Natalya is incredibly proud of her match against Charlotte Flair in 2014.
The former Women’s Champion helped bring forth the “Diva’s Revolution” with that match at NXT Takeover in 2014. The pair fought in the final of a tournament to crown the new NXT Women’s Champion, since Paige vacated the belt after her main roster call-up.
This match has been lauded as an all-time great match, and one of the best in both women’s careers. That is something Natalya definitely agrees with.
Natalya spoke with The Wrestling Classic about her bout with Charlotte. She said that that match helped her make her mark on the WWE, and that it was one of the few opportunities she had to wrestle a longer match on TV.
“It was such a huge honor”
She also noted that it was the first time she wasn’t afraid to put on a great match and go over time, thanks to Triple H’s reassurance.
“I really felt like I had made my own mark in 2014 when I worked with Charlotte at NXT. It was such a huge honor. Triple H had asked me if I would want to do that, and again, I jumped at the chance. I was just dying to show what I could do. It was so hard to get an opportunity to wrestle for longer than a couple of minutes on TV. Sometimes the women’s matches were very short. It wasn’t like anybody was trying to be disrespectful in any way, but that’s just the way it was back then. We were all fighting, scratching, and clawing to get anything.”
“So, when I was given this match at NXT against Charlotte Flair. I’ve said this before, but it’s important to reiterate. Triple H said, ‘You guys don’t even have a time limit.’. I had asked him, ‘How long do we have?’. He said, ‘Roughly about this, but if you guys go over or whatever, don’t worry about it. I just want you guys to tell a great story.’. It was the first time in my career that I wasn’t afraid to go over time. I wasn’t afraid to go heavy, I wasn’t afraid that I would have to meet some time limit. We had the freedom to tell a great story, and I appreciated that so much.”
“I’ll never not be proud of that match”
Natalya echoed that same sentiment in a recent interview with WrestleZone. She called her 2014 TakeOver match with Charlotte a shining moment in her career, explaining how big of an opportunity it was for her.
“I love the match that I had with Charlotte Flair in NXT in 2014, at the Takeover. I watched that match, and it was when Charlotte was just getting started in WWE and it was her first big moment,” Natalya explained. “I’m so proud of that match because I was able to bring something special out of myself that I wasn’t able to show before. When I started in WWE, we were fighting for everything. Scratching, clawing, fighting tooth and nail to have anything.
“Triple H gave me the opportunity to have a match that was 20 minutes long. I’d never had that before, I never had the chance to do that,” she continued. “And then to be able to pull something out of Charlotte that she didn’t know she had inside her and to help her discover what an incredible performer she would become, it’s one of my shining moments in my career, and I’ll never not be proud of that match.”
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