Natalya: The Rock Called Tamina And I Before WrestleMania 37 And Reminded Us To Pay It Forward
Natalya reflects on having a multitude of tag team partners in recent years, getting a call from The Rock before a WrestleMania match, and previews this year’s WrestleMania Women’s Showcase Tag Team Match
Natalya is a locker room leader and one of the longest-tenured WWE Superstars on the roster today. As such, she has shared multiple WrestleMania moments with many of the women that have come through WWE. At this year’s WrestleMania, she will team with Shotzi in the WrestleMania Women’s Showcase Tag Team Match.
Speaking with Bleav in Pro Wrestling’s Rick Ucchino, Nattie spoke about the similarities and differences between some of her recent tag team partners. She also noted that before her WrestleMania 37 tag team title match alongside Tamina Snuka, The Rock called them to provide a pep talk and remind them to think about their family dynasties.
“There was something different and special about every one of them,” said Nattie. “Beth Phoenix is my best friend. She and I will always be like tag team partners for life. You know, working with her was so so special. Tamina, because we both come from wrestling dynasties — the Hart dynasty and the Samoan dynasty; is just, it’s magical. She was part of something very special for me in my career, which was being the first women to have two matches at WrestleMania in the same year.
“Before our match at WrestleMania, with Tamina, I think it was WrestleMania 37, The Rock called us right before the match, and he was like just gave us this beautiful pep talk and told Tamina and myself, ‘Don’t forget when you walk out to think about the families and think about how we work so hard to build this, and you guys got to keep paying it forward.’ That always stuck with me,” she added. “His words of wisdom and his advice for us, it just stuck with me that I always have to pay it forward. I know that Tamina did and that I do, and I continue to do that. This year, teaming up with Shotzi, it’s her very first WrestleMania. So to be a part of that with her, it’s so special.”
Speaking about the upcoming match at WrestleMania, “The Queen of Harts” noted that she believes everyone in the match will work together to showcase something special and, reflecting on the storyline between Sami Zayn and Roman Reigns, Nattie says that she wants the women to focus on more the story aspect of wrestling rather than the moves that go into a match.
“I think everybody’s going to work together. I think that’s the beautiful thing about the women in our division is that everyone’s working together to be as productive as humanly possible. I think it’s about building a great story. Think about The Bloodline, for example, one of the reasons why Sami and Roman was so incredible at Elimination Chamber is because they had this incredible story. So I always want the girls to be more focused on the story than the moves,” she said.
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