used to play football and he was a shot putter, he didn’t want me to get hurt. But then, when he saw my first match, he was my biggest cheerleader.”
“I remember telling him on my first trip to Japan: ‘I don’t know if I’m good enough’. I just feel like everyone expects me to be as good as you and I’m worried about disappointing the fans.’ “Bret said, ‘You know, Nattie, you’re so different, you just have to embrace that you’re blazing your own trail’ and so those words have always been with me. Right now, women are at the forefront of the WWE and it’s just a great time for us.”
