Natalya participated in Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XIII and won against Miyu Yamashita by submission.
During a recent interview with the Toronto Sun, Natalya expressed her interest in wrestling Yamashita in WWE after enjoying her experience at Bloodsport. She said,
“WrestleMania week isn’t just about WWE, it’s about the wrestling community coming together. We saw that at Bloodsport. That was one of the most fun times of my entire career. I said that to TJ [TJ Wilson] when Bloodsport was done, ‘I can’t even remember the last that I had that much fun. I had so much fun.’ This isn’t taking anything away from WrestleMania, I love WrestleMania, I have a world record for being in 11 WrestleMania matches. Being in WWE, this was my 18th WrestleMania that I attended. I love WrestleMania, but Bloodsport was something so different for me because it was a chance for me to create something completely from me. It was all completely my vision of what I wanted to do. Everything down from my music to my outfit to the people walking with me to the ring, they are my students from the Dungeon that I trained from the ground up. I wanted them there, walking to the ring.”
She continued, “I hand-picked Miyu because word on the street is she is the most dangerous unsigned woman wrestler in Japan. When you think about these greats like Asuka, IYO [SKY], Kairi [Sane], and Giulia. There are so many incredible women that have signed, WWE scooped them up. She is, to me, the very best that isn’t in WWE. The goal for me is to see Miyu get to WWE because she is that good. I’ve never had anybody bring me to my limits like that. She was unbelievable. The match was so much fun. I loved every second of it. I felt like it was a side I had to show everyone what I could do because I’m so hungry. I love what I do so much and I’m not comfortable with just taking a paycheck with WWE. I know there is something to being patient, but I’m to the point of where I need more, I want more, and creating more opportunities. That’s why Bloodsport was so important to me.”
During a recent Fanatics live signing, AJ Styles reflected on his match against LA Knight at WrestleMania 40, expressing a desire for it to have been longer.
Knight won the match, which lasted 12 minutes and 30 seconds.
Styles said, “That match wasn’t as long as I would’ve liked it to be. It was kind of a blur. I have a lot of respect for LA Knight because I feel like he did exactly what I did to get to WWE. When they finally gave him a chance to be LA Knight, he blew up overnight. I can’t say enough good things about his career.”
