"Vince McMahon didn't even wanna make eye contact" - Current star on 5-time WWE Champion's initial treatment
Natalya recently revealed an interesting story about Vince McMahon’s treatment of her uncle, Bret Hart, during his early days in WWE.
Hart worked as a WWE in-ring competitor between 1984 and 1997. While he became one of the company’s top main-eventers in the 1990s, The Hitman mostly appeared in tag team matches in the 1980s.
Speaking on Corey Graves’ “After The Bell” podcast, Natalya claimed McMahon had little interest in Hart at the start of his career.
“Bret Hart was told that he was never gonna make it,” Natalya said. “Vince McMahon didn’t even wanna make eye contact with Bret Hart when he first met him. Later on, Bret would become one of Vince’s most valuable players in the industry, and Bret’s still iconic and still so talked about today when Bret was once dismissed.”
“Everyone has a gift inside of themselves. You just have to find it.” -Bret Hart #WWEonAE https://t.co/8eCgOFKuVS
Almost four decades later, Hart is widely regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers in history. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2006 (individual) and again in 2019 (Hart Foundation member).
Natalya still hopes to become one of Vince McMahon’s top stars
#SmackDown Women’s Champion @RondaRousey and @NatbyNature are about to go to war. 🔥
It's going to be a classic showdown of “Rowdy” vs. Hart for the #SmackDown Women’s Title at #MITB!
Who do you have your MONEY on? 👀 https://t.co/3Hvk1uIxmF
Ronda Rousey will defend the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Natalya at Money in the Bank on Saturday.
Discussing her current position in WWE, The Queen of Harts made it clear she is never content with where she is at in her career. The 40-year-old still hopes to become a main-event player in the same way that Becky Lynch and Steve Austin once did.
“Steve Austin was once dismissed, Becky Lynch was once dismissed,” Natalya continued. “I enter every day thinking that this could be the day that something changes. Also, we’re all kind of in it together. You see people even at the top of the food chain, I’m backstage with a lot of them and we’re all kind of going through the same thing.”
The former Divas Champion added that she often feels “p****d off” in WWE. However, she views that as a positive because it shows how much she cares.
Please credit “After The Bell” and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.