Natalya has seen a career resurgence lately thanks to her solid matches at Bloodsport XIII and NWA’s Crockett Cup tournament. They are especially special since fans are seeing a new side of Natalya and now she feels that WWE has typecast her for a long time.
While speaking on Busted Open Radio, Natalya talked about how her 18 years in WWE were shaped by her childhood and family. She said a lot of it comes from not wanting to be like her dad.
Even though she loved her father, he lost his job in WWE several times for different reasons. That made the Queen of Harts want to always be reliable and not take risks.
“But I also think that, like I said—and, you know, not to get too deep into it—but when I think about my life and how the last 18 years have been for me in WWE, a lot of it is centered around tightly woven childhood trauma. It was like… I just didn’t ever want to be like my dad. In the sense that—you know, I love my dad dearly—but he wasn’t always reliable. He lost his job in WWE many times. And like, five different times my dad was fired. And for, you know, a bunch of different reasons. But I always was like, I just wanted to be the complete opposite.”
Because she avoided taking risks, she ended up being typecast as she stuck in the same kind of role over and over. This made it harder for her to get new opportunities or show different sides of herself. Eventually, she realized she had to stop being afraid of upsetting people and start being true to who she really is.
“Sometimes when you don’t take risks and you play it too safe and you don’t take chances, it’s like… you can get typecast. And I got typecast in a very, very safe way where I found that I was getting less chances to take risks. And I was like, I’ve just got to do something different. I’ve got to stop being so scared of pissing people off and just start being me.”
Things are obviously way different now since Natalya has shown she can be an absolute beast inside the squared circle, which was especially apparent in her match against NWA Women’s Champion Kenzie Paige. She’s no longer afraid of ruffling feathers and fans couldn’t be happier for Natalya and so we’ll have to see what’s next in store for her in 2025.
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What do you think about Natalya’s comments on being typecast in WWE? Do you feel her current character outside WWE is her best version yet? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.