Natalya is set to make history as the first woman to receive the Cauliflower Alley Club’s Lou Thesz Award, and she recently opened up about the significance of the honor. The WWE star will be recognized during the 59th Annual Cauliflower Alley Club Reunion, and she discussed the milestone and what it means to her during an appearance on the “Busted Open Radio” podcast.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On being given the award: “It really is so special because — I was elected to get this from the wrestlers. From legends, from a committee at Cauliflower Alley. There are so many incredible men that have got this award before me, so now to be the first woman to get the Lou Thesz award is just … and knowing what Lou Thesz stood for in the industry and what a pioneer he was. He helped build a foundation for professional wrestling.”
On Stu Hart’s involvement in the Cauliflower Alley Club: “I feel like this is one of those full-circle moments where I really do feel worthy. It’s hard for me to say that because I talk a lot about this with the girls backstage, like, we talk about sometimes we just feel like, ‘Maybe we don’t deserve all of this or maybe we’re not good enough.’ Those doubts creep up in all of our minds. When they called me up and said, ‘Hey, we want to honor you with this award,’ it made me feel like my grandfather had a hand in it.”
On her influence on the WWE women’s division: “I am very humble but I also pride myself on [thinking] ‘We have to continue to build.’ If you look at it, for example, you have an incredible doctor and they know how to cure this or cure that, but they don’t pass along their knowledge, we can’t advance science. I look at that in the [pro wrestling] industry, I think the vets are just as important as the new talent coming in because everybody has a role that they play.”
Bully Ray is on board with the idea of Cody Rhodes and Ron Killings as future challengers for John Cena. While Cena is set to defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against CM Punk at Night of Champions following Punk’s confrontation on this week’s episode of WWE RAW, Bully discussed other possible opponents during a recent episode of the “Busted Open Radio” podcast.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Cody Rhodes deserving the next title shot: “If you follow what’s going on in wrestling and the rules, Cody Rhodes deserves the next shot at John Cena because Cody Rhodes pinned John Cena at Money in the Bank. Maybe if Cody came out [on Raw], Cody would’ve got the match. Now Cody is not the next in line, we get Punk, now we’ll see what happens after Night of Champions and what they will do at SummerSlam.”
On Ron Killings possibly earning a title shot: “I love the idea of what we talked about yesterday of Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena at SummerSlam, with Cody stepping to the side and giving it to Truth. But I also love the idea of Truth because Truth wanted to be taken more seriously, of Truth winning the King of the Ring and earning his spot in the main event at SummerSlam.”
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