WWE doesn’t truly value “Unbreakable” Natalya Neidhart
A misguided tweet shows that Natalya is undervalued by WWE
WWE on Fox’s social media account tweeted a popular meme that backfired when it offended one of the pillars of their women’s division.
In the WWE version, 20 women were assigned a dollar value to “build your team”. It seemed like harmless fun until it wasn’t. In the center of the last row is former SmackDown Women’s Champion, Natalya. This row is women on the “one dollar tier”. Also on that row are women that are not as experienced as the former champion.
Due to the backlash, the tweet has been deleted.
Natalya took exception to being “valued” at a dollar. Other women who are or have been champions were placed at a higher value. She said in a tweet, that she has always struggled with figuring out what her worth is. Whether or not you think Nattie should be upset is not the point. She said that it hurt her feelings. No one gets to dictate what another person feels or invalidate those feelings.
Some wrestlers have tweeted in support of Natalya such as Alexa Bliss, Carmella and Brian Myers. However, one half of the Women’s Tag Team Champions, Shayna Baszler, appeared to be taking a shot at her.
WWE has continuously made Natalya a joke
WWE has never really given Natalya the respect she deserves. Too many times, she has been used to put over inexperienced women and/or been the butt of jokes. Remember the awful “farting” storyline? It was cringeworthy, devaluing and just flat out gross.
Even when she was the SmackDown Women’s Champion, she was “the crazy cat lady”. WWE didn’t make her a serious champion. Once again, Natalya was made a joke. They still don’t seem to know what to do her. She was briefly paired with Lana last year and has also tagged with Tamina. Creative forever seems directionless with her booking.
On an early episode of Total Divas, Natalya discusses how she is the one that they always send the new women to. They expect her to show them the ropes about life on the road and backstage. She seemed to feel as if they only wanted her as a role model of how to do things the “right way”, but didn’t care about her in the ring.
This seems to still be the belief of the higher ups considering how they’ve used her since that episode aired. Nattie is seen as the “good girl” because she never talks back and does what she’s told.
Natalya is a third-generation Superstar
The self-proclaimed “B.O.A.T.” (Best of all Time) comes from the prestigious Hart family. She has knowledge from some of the best wrestlers of all time. “The Queen of Harts” is a force in the ring and is highly underrated, mostly because of constant misbooking. Any momentum she builds seems to be stopped almost immediately and the cycle starts all over again.
It’s true that she was one of the first women to have a match in Saudi Arabia, which is an incredible accomplishment. Meaningful opportunities are too far and in between for her and are overshadowed by years of mediocre booking.
If she were a man, she’d mostly likely be booked like Randy Orton. Orton is also a third generation Superstar (BTW, Nattie is the first third-generation woman wrestler) and has been booked like a star since Day One. When he was injured early in his career, there were “RNN Updates”, which kept him in front of the audience’s minds. Since then, he has been one of the company’s top stars. It makes you wonder why Natalya was never booked that way in her entire run.
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Her Twitter header says “Queen of Harts. Unbreakable. Iron Hart. Best of All Time.” She is all of these superlatives, even when she or the WWE doubts her worth.
Natalya has always deserved much better. She is right about being a pillar and a foundation of the women’s division. When all is said and done, she should be in the WWE Hall of Fame. She has paved the way for so many women already. She has guided them in and out of the ring. She is invaluable not only to WWE, but to wrestling. It’s high time that she was treated that way.