Natalya is one of the longest-serving members of the WWE roster, having made her television debut on SmackDown in 2008. Now, 17 years later, a major change could be coming for the Queen of Harts, according to her uncle Ross.
Speaking on the Wrestling Life with Ben Veal podcast, Ross discussed the grittier “Nattie Neidhart” persona that the WWE veteran has used at non-WWE events. Ross—Stu and Helen Hart’s tenth of 12 children—suggested that WWE could soon be “reinventing” his niece, potentially even bringing her back under a different name.
Speculation about Natalya’s WWE future comes after she was honored with the Lou Thesz Award at the 59th Cauliflower Alley Club reunion. Becoming the first female recipient of the award, Natalya earned high praise from her uncle, who said it celebrates “grit and hardness and real wrestling ability.” Unlike flashy gimmicks, the award recognizes the hard worker who can endure and go the distance.
Natalya’s gritty character has already delivered results in the ring. At WWE Worlds Collide II, Nattie defeated Apache to become the #1 contender for the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship. With more than eight years since her last singles title reign, a victory could finally break a difficult streak for the Canadian star.
On WWE programming, Natalya has recently been aligned with Maxxine Dupri. But with the possibility of a character reinvention on the horizon, her next chapter could mark a major turning point in an already storied career
