Natalya Talks Total Divas Return, AJ Styles' Son and Her Secret Project | Inside The Ring

Well, I will tell you that the Bella Twins and myself, we have been advocating, pushing, fighting, scratching, clawing, and wanting to bring back Total Divas more than anyone. This is TMZ's Inside the Ring. Welcome to TMZ's Inside the Ring. I'm Branson Quirk, and I'm actually a little bummed that I'm solo today because there's one person on TMZ's Inside the Ring that wants to have you on so bad, and I do too, CJ Perry, which I know you and her are friends. But thank you, Natty, for coming on. Thank you so much for having me. CJ is a very close friend of mine, and we have a very strong history together in WWE. We were like a tag team, and we were on Total Divas together, so she's a very close friend of mine, a very, very close friend of mine. And you got my little, you know, make- I love this. You know, this is actually from a job fair. So TMZ's job fairs, they're like, you're just going to take this, no Inside the Ring background. This is beautiful. It's totally fun. Speaking of Total Divas, actually, I've been wanting to talk to you about this because I am a firm believer that we need to have either Total Divas come back again or something new in that realm. Right. Well, I will tell you that the Bella Twins and myself, we have been advocating, pushing, fighting, scratching, clawing, and wanting to bring back Total Divas more than anyone. Because, you know, a lot of the women that come into WWE that, you know, just started here a couple of years ago, like, you know, Tiffany, well, Bianca's been here for obviously longer, but like, you look at women like Tiffany, Maxine, Chelsea, Bianca. I mean, I look at like, gosh, I meet so many women at the performance center that tell me that they watched us on Total Divas, and that's why they wanted to do this. And Bianca is one of them, Bianca Belair. So it's like, you know, you think about how iconic Bianca is. And she may never have wanted to do this had she not fallen in love with like, man, like, I watched these girls on Total Divas. And then when it was like, you know, Mark Henry scouted her at a meet, like, I love hearing girls that were inspired by the show. So yes, myself, the Bella Twins, we very much, very actively are fighting to bring it back. And I think what's cool now, and I truly believe this, like, the company is more open to suggestions than ever before. So it is very, very cool to be able to say to upper management, like Nick Kahn, for example, like, hey, we got an idea. And to be able to collaborate with somebody at such a high level like that, where you can say, hey, like, Nick, I was thinking about this, or I was thinking about that, or what do you think about this? And Nick will actually take the time for us to explain, hey, this is how it could work. This is why it might not work. It's really cool to be able to do that from a big standpoint. Because of course, we can't do Total Divas without the blessing of WWE. But damn, we want it back. We want it back as much as anyone. I think that you and TJ could have a reality show. We are. And I mean, I think I've seen a lot of your posts and everything together. And I think it'd do super well. Well, we have this crazy, amazing life that, you know, of course, we both grew up in the wrestling business. And of course, you know, the Hart family, it's a very chaotic family, but big, big wrestling family. And then, you know, I love what we do now in the dungeon. Because I was talking last night to Jacob Fatu after his match at SummerSlam. And I was like, Jacob, you are dialed in. And he's got abs and he's just firing on all cylinders. And I was saying, like, Jacob has been training with us for like the last year. And he comes and he drives four hours to get to us. Trains his ass off in a ring with no air conditioning. Because we really like it to be like the real dungeon. No air conditioning. What we have, here's the thing, we got AC. We got AC installed and nobody wants it on. Just go turn it on. So Montez, Dawkins, B-Fab, Liv, Jacob, they don't want the AC on because they're like, we want to sweat it out. But we love what we do at the dungeon. So it's like if we ever did get a reality show, I would also love to feature like what we do at the dungeon because people want that inside look. You know, like where I saw AJ Styles' son, I went and actually watched him in a match against one of the ID students, Marcus Mathers at GCW before I went to SummerSlam yesterday. Wow, I was like, you know what? I'm going to watch AJ's son wrestle because he's wrestling one of my dungeon students, Marcus Mathers. And I went there and I watched him perform and I was like, man, this kid's got it. Like both of them had it. And I went backstage after their match and I said to AJ Styles' son, I was like, you are invited to the dungeon because I want to work with you because you have it. Like he's just got, it's not just about a name. The kid has only been training for four months and he is firing on all cylinders. I'm like, that's passion. Oh, seriously, it's only been that long? Oh yeah, and he's just like, I mean, I haven't even texted AJ Styles about this yet, but I'm going to text you, AJ, I promise. I was so impressed. He was the person that I was most impressed with on the show because he has this energy, this it factor, this I can't take my eyes off of this person type of feel. You know, where you're like, that's a star. Right. No, and honestly, I talked to John Cena just about that exact thing. And he told me that there's no way with AJ's son being that good and training and everything that AJ may not step back into the ring at some point himself, which we would love to see that. I would love to see AJ. I think there's a lot left in that tank. I don't know if you agree with me or not. But, and then like last night, Triple H at the press conference said that, like, you know when someone has it, you see it. Yes. Like when he saw Roman Reigns, he knew years from now that's a future WWE champion. So you see AJ Styles' son as someone that could definitely compete with people as great as today's modern star. Yes, I do. And I think that it's a perfect storm of what makes a star. So it's, you know, it's, it's, it's, you have to have, I think, a few things. You have to look like a million bucks, talk like a million bucks, wrestle like a million bucks, and then have something that can, you know, like transcend, transcend wrestling. So if you have to have at least one of those things, if you have all four of those things, when I say something that transcends wrestling, I think of Bad Bunny. I think of Logan Paul, for example. They have, Logan has such a huge following. Yeah. That, like, he's, you know, people, he's brought so many eyes to the company. And I know, here's the thing. I know Logan Paul has a character on TV, and the world might, you know, he likes to be a heel. 100%. And he likes to be arrogant, and he likes to be, but I will tell you, he is one of the nicest guys backstage. He takes time for everyone. I had a little boy that came backstage that was, was, was, was an underprivileged child. And I brought his family backstage, and I really wanted to give them a great moment. And the little boy walked past Logan's dressing room, and he was like, oh my gosh. Like, he was so excited about Logan Paul. And his dad was like, he follows him on YouTube and all this stuff. So I just knocked on Logan's door, and Logan was getting ready for a big segment on Raw. Logan came out and talked to the kid for 20 minutes. Serious. And just chatted with him. Like, there was no agenda. It was just, like, being nice to someone. Right. And I will never forget that. So Logan, I'm sorry. I'm ruining your bad guy image. But I just thought that was so cool that you did that and, like, made this kid's day. And he'll remember it forever as, like, a core memory. Right. And speaking of people that are 100% heel all the time, like The Miz, you know, all of the things you just said, just take out the nice factor at sometimes. I'm stupid. Yeah. But no, Logan is, is a big deal. Especially, like, it's so different now. And we talked about this on the TMZ show with Harvey. Love it a lot. And how kids, like, it's all different now. You know, like, you've got, like, kids are growing up, like, on Mr. Beast, Logan Paul, things like that. And so they may not recognize someone. Like, for example, Stevo. Right. He says that he walks around and people go, oh, you're that guy from the Mr. Beast video. But it's like, you know Stevo from Jackass, you know? Right. You know Logan Paul, like, from, like, yeah, XYZ. What I love about Logan is that I love that he wants to, like, he's got, he's recovering from an injury. He doesn't have to come to Raw. He could be home because he's still recovering from a pretty serious, you know, arm injury. Sure. Yet he, I saw him in London. He's flying, he's traveling, he's fighting to get to the shows just to be present at those shows. Yeah. So in Logan, I was saying this to TJ. I was like, I would love to get Logan in the dungeon because I think that he is actually more than people realize. I think he's a student of the game. I think he wants to be really good. I think he really wants to get this. But I think that, like, I would love to get him in the dungeon with Jacob, with Montez, with Dawkins, with, like, with our dungeon family and for him to really dial in. Yeah. Because I think that, like, he's got so much to offer, but we could really dial in his wrestling for him and really help him get to that next, like, next, next level. It's easy to think that everyone has it all figured out and everything. And he does paint that picture in the ring. You know, he's quick, he's fast, but people can still work on some things. You never stop working and learning and fighting through stuff. And when Jacob Fatu comes to the dungeon, he's not just coming there for himself. What I love about Jacob is that he's actually coaching others. Jacob has been coaching Tatanka's sons. And so Tatanka's two boys have been coming and training with us for, like, the last six months. And now Jacob, like, because of his level of comfort in the ring, he's also, like, you'll watch him working with them on promos and you'll watch Jacob working with them in the ring. That's what I love is that every single person in this industry should be focusing on not just how to get themselves over, which is great, but also paying it forward. Sure, sure. And we are in a different era. So I'm going to take a little bit of a left turn here and just talk about the modern era. Because I grew up, my era being, like, 2010 to 2020, which is growing up in that era, it's so different than it is now. You know, like, I grew up on you, for example, like, and it was totally different back then. My question for you is, recently Triple H had talked about how the fans are focusing too much on creative. They're focusing too much on, you know, how it's being made in the kitchen and everything, and that they need to focus on the talent, focus on the wrestlers. My question for you is, we have these other mediums now, like WWE, Unreal, for example. So they're showing you the process of creative. They're showing you the process of the writers and everything. So that kind of causes a fan to then try to imagine, get involved in a process. I want to know your thoughts on how that might be difficult for fans to lock in on the talent when you have this whole curtain peeled back in something like WWE, Unreal. And I'm not shading it in no way whatsoever. No, no. I love seeing the behind the scenes. Yeah. But it does open the door to me. Well, it's tricky because it's like, I think, I think, and I feel strongly about this, Triple H's position in WWE is one that I don't, that is one of the hardest, hardest, hardest jobs in the industry. Because you're balancing so much. You're massaging egos of talent. You're, like, there's so much that goes on behind the scenes that people don't know or see. Like, somebody can't make a flight. Somebody's got an injury. Some, this happened. You're constantly just balancing it. The thing is, is like, I think Triple H understands what it's like to be a talent, which I love because he was a wrestler. He was a talent. He was a performer. So he does understand what it's like to be a performer, but he also understands, like, hey, this is a different day and age in this new era that there's so many different factors and things that go into the decisions that we make. We have to handle sponsors. We have to handle, he's got to, you know, he's got to answer to upper management. And also, he's also got to talk to the talent. He's also got to talk to the writers. He's also got to talk to the producers. It is a very, very, very hard job, which, you know, we saw Vince McMahon had decades and decades and decades of experience building it and doing it. So Vince was like, you know, he had his own way that he handled it. But when the curtain is peeled back and you can see a lot of how things go on Unreal, you know, it does, it definitely opens up. It's very thought provoking in the way that you're like, okay, so they've got this whiteboard. They've already penciled in who they kind of want to be where they want to be. But then again, all of these manipulating variables, oh, so-and-so's hurt. Oh, so-and-so has a health issue. Oh, so-and-so's got a visa problem. Oh, this person's contract's coming up. Oh, are they going to resign? Like, it's just so many factors. But I will say as a talent that watches Unreal, but also has been in the company for almost 20 years, I would encourage talent that are fighting to get their spot. Do not take your foot off the gas. Do whatever you can. Don't leave any stone unturned. Don't stop asking questions. Don't stop pitching ideas. Don't stop using your own platform to get yourself over. And build. For me, like, I, you know, I was trying to get over my new character, Natty. And I was, I was, I went to Triple H. I went to Nick Khan and I said, I have this character. I really want to build it. Can I do Bloodsport? Can I do NWA? Can I do Reality of Wrestling? Can I, can I please get booked on Triple A? Like, I really wanted to build the character outside of WWE because I wanted to get the character over. And I, and I stopped at nothing. Even just last week, I did NWA and we sold out the ECW arena. It was unbelievable. But I will not take my foot off the gas. And so that hopefully creates the perfect storm of opportunity when the right position, the right creative, the right storyline come together. Then, you know, upper management like Triple H can see, oh, Natty has not stopped. Like even, even working at NXT, you know, it's funny because there's a perception with a lot of people that, you know, it's like, okay, so they got demoted. They were sent back down to NXT. Nobody ever asked me to go to NXT. I texted Shawn Michaels and said, I want to go to NXT because first of all, I love how he, he's unbelievable with how he books his show. There is, there are more women on the show every week than it's crazy. It's like, you see a list at the makeup area of all the girls that have to get ready. There's like 18 women on the show every single week. But, but I love, I really love what Shawn does at NXT. There's storylines, there's inclusion. And I was like, damn, I wanna, I really wanted to work Jada Parker. I wanted to do a program with her. I wanted to do a storyline with her. And so when I sent, when I messaged Shawn, he was like, we'd love that. And it only, you know, continued to build from there. But like, I have never stopped putting my foot on the gas. And somebody like Chelsea Green is a great example. She didn't put, she did not take her foot off the gas. No matter what creative had for her, whether they wanted her to do 20 seconds, three minutes, you know, 30 minutes, she could do anything they wanted her to do and more. So that's why even for like this women's ladder match at SummerSlam, I'm gunning for Chelsea to win because she's somebody that wasn't supposed to be in that spot and she fought to be in that spot. So talent, don't take your foot off the gas. A hundred percent. Last question for you. I asked you this before, but we didn't put the video out. I wanted to get you in a sit down format. And I get the question to you again, your book, super successful. Do you have another book in you? I do have another book of me. I do want to write another book. I'm working on something yet. From my first book, there's a project that I'm working on that I am not at liberty to say exactly what it is, but it is a derivative of my book. And the company has been really supportive of me doing it, but it is a dream come true. And it's something that I'm like, when I'm able to fully share what it is that I'm doing with my book, you guys are going to be so excited because it's really, really cool. Wow. Gosh, I want to know. It's really, really cool. We want to know. When I wrote my book, let me just say this. When I wrote my book, I always knew I wanted it to be a bigger story and I wanted it to be a story that people could read it, but they could also watch it. So it's very, very cool where we're going with it. And there's some really incredible people involved in it. And I have some great support from WWE, which I wouldn't be able to do this project that I'm doing next without WWE and Nick Khan being super supportive of it. So I'm still grateful. Grateful beyond words. Got my head spinning. Yeah, it's cool. It's really cool. You said a few key terms there, and I'm sure the internet community is going to pick that apart, but really excited to see what you do. Thank you so much. Thank you. Really appreciate it. It was so great chatting with you. Thank you so much. You do a great job. Thank you.