WWE star and current women’s tag champion Natalya Neidhard recently spoke with DAZN about a number of different subjects, including how she feels about the publication comparing her to Randy Orton, and how she excited she is for fans to see what WWE has in store for Sunday’s Money In The Bank pay per view. Highlights from the interview are below.
Says she loves being compared to Randy Orton because he is a legend:
“Damn (laughs). For me, I look at Randy Orton, and I really try to watch his work. Randy is just a master of the little things. All the little things he’s so good at, like his mannerisms, his facials, the way he can manipulate a camera, the way he can manipulate an audience. He’s just so good. I would love to be compared to Randy because I think Randy’s the greatest. Bret Hart is my top pick, and I am biased, but Randy really is one of the greatest of all time, so if I was ever compared to Randy Orton, it would be the biggest honor.”
On fans coming back for Money In The Bank:
“It’s hard to believe that it’s finally happening after the last 16 months of dealing with everything that we’ve all gone through and endured during the pandemic. This SmackDown coming up is the first time we’re going to have fans but knowing that we have a pay-per-view two days later, Money in the Bank (that is) sold out, it’s huge. It’s emotional thinking about it. It just gets me feeling all sorts of ways that I haven’t felt since WrestleMania. I remember crying both days of WrestleMania because I was like, ‘This is crazy. We actually have people that are going to watch us at the shows’. I never ever took our WWE Universe, our fans, for granted, ever. But we didn’t realize just how much we needed them, especially when you’re a performer. You need their energy. You need to feel the adrenaline. You need to feel the rush of the crowd, whether they’re cheering for you, booing you, laughing, crying, screaming, whether you’re throwing your shirt at them or pointing to them or making eye contact with them when you’re cutting a promo. It’s all those things that we’re trained to have that we didn’t have. So it’s going to be unbelievable. There’s going to be huge surprises at Money in the Bank.”
On the future of the WWE women’s division:
“I don’t think we can pinpoint just two women. I think that they’re both awesome. I think they’re both different and have different journeys. We need each other, and you can’t just have one or two women being the future. I think we need a mix of everything. We need veterans. I don’t want to compare myself to Randy Orton because I think Randy Orton is the greatest pro wrestler, really one of the greatest of all time, if not the greatest of all time. But you need to have a mix of people that can take their equity and pay it forward, like with Randy and Matt Riddle. You see a little bit of it with that pairing. But I think that you need a mix. It’s so exciting to see this influx of new women coming to WWE, from (Tegan) Knox to Piper (Niven) to Toni Storm. She better stay out of my way because that’s another dream match that I’d love to have. You see this influx of new women, even with Eva Marie coming back. It’s a bunch of women that you are like, ‘Okay, let’s see, we got some fresh girls. Let’s see what we can do.’ But that’s where you have your veteran talents step in and really help kind of navigate the waters and bring that experience, which is what I’ll be bringing to Money in the Bank as well. I think Bianca is awesome. I think Rhea is incredible. I think that these girls are definitely going to be a huge part of the future of WWE and what I love about both of them is that they truly do respect the women that have paved the road for them. So I definitely will give them credit there as well.”