Natalya says she is not ashamed of being former Divas champion
Saturday 27 October 2018 22:47, UK
Ahead of WWE's first all-women's pay-per-view - Evolution - superstar Natalya Neidhart has hit back at criticism of the Divas division, saying she will never be ashamed of that time in the brand’s history.
That period in WWE has had its fair share of criticism. Rewind three years and there was still a Divas Championship. Twenty thousand fans packed into Bridgestone Arena in Tennessee for Monday Night Raw and not only were five of the six matches on the card men's matches, the only one that involved women lasted a mere 30 seconds.
Fans took their frustrations out on Twitter and started #GiveDivasAChance, which trended for three days straight. In turn, the Women's Championship was born, with the whole division rebranded. The word Diva was banished.
The move marked a big shift in the way that females were presented in the ring. The women's division is no longer a cursory attraction but a respected part of its multibillion-dollar empire. But the criticism of that period in time remains.
"For me I'm very proud of everything I've done. I was Divas champion and I believe in adapting to change," Neidhart told Sky Sports.
"There was a time in the company when we were called Divas and that at that time was the directive of the company. I'm not ashamed of that, I'm not ashamed I was a Divas champion or that I was in the Diva division or that people called me a Diva, or that I even called myself a Diva.
"I'm not ashamed of that because I knew within myself what my ability was and is, and I knew how much I wanted to grow. I was ready for the change and to adapt and evolve and that's where we are today.
"Today we're called superstars and maybe one day we'll have a different name. I love being a strong woman; when I was Divas champion I was a strong woman that wanted more and I was a strong woman that worked hard to be Divas champion."
Neidhart also spoke about her family legacy, saying: "I am the first third-generation female wrestler in the world but when I was winning my first women's championship I recognised my heritage and that I was carrying on the torch as the first woman in the Hart family to be involved in WWE and to be competing in the ring.
"I knew that I was carrying on the legacy of Bret the Hitman Hart, Owen Hart, British Bulldog, my grandfather Stu Hart, my father Jim 'the Anvil' Neidhart ad I knew I had to adapt to change.
"I was never ashamed of being called a Divas champion and I'm not ashamed being called a superstar. I'm a strong woman in WWE."
Neidhart teams up with Sasha Banks and Bayley at Sunday's Sky Sports Box Office event, taking on the Riott Squad at the Nassau Coliseum.
She said: "For me personally it's so special because it's such a long time coming and I love wrestling I was born to do this. It makes me emotional saying this but I was born into a family of WWE Superstars.
"As a woman in WWE and to carry on that torch and be part of the first ever all-women's pay-per-view, it's destiny, and it's undeniable and it's amazing."
WWE Evolution will be live on Sky Sports Box Office from 11pm on Sunday night!
