Natalya has revealed that it was Tyson Kidd who helped Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart move on from their legendary grudge.
The two WWE Hall of Famers infamously fell out in the 1990s as they battled to be the top wrestler in the WWE. Their feelings backstage often came out in front of the screen, with Shawn Michaels’ infamous “Sunny Days” promo a prime example of that.
It all came to a head at Survivor Series 1997, in what has become known as the “Montreal Screwjob”. Shawn Michaels locked Bret Hart in the Sharpshooter, before Vince McMahon made the referee ring the bell. This signalled Bret Hart’s exit from the WWE, and he would not return for nearly a decade.
While the pair reconciled on screen in 2009, Natayla has revealed that her husband helped put the rivalry to bed.
Natalya recently spoke with Sports Illustrated and talked about the rivalry between Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. She revealed her husband TJ (Tyson Kidd) helped bridge the gap between the two men.
Natalya is Bret Hart’s niece, and her husband’s connection with Shawn Michaels convinced Bret to eventually bury the hatchet with his long-time rival.
“TJ [Tyson Kidd] had said something to Bret like, ‘I had a really great talk with Shawn and he was awesome and he was so nice to me and he was so nice to Nattie and he was just such a cool guy. He was giving me advice and being really helpful. Shawn had said that he had felt so bad about everything that had happened with you guys in the past.'”
Natalya: Shawn Michaels Felt Bad For A Long Time
Natalya continued, revealing how Shawn Michaels felt bad about the Montreal Screwjob and their rivalry for so long. Once Bret Hart saw how nice he was being to his family, he eventually made the decision to reconcile with Shawn.
“TJ was the one that opened up (the) conversation between Bret and Shawn for them to kind of reconcile. So, we can all thank TJ for being the person that opened up that door because TJ is somebody that Bret really respects, and (he) trusts his word. Shawn was so nice to us and I think Shawn for a long time felt, you know, I think he felt bad.” Natalya said.