Nattie has made it clear that her recent run in NXT wasn’t handed to her. She specifically asked for it, because of how much potential she sees in Jaida Parker.
Speaking on the Busted Open podcast “The Hart Beat,” Nattie explained that she personally requested to Shawn Michaels that she be allowed to work with Parker, pushing back on any notion that she was brought in to take someone else’s spot. She said nobody in NXT asked for her to come down. This was entirely her own pitch, driven by something she saw in Parker that stood out.
A lot of things were accomplished tonight, and this is exactly why I asked Shawn Michaels to please (let me) come and work with Jaida Parker in NXT. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: not a single soul asked me to come to NXT.
It’s not like ‘Oh, she’s being asked to go down there because she’s trying to take someone’s spot.’ I said to Shawn, ‘I want to work with Jaida because I see something in her that is so special.’
Comparison With Jacob Fatu
Nattie went on to describe Parker as having the kind of edge that reminded her of Jacob Fatu, essentially calling her “the female Jacob Fatu.”
She’s got this dog in her that I’m like- I’ve got to test the Nattie character out against her. I feel like, and I’ve said this before, I feel like she’s the female Jacob Fatu.
Nattie was careful to clarify that the comparison wasn’t a knock on any of NXT’s other women, name-checking her positive experiences working with Kendal Grey and Thea Hail as well.
She’s got this edge about her that’s very different from the other girls, and that’s not me saying anything negative about any of the other girls because I loved the match I had with Kendal, I loved the match I had with Thea Hail, and I love the work I’ve done in NXT.
Nattie and Parker are now on a collision course toward a submission match at NXT Heatwave, giving fans a concrete payoff for the program Nattie fought to get.
