Natalya Says She Wanted To Shake Hands With And Hug Rhea Ripley After 7/3 WWE Raw Bout

Natalya got a chance to prove herself on Monday’s WWE Raw as she battled Rhea Ripley for the WWE Women’s World Championship.

Though Natalya was not victorious, the bout was heavily praised by fans and peers with many giving Natalya her props for hanging with Ripley.

Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Natalya was asked how she felt after the match and if she went backstage a bit braggadocious.

“Yes, I did. I went from, going into the match, ‘Okay I can do this, I think I can do this.’ I’m being open and honest about my confidence being rocked since Night of Champions, I fell to a low point. I went into that match on Monday with unsteady confidence. I came out of it like, ‘Yes, I am one of the best women’s wrestlers on the planet, and I can still hang at this level.’ Not only can I hang at this level, but I exceeded everybody’s expectations and going into this match, I think Rhea Ripley underestimated me. It truly felt like a Rocky story. I felt like I was Rocky. Prior to the match, she didn’t think anything of me. She really thought, ‘I’m in there with Nattie, she’s respected.’ She had no idea that I was going to take her to her limit. At the end of the match, what I wanted to do when it was all said and done, I wanted to shake her hand. I wanted to shake her hand and give her a hug. I never got that chance because she beat me up after the match. What I felt was that it was my cry to the world that I could still do this, but I never really lost it. People were like, ‘Nattie really brought it, she had something to prove.’ This has been me the entire time, I haven’t always had that opportunity in the last couple of years, I haven’t had that chance on this stage with somebody like Rhea. It’s been great,” she said.

She continued, “It’s not like I don’t like doing tags, I love being part of a tag team. The stuff that I did with Tamina was awesome and the stuff I did with Shotzi at WrestleMania was fun. To get into a really deep story, I think about my work with Charlotte and Ronda Rousey. I love being a singles competitor and I think about the women that I still want to work with. I want to work at a high level and stay at a high level. Monday night proved that and I’m excited to see where WWE is going to go with me next. We all have to believe in ourselves. You have to have some sort of ego if you’re going to be in this industry. I love being humble and there is a real side of humble Nattie, but I’m also like, I am one of the best women’s wrestlers in the world and I want to go and stay at a high level. On Monday, I brought our 26-year-old Women’s Champion to her knees and made her believe in me, and made the whole world believe in me. I’m ready to stay at this level and prove I belong at this level.”

Following the bout, Natalya said the match on Monday as an apology to herself. You can find her comment by clicking here.

Fightful Select has more details on the match between Natalya and Rhea, including internal reactions.

If you missed anything from Monday’s WWE Raw, check out Fightful’s report on the show by clicking here.

If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.