Natalya stopped by “My Love Letter To Wrestling” to talk about various topics.
During it, the longtime WWE star recalled Billy Corgan and Bret Hart convincing her not to quit wrestling in 2006.
“It’s so easy to get in our own heads about, ‘I want this. I want that. I wish I was doing more.’ We all get like that. I think it’s good to strive for more, but also appreciate what you have. Understand the timing and don’t take yourself out of the game. There’s times when we get frustrated,” Natalya said.
“I remember when I tore my ACL, I think in 2006. I was wrestling in Japan. I remember telling Bret Hart right before his Hall of Fame ceremony, I said, ‘I think this is a sign that I need to get out of this.’ Bret said, ‘No, you have to keep going.’”
Natalya recalled meeting Corgan at the WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony in 2006.
“There were a couple of really influential people including Billy Corgan who I met at Bret Hart’s Hall of Fame ceremony. He’s somebody that I’m really good friends with today.”
“A lot of people don’t realize how much Billy was influential in my earlier years of pro wrestling because when I met him, that was in one of the hardest times of my career because I was told that I would be out 9-12 months. I tore my ACL in Japan doing a moonsault. I tore my ACL, LCL, PCL, and shattered my kneecap. It was just a mishap, a little language barrier where I thought I was doing a press, and the person that was catching me didn’t’ take the bump. So I did a backflip to my feet with my legs straight,” she said.
“I remember when I met Billy Corgan at Bret’s Hall of Fame ceremony, we ended up becoming friends. He said, ‘You have to keep going. You have to fight.’ He was telling me stories about his own career and how much he fought. I started listening to more of his music and realized this guy is phenomenal. He produced all this stuff and imagined if he quit.”
“It’s those people like Bret who said, ‘I wasn’t supposed to make it and I proved everyone wrong.’ I just love those stories of proving everyone wrong. I love it. I think it’s the best.”
H/T to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription