Natalya is regarded as a WWE veteran these days due to the length of time she’s been with the company. However, the superstar recently revealed that she almost didn’t get a job there because of her relationship with Bret Hart .
As quoted by Sportskeeda , the former Women’s Champion appeared on Corey Graves’ After the Bell podcast and opened up about the issues between the company and Hart at the time, and how they affected her wrestling career.
“There was so much tension with the family and it did make things a little tricky. Whether anybody wants to believe it or not, and I’ll just come out and say it, in the world — and not just in wrestling but in the world — there’s politics, there’s nepotism, there’s politics.”
Natalya joined WWE in 2007 and made her main roster debut the following year. At the time, Hart still had to make amends with the company, and he didn’t do that until he rejoined in 2009 despite returning for his Hall of Fame induction and doing some voiceover work beforehand.
Hart exited WWE in 1998 following the infamous “Montreal Screwjob” incident at Survivor Series . Even though he was set to join World Championship Wrestling after the pay-per-view, he was angry at having the WWE Championship taken from him courtesy of an unscripted finish. Furthermore, he didn’t want to lose the title in front of a Canadian crowd.
Time to teach this bootleg-pinup, hideous hat-wearing, sad excuse for a LADY a lesson on #Raw . ?? #LastWomanStanding pic.twitter.com/GR4BIqMjyF
— Nattie (@NatbyNature) October 7, 2019
Fortunately for Natalya, WWE put their differences with Hart aside and brought her into the fold with Tyson Kidd and Dave Boy Smith Jr., both of whom are also affiliated with the Hart family. WWE also embraced their wrestling lineage on the screen, and they enjoyed some success with the company shortly after appearing on the main roster.
However, while her former allies no longer wrestle for WWE, Natalya has proven to be a valuable mainstay in the women’s division and was even entrusted to train Ronda Rousey when the former UFC star decided to make the transition to pro wrestling. Any issues that the company had with her affiliation to Hart in the past are long forgotten.
Natalya is also expected to play a big part in this year’s WrestleMania . As The Inquisitr previously reported, she is rumored to be teaming with Beth Phoenix to challenge for the Women’s Tag Team Championships. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross are also expected to be involved in the match for Asuka and Kairi Sane’s titles.