On this week’s “After The Bell With Corey Graves,” Natalya talked about striving for perfection in WWE, as well as suffering from an eating disorder.
Natalya talks about why she strives for perfection in WWE:
“I mean, for me, I believe in being consistent. I believe in being reliable. I believe in being there for the company. I love what I do. I’ve grown up around this my entire life.”
“My dad was fired by WWE like five times. It’s not a sob story at all. It’s just the truth. Growing up, my dad couldn’t hold down his job in WWE, while my uncles Brett and Owen and Davey, they were able to sustain a longer, more successful career. My dad really struggled to keep his job because he battled a lot of demons, and I grew up with that my whole life. I grew up with that instability of my dad doing great, my dad losing his job, my dad doing great, my dad losing his job,” she said.
“So for me as an adult and getting into the industry, I had this different perspective than every other girl or guy. I greatly wanted to succeed in the industry that my parent struggled in. I love the connection that my dad and I have together in the ring. We shared that bond.”
“But I know that my dad struggled to have success in this industry so it gave me this different perspective that I had to succeed in it, that I had to be perfect, that I had to be there for everyone, that I had to be good at everything, that I had to leave no stone unturned, that I had to make Vince McMahon happy at every single corner of my career.”
“It makes me emotional talking about it, but I kind of became the company girl. That’s actually something I’ve never really talked about before, but it’s true. I became the company girl. You need her to fart on TV? She’ll do it. You need her to be a babyface tonight? She’ll do it. You need her to be a heel tonight? She’ll do it. You need her to wrestle Doudrop on the other show even though she’s on SmackDown? She’ll do it. She’ll do whatever you need. You need a match in 10 seconds? She’ll do it. You need a match in ten seconds? She’ll do it. You need a match in three seconds? She’ll do it. Nattie is the company girl. I’ve been that way for so long and it’s definitely kept me in WWE for 15 years. Talent, drive, passion, work ethic, being reliable, being consistent, but in some ways it’s actually hurt me too because I’ve been the girl that’s been afraid to take risks. I’ve been the girl that’s afraid of pissing anyone off backstage. I want to please everyone, especially Vince McMahon.”
On having an eating disorder before becoming a wrestler:
“Well, for me, like, you know, my eating disorder started after my uncle passed away. It was a very tragic time for our family after my Uncle Owen passed away, I should clarify that, but after Owen passed away, our whole family just went through this really traumatic time. For me, it was about gaining control. I was trying in some way in my life to gain control.”
“That summer, I had lost 40 pounds in two months and it was really extreme. I went through this struggle for about three years. I didn’t see any problem. I couldn’t see it. Now when I look back at photos and I look back and things, I’m like, ‘Gosh, I can’t believe I lived that life. I can’t believe that was me.”
“The thing that changed for me, the turning point for me, was wrestling. It was when I decided that I wanted to start wrestling that I realized that I couldn’t be that skinny. I was wearing kids clothes. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t bump.”
“My first experience in pro wrestling was hosting this show, actually, Eric Bischoff was in charge of it, called Mat Rats. I remember my cousins, Teddy Hart and Harry Smith, and of course our good friend Jack Evans, and TJ, who’s now my husband, they wanted me to do this run-in on the show. I had to do a move off the top rope. I remember practicing and training and trying to do it and I did it. But I remember everything really hurt because I had no meat on me. I was just emaciated. So I realized, like, I love this wrestling thing. I want to do this wrestling thing. I feel this, but I can’t do it if I’m anorexic. I just can’t do it. My body can’t sustain it. So wrestling was really what I feel like changed my life, changed my career, and kind of saved my life. I wanted to succeed in wrestling more than I wanted to be skinny and so everything changed for me after I made that decision and came to that realization that I couldn’t be skinny and wrestle, like I couldn’t be rail thin,” she said.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit “After The Bell” with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
