← THE ED MYLETT SHOW
THE ED MYLETT SHOW
WWE’s Two-Time Women’s World Champion: Nattie Neidhart on Life, Loss, and Legacy
00:52:44
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Transcript51 lines
- [00:00]
A
All right, guys, welcome back to the show. So people ask me all the time, do you have favorites that have been on your podcast? And out of like 800 shows, I'm not going to lie to you, I have a few people that I just loved when I met them, like right away. And this woman is one of those people. I regret that we're doing this through Zoom today because the last time I think we had some wine in my wine room in my bar after we did the podcast with my family. But. But we're going to do it through Zoom today. And the reason I wanted to have her on is she's got a new book out first. Let me tell you name of the book and then I'll properly introduce her called the Last Heart Beating. And I read this entire book in two nights, you guys, and I couldn't put it down. It's that good. And she's a WWE legend. She's the, she's the most tenured WWE wrestler of all time on the women's side. And you guys all know I'm a huge fan of wwe. It's. This is not a wrestling interview. This is a life interview. This is an overcoming dysfunction interview. This is a self worth interview. It's actually a little bit of a spirituality interview too. And how to persevere and win because she's won big time in her life. She's only in the Guinness Book of World Records like six times. And she's just a historical figure in the industry that she comes from. She's loved by everybody that knows her. Dwayne Johnson, the Rock wrote the foreword, and when I read Dwayne's words about her, I just thought, man, I could have written the exact same words because I feel the same way about her. So, Natty Neidhart, welcome back to the show.
- [01:20]
B
And you're so sweet. Thank you so much. So much for having me on. I can't thank you enough.
- [01:25]
A
Well, I love having you on. It's been too long. It's been a long time. So let's talk about the book. Obviously, probably, I don't know, half my audience is probably WWE fans. The other half are not going to know some of the things we're talking about. So I want to navigate those two worlds pretty well. But what I want you all to know, first thing about Nadia, she comes from royalty, literally in the industry that she comes from. So whether it be her uncles, her dad, you name it, like, it's, it's a legendary fam, I think it's safe to say that there's the McMahons and there's probably the Hart family in terms of legendary families in the sport. So the first thing I wanted to ask you about. This sounds like an odd place to start, but you have dominant figures in your family, right? Like your dad was a dominant figure, Bret Hart's a dominant figure, Owen was before he tragically passed away. And it's difficult when you have a dominant person in your family to stick your own head up in life. So a lot of people listen to this. Maybe it's their dad, he's just a strong figure or their mom was a, you know, an imposing figure in their family. Or you know, you got a grandfather who everybody talks about in a family. And a lot of times I worry about this with my own kids sometimes. Daddy, I've become pretty well known guy. Does it, does it cause my kids to play small in their life? You talk about this exact thing in the book. So can you speak to that? Was that difficult to poke your own head up and not, you say in the book, like the tendency was to want to be small and think small and play small in your life?
- [02:50]
B
I mean, that's a great question because it's really, especially initially in the book, it's really addressed. And like when you look at my family, it's like my grandfather was legendary. He's a WWE hall of Famer. And then of course, and he built everything. He was the root of greatness, like he was the root of the tree so that we could all be the branches on that tree. So he was just. And then you look at the legacy of Bret Hart and the legacy of Owen Hart and the legacy of my dad who is a WWE hall of Famer. And then my uncles, the British Bulldogs. And so you have this family of greats, but they're all men as well. So they're these really strong male legends. And so for me, growing up in this family, I was the first female in this family to actually compete in the ring. And I'm going to be brutally honest, I was probably the least likely to make it, the least likely to survive.
- [03:45]
A
Why?
- [03:46]
B
Because pro wrestling for such a long time, it's been very much a male dominated world until really the last five, ten years, it really, really started to change around, let's say 2015, when WWE put more of a focus on women, but culturally, women in sports, things just started to change. You know, you saw more of a prevalence with women in sports, not just in wwe but just like around the. So it took many, many years for it to Change. But when I was growing up, you know, in the 80s, 90s, it just. Women just weren't around WWE much. There was just a few, you know, a few and a few far. Like there was maybe five women involved in WWE, like in a great way in the, in the 80s. And then in the 90s, maybe a little more. And then the early 2000s, we started to see more. It's just the evolution of the way that women were kind of featured because again, it's professional wrestling. We saw, you know, the likes of Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior and Macho Man Randy Savage and of course my whole family doing, you know, my dad was part of the very. He was in WrestleMania 2 with Andre the Giant. But, but my family has done so much incredible work. But again, it was all males. So for me growing up, I was like, do I stay small to fit in or do I get big to stand out? And so that's one of the things I love so, so much about the book is that I, in writing the book, I was really able to explore that like, like almost do a deep dive into like psychology. Like, what made me want to do this? What made me want to run hard with it? And what, like, how did I find my voice? Because for so, for so much of my youth and teenage years and my, you know, being an adult, like, especially navigating my way through WWE in this very, you know, very strong male dominated world, I didn't feel like I had a voice. And so as you get through the book and closer to the end, that's one of the things I love about the book, was that I really found my voice. But I went through a lot of shit to do that.
- [05:45]
A
I always try to relate when someone's famous or successful, frame it to the person who's listening to this. And a lot of people are like, you know, I don't, I, I'm more comfortable being small or, you know, my grandfather's the legend in my family or, or, you know, I didn't even know what my message or my voice would be. You know, I didn't, when I was young, I was just going to work. I didn't even know what my message, like, who am I? What's my message going to be? And that's why the book is so good. You think you're about to read a book about, you know, just your family, which we're talking about a minute, which is an incredible story, but you really don't. You're really looking almost like a master class on confidence and identity. And in spreading your wings and becoming your own. So what is something you'd share with someone who feels that way? I'm small. I'm always going to be small. I'm invisible. I'm always going to be invisible. How. How did you change that? Like, literally, how did you do it?
- [06:39]
B
These are just such great questions. So really the first time that I could identify with, like, hey, I need to be bigger. I need to do more. I want more. I need security. It was in my early teens when my dad lost his job. We lost everything. And I talk about it in the book. We weren't homeless because my grandfather opened up a room in his house for my mom and my sisters and I to live. So he only had one bedroom left. And so it was my mom's old room when she was a little girl. So in his house, of course, was built. You know, the Hart house was built in 1905, so it was a very, very old house. But it was my mom's room when she was a little girl. There was just one bed, and it was just all that he had left. So my dad had lost his job in wwe. We moved into the hard house, and my mom and my sisters and I, we shared that bed for a couple years. And so a lot of people don't know that, like, granted, we weren't homeless, but we were not far from it. And my dad had lost everything. So he went from being this big famous superstar in WWE to all of a sudden, us, like, losing everything. Our car was repossessed. Our home was foreclosed on it. We didn't have anywhere to go but to go back to that. To my grandfather's house, go and live in that room. And I love the security that my grandfather offered because he. He was so warm and so loving and so comforting. But if we didn't have him, we would have been homeless. And so what was really cool is that right outside that room, the window in that room of my mom's bedroom when she was a little girl, outside the window, you could see the wrestling ring. My grandfather had a wrest ring on his lawn. He built it, designed it, and then he left the ring on his lawn during the summers because he, the kids and everybody, it was like. It was like. It was our North Star. It was our foundation, it was our anchor. So when I would look out the window, the first thing I would see was the ring. And I didn't quite know, like, I didn't know exactly why I was feeling the way that I was feeling, but I was Drawn to that ring, like, it felt like somewhere down there, something was going to save me. And so when my dad lost everything, I realized from a very early age that I had to create my own stability. So I got this job, and I love writing about my job. My first job was at a restaurant. I was a bus girl. I cleaned tables, I cleaned urinals, I cleaned bathrooms. I was a dishwasher. I loved that job because it was my first real taste of independence. I could work hard, and the harder I worked, the more security I had so that nobody was going to take everything I had, you know? And so while my dad was falling apart and struggling and battling all sorts of demons, I realized from an early age that I could. I could. I could rescue me. And so that's where my real first love, like, started to develop for wrestling. Because I realized looking down at that ring from that window in the room that my mom and my sisters and I were sharing, there was something down there that was going to save me.
- [09:42]
A
Wow, Mattie, I'm picturing you at that age. Gosh darn it, you got me right there. I think one of the reasons I connected with you, there's a. I wish everybody knew this about you. She has every reason in the world at this point in her life to have a really big ego. I mean, she's a legend in a legendary business, and she's one of the most sweet and kind and humble people you will ever meet. And yet she's strong. It's not. It's not a weak kindness. It's a strength in kindness that Natty has. And I think the reason that I connected with you is. I think I want to talk about family trauma a little bit, because most people listen to this, they come from some dysfunction in their family. Right. Our dads remind me of each other a little bit in the sense that my dad. When I was growing up, my dad was alcoholic and drug addict and just dysfunctional. Now, my dad. I got the blessing of seeing my dad really change at about 50, 15, when I was about 15. So I got two different dads, literally. But in the book, you talk, I mean, openly, like, more than you ever have before about your family and some of the dysfunction in it. So if you would share some of that, because there's no way in 45 minutes that we're going to cover enough things. People need to get the book to hear the whole story, Right? Tell us a little bit about your dad, and what do you think that imprinted on you in any way how it affected You.
- [11:05]
B
I dedicate the book to my dad. So, like, when. When you see who I wrote it, I. He. He was. I dedicated it to him. And because he's a very important part of my story, he shaped me. He. He was. I loved him.
- [11:17]
A
He.
- [11:18]
B
He loved me, but he also hurt me. And so it's important for me to share with others because this book could be the. You know, it could be a handbook for somebody else's, you know, survival and so many people. It's like, when I wrote the book, I was like, that's where I really struggled because I was like, I'm sharing stuff that's so personal and so deep, especially about my dad, and I don't want to betray him by sharing these intimate times that, like, my dad broke my heart, or my dad was struggling with drugs, or my dad was, you know, struggling with substance abuse, or my dad was falling apart, or he kept losing his job. Like, I kept. I kept thinking, like, oh, I don't want to, like, look like I'm exploiting my dad or exposing him, but I have to be able to share what we were going through, because there's a great part on the other side of that. There's a lot of hope on the other side of that. So, you know, my dad was living most of his adult life with a brain injury. I didn't know that until after my dad had passed away. The brain injury really stemming from my dad playing football. My dad started playing popcorn or football when he was 11 years old. And so growing up, my dad would tell these stories about, you know, he would get his bell rung and he would. His coaches were so proud of him, though, because he just kept playing. He just kept going back out on the field. He just kept pushing and pushing and pushing. And my dad was so proud of that. Like, it was like a badge of honor for him. So in his teens, he was just, you know, playing football super hard and overexerting himself. But, like, he would brag about that. Well, come to find out, years and years later, it would affect him for the rest of his life because, you know, he lived his. His adult life with a brain injury. And so when we were kids and my dad would continuously. He would lose his job. He probably got fired from wwe, I'd say, five times. He just couldn't keep a job. He. He would miss shows, and he had behavioral issues. And when you're a little kid or a teenager, like, to me, I didn't. We didn't know what was going on. We just saw that My dad was struggling with substance abuse, so we were just like, why can't he get it together? He just doesn't love us enough. Like, I, I just thought my dad didn't love me enough. It, it. When I found out more of what was going on with my dad and that's why I wanted to write about it because he was dealing with so much more. It taught me so much about compassion. You don't always know what somebody else is going through. You don't always know what's behind the scenes. And I realized like, man, my dad was doing so much just to keep it together. He was dealing with anxiety and depression and, you know, all of this other stuff. And in the 80s with these big athletes, you know, like my dad, he's a 300 pound man. He's a barrel chested strong guy that played in the NFL. He, he wrestled in WWE. He was, when my dad was 18 years old, he was the number one shot putter in the United States. He was just a world class athlete, but he was dealing with so much more underneath all of that. But again, like, to be able to talk about this and to say like, yeah, it wasn't because my dad didn't love me. He was dealing with something so much deeper. You know, he, he broke my heart. I broke his heart. I, I just, I love being able to share that in the book because so many people are going through, you know, a lot of people are caretakers for their parents and people don't know about that. Like, I was trying to succeed in wwe. I was trying to make my mark and leave, you know, do what I love in that company while dealing with this private battle with my parent that was, my dad was dying for a long time and I couldn't share it with anybody. Instead I would just open up Twitter and see, oh, like my dad was arrested this afternoon. And then I would have to deal with that and I'd have to go to work and be like, I don't like. And I, I love being able to share that in the book. Like, that was hard too. Like going to work and me being in WWE and then having to explain like what's going on at home. If news broke that something happened with my dad, which it constantly was, you know, but now it's like, I think the book also paints my dad in a very sympathetic light because I, I really forgave him after he passed away. And we were able to unlock a lot of what was going on and to be able to speak with specialists and to be able to understand that, you know, those early years of trauma, playing football with no helmet and getting, you know, I don't want to get too into it, but because we only have 45 minutes. But I understand everything more now. And I realized that my dad was just doing the best that he knew how to do and deal with at that time. So it helped me, it helped me to write about it.
- [15:33]
A
I think you really honor. So hey guys. You know, when I started this podcast, there was all this stuff I had to do. I had to shoot stuff, I had to post it. And when you're doing something new, it feels like the to do list continues to expand over and over and over again. So what you need to do is to find a tool that simplifies everything. And that's why I love Shopify. Shopify is the commerce tool that helps you simplify and organize all the things you're doing online. And by the way, you can get started with your own design studio with them. Hundreds of ready to use templates. Shopify helps you build a beautiful online store to match your brand style, accelerate your content creation, which is huge. Everything you need from managing inventory to international shipping, processing returns and beyond. So if you're ready to sell, you're ready for Shopify. Turn your big business idea into With Shopify on your side, sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com mylet go to shopify.com mylet shopify.com/mylet isn't it easy once you stop doing something to realize, oh, that was working and you don't realize it until you've stopped. And so if you've been looking for something easy to stick with, that actually makes you feel better, this might be for you when you look what's an image Daily Ultimate Essentials drink. It brings together 92 high quality nutrients. What's wild is it actually replaces 16 different supplements so you don't have to juggle all these pills and stuff. You get it in one IMA drink. So give your body what it deserves. With ima. Go to IMA Health.com ED and use code ED for a free welcome kit. Five free travel satchels plus 10% off your order. Seriously, this is one of those offers you'll wish you jumped on Sooner. That's I am8health.com ED and use code ED for a free welcome kit. Five free travel satchels plus 10% off your order. I am8health health.com ED code ED these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and drug administrations. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease in the right way. By the way, I struggle with the exact same thing with my dad. When I sell some of these personal stories, I don't want to demean my dad or right them in the wrong light. It's really, when you're a public person, it's difficult to navigate between wanting to be transparent and authentic and vulnerable and tell the truth at the same time. Protect. But what you did in this book that I, I hope I done a little bit, like, because you were so honest, it's going to help far more people. You didn't sugarcoat it. It wasn't washed under the rug, so to speak, or swept under the rug. I wanted to, you know, I wanted to ask you a little bit about, you know, I think of you, I think of, you know, a lot of things that you went through in order to be successful. And you guys, you just need to know this. Other wrestlers that I know over the years, when I ask like, who's the best? I'm talking about like skilled at her craft. Most of the women and many of the men, if they end up naming a woman, it's, it's natty. Just so you know. I'm talking about like skilled at her craft. She's known as like, great at what she does. And there's a lesson to that because, you know, I want to figure out how the heck you become you. Because it was dysfunctional and it's great. You know, one of the lessons that you have in the book that I just want to say back to you is like a lot of times it's not the event of our lives, it's the story we tell ourselves about it. It's how we frame it. And what you did is rightfully. But you've reframed your dad's dysfunction in a way that is more beautiful, that does serve you, happens to be true. But a lot of listening, you may not be able to do that. It's going to have to be what's it? What? It's not the event, it's what's it mean? And when you take the wrong meaning or a meaning that doesn't serve you, it can ruin your life, it can hold you back forever. I think you're successful. I'm going to tell you why. Okay. Number one, I think you're great at what you do. And I don't think there's any substitute if you want to be. Look, all this self help stuff that we all Talk about is great. At the end of the day, you have to be the world's competitive. There's levels to everything. You got to get good. If you're a realtor, listen, this. You got to be really great. Good does not pay the bills anymore. Anymore, right? If you're in sales, you got to be exemplary. If you're a mom, you got to be amazing. So talk about the hard work that went in this. And then this other thing you said in either the book or an interview. I saw, like, well, why not me, right?
- [19:49]
B
I mean, oh, you're so. And you're like, this is like a dream interview. Because you're talking about all the things that are speaking to my heart and speaking to my heart as I wrote the book, because again, we go back to my family being so big and, like, there's so much meat on the bone. And with. With all. Everything. I was really trying to figure out, like you said, how do I frame the story and how can I make this. Really, really wanted the book. The biggest takeaway from the book that I wanted people to get from it is I wanted them to heal. I wanted them to read it and then at the end of it, feel like, wow, this healed something in me. Like, they could see a reflection of themselves in the book, and they could go, wow, this. Like, this made sense to me. A lot of people are reading it and, like, really sitting on it. They're like, I have to take a moment after I'm done reading it to, like, really process it. Because, you know, now with. With my career, WWE in January, it' 19 years of working there uninterrupted. And so when I started my career, I was trying to get hired by wwe. So I kept on chasing all these things that I thought were going to make me happy. It's like, I just got to get hired. I just got to get to developmental. I just got to get my foot in the door. I've just got to, like, you know, I got hired by wwe. Like, you know, when you get. When you first get started there, you're not even sure. It's like, I was making about the same as I was as a waitress, you know, because they just. In those farm leagues in developmental, they just want to see, like, it's just your baby step into the company, and then you got to get it out, get out of there. And then you got to, like, get to the next level. So it was like, I just got to get hired. Then it was, I, I'm hired, but I just have to get to the main roster. Then you get to the main roster and you're like, oh, I'm here now, but like, how do I get to the next level? And so for almost two decades, I kept chasing and chasing and chasing. Like, I just got to get the storyline and I just have to get this, this contract that I want. I just, I just have to get this, you know, championship and I just want to be on this pay per view and I just. And I realized by the time I got to the end of the book, I was like, holy shit, I. I won. Yeah, I can't. I kept chasing and chasing and chasing all of these things that I thought were going to make me happy. And then every time I got them, I realized, like, that is not. When people read this book, I want them to redefine the way that they look at success in their lives. Because I, I finally got to wwe, did all these incredible things and I kept on telling myself, like, I don't, like, I don't deserve it, I don't belong here, I'm not good enough. Like, I kept looking around and seeing, comparing myself and psychologically letting so many little things get in my head because again, this day and age too, with public, with social media and like you, there's a lot of noise. So there were moments in the book where I had so much self doubt, where I was like, imposter syndrome, where I was like, why would they want me to be the champion? Why would anybody even want to watch me wrestle? Like, there was a lot of that, that I deal. And then when I got to the end of the book and I finally was being presented with this championship, tj, my husband said to me, he goes, I said, I can't believe that they want me to win this title tonight. And he goes, why not you? He goes, why can't you do everything? He's like, why can't you do everything that you want to do, Natty? He's like, haven't you paid your dues? Haven't you helped everybody? Haven't you built all these bridges for other women to succeed? He goes, why not you? And so I want people to read the book and look at themselves and go, why not me? Like, why can't I open a restaurant and, you know, be whatever dreams you have? Why not you?
- [23:09]
A
That's so good. This is exactly how I kind of hope this was going to go. Today. I'm going to ask you something. I don't think you get asked a lot and I just curious about it. You're in a Very. Everyone just listen to her answer because I'm going to be fascinated by it. You're in a very competitive business, you guys. There's just a handful of people that last even a decade in this sport and it's competitive and who's going to get the belt and who's going to hand it over and all this other stuff and the behind the scenes, the backstage, all of it. And then by the way, I screwed up every time I talked to, I don't know who's the uncle, who's the cousin, which side's mom's side. Even in the intro, I probably called an uncle. It's not like there's so many family members of hers that are in the sport. Just call it her family. I don't know if it's an uncle or whatever. Okay? But I know, I know about her dad for sure. But you know, you come out of this on the other side and I think it's safe to say, I mean, I know Steph and you know, other people behind the scenes at WWE over the years, they love you. Meaning you're also very well liked. And I don't know that you just do this because you're just a kind person. But your people skills, I think have something to do with your longevity because there's other skilled wrestlers that just didn't get along in the locker room.
- [24:24]
B
Right.
- [24:25]
A
Like, I think I've had the Undertaker. I think it's one of his skills. Like other wrestlers liked him personally, as far as I know. Also, what about that part of like how you treat people, how you see people? Do you think some of that was shaped because you've always been a little bit self conscious yourself, so you're always thinking what other people are thinking. Like, what's the key to your skill with people? I know it's not even ask, it's not in the book, but I'm curious.
- [24:47]
B
That's, it's, it's funny because the industry, not just professional wrestling, but like in you, you get so much further in life on Grease than Gravel. And my grandfather, actually my grandfather Stuart taught me that. He goes, you get, you just get so much further when, when, when you're kind and you do things with integrity and you do things with love and you do things with compassion. And for me, I think I'm naturally an empath. I think that almost sometimes I maybe feel too much because growing up, like, I, I feel like, you know, and I was able to really explore that in the book. But like, because I saw the stuff that My dad went through. And I. Because we went. You know, we struggled so much, and we. We lost everything. We gained everything. We lost everything. We gained everything. We lost people. We gained people. Like, I was always kind of seeing the rug get pulled out from under us. So I had an extraordinary amount of empathy for people, like, especially even my. In my first years in wwe. Like, I started out as a wrestler in a time where women's wrestling wasn't really popular. And I was working with a lot of other women that were getting hired. They were dancers, they were cheerleaders, they were models. And one thing that I noticed, especially in my very early stages in wwe, was that we were all just trying to make it. And there was this common bond of, like, everybody. Like, my journey was so different than, like, let's just say the Bella Twins, you know, like, they're like, my journey is so different than Ric Flair's daughter. My journey is different than Stephanie McMahon's. But at the end of the day, we all just want to do great. We want to make it. We want to. We're all in this thing together. And so one of the things that I really focused on when I was first getting started was because I didn't believe in myself the way that I needed to. I was like, if I can help everybody reach their dreams, I will always have a seat at the table. If I can be. I might not be what Vince McMahon thinks is the star, but I can be the star maker. And so I went through so many years of my WWE career being like, listen, you're just so lucky to be here. You've got a seat at the table, and you got to help everyone else. And like we said, by the time I got to the very end, my husband said to me, he goes, nadia, you deserve to be a champion. He's like, you are a star, and you've paid your dues and you've earned this. But it didn't come with, like, to me, like, treating everybody with respect, treating everybody how I wanted to be treated, because I work with some of the most, like, extraordinary people in the world. John Cena is one of them. And let me give you a quick little story about John Cena. And this is going to not shock you, but you're going to like this story. So my husband and I have a place that we train people. We train them for free. It's private, kind of invite only. It's called the Dungeon, and it's where we volunteer. We volunteer 52 weeks a year to help other wrestlers learn their tighten up their craft. So last week, John Cena reaches out to me and he says, hey. He goes, can I come to the dungeon? And I was like, sure. Like, I would love that. I was like, anything you need, John. I was like, if you need a key and you want to come train privately. Because I know he's preparing for his final matches in wwe. And so he goes, no, I don't want to train privately. He goes, I want to come to your class and I want to watch what you do. And I want to. I want to give back.
- [27:54]
A
Wow.
- [27:54]
B
And he goes, please tell me the night and I'll book it off. He goes, I will clear my whole schedule to come to the dungeon. So he reaches out to me this morning because he's coming tonight. And he says, hey, Natty, by the way, it's 7:55am and he goes, hey, Natty, I just want to double check that we're still on for tonight. I'm so excited about it. I'm so grateful for this opportunity that you're going to let me come to the dungeon.
- [28:20]
A
Oh, my gosh. Yeah.
- [28:21]
B
And so I'm like, this is John Cena. He's the biggest, you know, one of the biggest stars in the world. And he is telling me that he is so grateful for the opportunity to come to our warehouse in the middle of nowhere with no air conditioning to help young aspiring wrestlers. That sentence that at the very end, he said, I'm so grateful for this opportunity. Like, to me, like, that's why John Cena is where he is at, because he's never stopped being grateful.
- [28:50]
A
Yep. And by the way, one of the reasons you're where you're at is that when I ask a question about you, you choose to speak about somebody else. And so it's all why you're where you're at. And by the way, John, that's incredible. And I admire that. And I think. I think of you. I think of gratitude. I also think of. Yes, Natty's always. There's two types of people in life. There's a type of person, when they walk in a room, they say, here I am. And they're the star of the show in their own mind. And then there's very special people that walk in a room and they say, there you are. And in Natty's case, she has every reason in the world to walk in and go, here I am. And she doesn't. She walks into the room and says, there you are. She makes other people feel special. The other thing that you have a Model of the world. I just want to give this back to you so that you know that you have this and just point it out is that you've never believed that if someone else succeeded, it meant you couldn't. And so many people have this model of the world. They think success is this finite pie that, oh, if they get two slices, I get one less. That's not how it works. What you've done is you've expanded the pie where you can win and they can win. Just because someone else is winning, everybody, doesn't mean you can't. You don't have to root against them. So many people truly privately don't want to see other people succeed. They really don't. They act like they do, but they don't. You really want to. And that's what I. One of the things I think is the most special about you, you also have to be. Here's another question you talk about in the book, but I want you to talk about it. You got to be very mentally tough and you have to start to work on your self worth. And I know enough about you over the years that I think that self worth piece, just like for me is a struggle. It is. It's still, still to this day I have to work on that. So those two things, I'm just curious, do you have any tools or practices that you do that help you with that stuff?
- [30:43]
B
It's, it's definitely, it's a work in progress for me because, you know, I'm. I pride myself on being very down to earth. I like being humble. I don't like looking at myself as a celebrity or as like, I just, I, to me, I'm just a regular person, you know, Like, I don't like, I know people, you know, watch us on TV every week. We're on Netflix, we're on the USA network. WWE has this massive reach and it's amazing. But I also. We're all just human, you know what I mean? And I know what it's like to have nothing and I know what it's like to have a little bit of everything. But the one thing that's really been helping me a lot lately with my confidence is, and this is a really great message in the book, but for everybody watching is that you shouldn't be afraid ever to build your own table, build your own seat at the table. Build, create, try, like fight, try like to just do something. And so for me, it's like I stopped waiting for people to knock on my door and say, we've got this, We've got this. I want you to do that. I want you to. To me, it's like, no, no, no, no. You can't ever expect anybody to build you a seat at the table or build you a table. Like, to me, like, part of what is fun about life, part of what is fun about life is figuring it out. And then when I was figuring it out, I realized, why am I waiting for anybody to do anything for me? I'm going to build my own table. And while I was building my own table, I would. I would ask, like, my bosses at wwe, I'd say, hey, I have. Can I do it? Because I had the courage to ask them a question. They would almost 9 out of 10 times say yes. And I was like, wow. I had no idea that just by asking, like, it's just again, that kind of stuff helped me build my confidence. But don't wait for anybody to wake you up and go, hey, like, success doesn't just come to you. You got to chase success. You know what I mean? Like, for me, I love chasing it. It's part of, like, I love having new goals, I love having new dreams, I love building. You know, in the last year and a half, I built a brand new character with the blessing of wwe. I built it outside of wwe, and we're very close to bringing it to wwe. No spoilers, but I built this brand new character. I wrote a book, I did an audiobook. There's so many things that I was like, I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna just wait for anyone to give me, hand me anything. I'm gonna build it myself and then see what happens. And that's another reason, like, why I love the rocks movies so much. I don't know if you saw the Smashing Machine. It was like. It was the most vulnerable you've ever seen, Dwayne. And what I loved about it was because I watched a lot of his interviews and I was just inspired by it. He was like, listen, I did this for me. He went to the most vulnerable place that he could go. When I was watching the movie, I was stunned. You see him crying, you see some very, very heavy, very deep, dark scenes. And I thought, this is brilliant. He's going back to his roots in the most vulnerable way, but he's doing it for him. He's building a new table for himself where it's like, yeah, I've done all these, you know, $100 million blockbuster hits, but now I'm going, like, now you see him, it's like, this is like a Shawshank type you know, film where it's like there's a deep, deep message in the movie. And I was like, yeah, he's not worrying so much about a. You know, I'm sure he wants it to do great financially, but this is for him. This is a role for him.
- [33:54]
A
It's not even close. It was his best work ever and it's not even close. And, and by the way, there she goes again talking about other people. By the way. You guys, I don't know if I mentioned this earlier, but Duane writes the foreword of the book. And so if you understand, you know, who reveres Natty like I do, you'll understand that it's, it's almost unanimous. The Mass New year, same extra value meals at McDonald's.
- [34:19]
B
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- [34:23]
A
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- [34:32]
B
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- [34:46]
A
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B
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- [35:00]
A
Good question. And you don't have to speak to the specifics. I know some of them. But here's the other thing that's remarkable. She just went through this list of all these things. You know, the, the, the writing, the, the new character screenplay, whatever, all this stuff. Okay, I want you all to know something. We're not going to talk about what those things are. She did not do this during years of her life that were like all the conditions were perfect either. In other words, I know Natty a little bit. And so I can tell you that there's been moments the last five, six, seven years since we've known each other that there's been like really tough stuff going on in her life a lot of different places. Right. You to talk about that is. I think a lot of people think, well, no, I have to get to this place where I sound like Natty sounds now. Then I'm going to create all this abundance, then I'm going to create all these great things. That's actually not what happened. You've been doing a lot of this stuff during some not perfect times in your life. And there's been things in your family that had to get adjusted and injuries and injuries and all kinds of different things. Like there's been a lot thrown at you.
- [36:01]
B
Right.
- [36:01]
A
Still created from there. In other words, you didn't wait till everything settled down. That's what everyone does when everything, when the kids get out of the house, when, when I get my money saved, when I get this in place, when I do this.
- [36:12]
B
Yes.
- [36:12]
A
For all that you did it during, really, just during life, during ups and downs.
- [36:18]
B
That's another really great point, is that you just can. Again, you can't wait for people to come to you and you can't wait. Like, even within wwe, it's a very, very fast paced, ever turning wheel. And so if I was to wait for my bosses to hand me the perfect storyline or the perfect character, like, nobody knows me better than I know me. And so that was the thing when I was writing the book, I was like, why don't you do this character? This is who you always wanted to be. Why not? And so I'm sitting here trying to tell the chase their dreams. And I was like, natty, why don't you just do what you always wanted to do? That little girl that trained in the dungeon, that gritty, you know, Stuart's granddaughter came from the dungeon. This like, you know, very like gritty, tough, rough around the edges girl, you know, I, I was able to build this character with the permission of WWE for the first time ed in 18 years. In April, I asked, I asked my boss, Triple H, I said, can I do this outside show? It's called Bloodsport. It's kind of like a, it's, it's, it's, it's more of a fighting type. Like, it's a little bit MMA. And I said, can I during WrestleMania week, I'm not on WrestleMania. So, yes, I was disappointed not to be in WrestleMania because of course we all want to be on WrestleMania. But I was like, listen, if I'm not going to be in WrestleMania, I'm not going to have a pity party over it. I'm going to do something else and I'm going to soar with it. So I walked up to my boss, he was doing a million things, and there was a little part of me that was like, oh, he's not going to have time for Me, or he's going to be busy, or he's, you know, he's got so much other stuff on his mind. Don't bother him. I just walked right up to him. He. He said, yes, right away. I said, I just want to do this. This outside show, and I just would love to do it. And he's like, go for it. And we handled it with the proper channels. I did this show in front of a thousand people. It trended worldwide for two days, and it just over. Like, it was. It was during WrestleMania weekend. So I was like, I'm going to build a new character. I'm going to have a new outfit. I'm going to have new music. I'm going to have new hair. I'm going to have an entourage come out to the ring with me. I'm going to create this whole entra. I'm going to just have this energy. The girl that I was wrestling, I flew her in from Tokyo, and I said, I'm going to fly you in from Japan. She could only train with me for 12 hours, but I said, I want to train with you so that we can get our performance down and make it magical. So she got off the plane after flying in from Tokyo. We went straight to the dungeon. We trained for, like, 12 hours. After we left the dungeon, I literally drove her right back to the airport because she had to go wrestle the next day, next couple of days in Japan. Everything about. I treated that performance in front of a thousand people. I treated it like it was my WrestleMania. I poured my heart into it, and it went viral. And a couple days after the event, Triple H is getting ready to get inducted into the WWE hall of Fame. And he walks up to me backstage and he goes, I saw all the footage. I saw all the videos. It's everywhere. Like, he's like, it looked amazing. I'm so proud of you. And it was such an aha moment for me that you cannot wait for anyone to just hand you anything, you know? And because I started building my own seat at the table and running with it and chasing success and going, why not me? You know what I mean? Like, why am I waiting for anyone to just hand me anything? Just run hard after it, and if you run too hard, they can pull you back. But even when I wrote the book, there were some chapters that I really struggled with. I didn't want to hurt my dad. You know, even though my dad passed away many years ago, there was a. A very big part of me that didn't want to hurt him. And Writing about tough times. So, you know, I just poured my heart and soul out onto the pages. And then I was like, just sleep on it. I know this is tough stuff to write about, but just sleep on it. See how you feel about it in the morning. And I kept on sleeping on it and sleeping on it and sleeping on it, realizing, like, you cannot have stars without darkness. You can't have. There's so much good on the other side of this bad stuff. I want people to realize that you can't. And, like, part of life is again, figuring it out that people have to see the hard stuff that I go through to realize the great stuff at the end of it, you know, so. So that's why I shared the stuff about my dad that was very hard. I shared stuff about TJ's injury that was very hard. I cried very hard reading those chapters about TJ's injury because we went through a lot of grieving after he lost his career and lost his dreams and almost died. Like, we. We went through so much together personally, that I realized, wow, this strengthened our relationship so much. Like, we're in such a different place as a couple because of what we went through. And also now TJ currently, today is in the best place of his entire life because we survived so many hard things together, especially losing his career. Like, he's exactly where he's supposed to be, and part of his injury really catapulted him to where he is today.
- [40:58]
A
Who you are is very much the same, but you've. You are now stepped into a part of your power, Natty, that you didn't step into prior. Like, you've tapped into something. By the way, do me a favor, like, don't get out of this space. There's the Natty, the legendary wrestler and the entertainer, but then there's this, which is the person who can help people achieve their dreams and heal themselves. I believe that this is the real thing you're supposed to be doing long term. I'm just watching you, and as somebody who does that, I can just tell you you've tapped into a power you did not have when I met you. Whatever that was seven or eight years ago. It's just error to me. It's like, wow, just listening to you talk. By the way, everybody, there's that version of you as well. There's that version that exists right now. And then there's a. There's other levels you'll tap into as you begin to express different parts of yourself as you go through trauma. Like I met you during that time, during. When TJ's injury has entered his career, ended his career. And I remember right. Decent to see what you've. The two of you have turned your relationship into and your lives into is just. It's a testimony. This has not been a smooth road for this woman. Just want you all to know that it's. It's. And it's exemplified in the book. I got two questions for you before we end, by the way. Like, this has been so good. I wish we were so good. Is this it? This is personal. I'm just curious, like, has this in any way changed or altered, improved your faith or your spirituality? Or, like, is there any. Is that it altered at all the last five, eight years at all? If you don't mind me asking a.
- [42:37]
B
Personal question, I feel like, especially going through losing my dad and TJ's injury, you know, in his injury, like, I write about this a little bit in the book, but, like. Like, when before he was going, dirt pulled me aside, and he was like, his surgeon, Dr. Ribe, he. He did a very intricate surgery on TJ, which was high risk because he was working with. You know, where TJ's injury is, is the C1 vertebrae. Right above that is the brain stem. So it's, like, as delicate as it could possibly be. And he said to me before the surgery, he goes, do you believe in God? He goes, I just want to ask you if you believe in God. I said, yes, I very much believe in God. And he goes, let's pray. And we prayed before TJ went into surgery. And I. Because we didn't know what was on the other side. You know, the surgery was only supposed to be 90 minutes, and it ended up being four hours because of how hard, of how delicate it was, but also because working through TJ's neck muscles, they were so thick and so dense, and so they really had to. Like, I didn't know about any of this kind of stuff until, of course, you. You have to go through it in real time. So the entire time TJ was in surgery, I was just praying to God, praying to God, praying to God. He comes out of surgery, and there was a chance that he could have been paralyzed because of where they were working with, like, they. If they were, like, a millimeter away from. If they touched this artery, it could have been life or death. If they touched the spinal cord or dinged it or tapped it or anything. Tj, he's like, we have to wake him up at the. After the surgery. We have to make sure he can feel his legs and make sure that, you know, what we do, that's not out of the question. So the whole entire time that I was waiting the four hours, I was praying to God, God did not let me down. And when TJ woke up, when he came to, they tapped his legs, he could move his arms, he could move his legs, and he was alive. And I realized that tj, with the kind of injury that he had that he has, it's the same injury that Christopher Reeves had. It's just he. You know, you. When you think Christopher Reeves, anybody that's familiar with that, you see Christopher Reeves, he's in a wheelchair. He's with an apparatus and a breathing tube. And he, you know, he had a shortened life because of what the injury was, because he had a broken neck at the base of his brain. I just thank God every single day that TJ is alive, that he's well, that he's happy, he's thriving, he's in the best place of his life. And it made my faith stronger. It just made me feel like there is, you know, so much to be grateful. But, like, it just. It was again, another layer, another bond, another. Like he was somebody that totally had our backs. And when TJ woke up from surgery, he just burst into tears. But it was like happy tears. He just cried. He cried for a few minutes, and then, like, it was like, I'm not. I'm not paralyzed and I'm here. I'm still here. And so I, you know, we. Again, like, not to get too heavy, but I just feel like our relationship with God was strengthened because of those hard times. And now, again, I can't reiterate enough. Like, TJ's in the best place of his life right now.
- [45:42]
A
So are you, by the way. Sorry.
- [45:44]
B
Thank you. Thank you.
- [45:45]
A
You're the best you've been. Okay, I'm gonna ask you a last question, but before I do it, I want everyone to understand. We've been talking about this in the beginning. This is the last heart beating. Okay, Go get it. By the way, one of the great follows on all of social media is also Natty. Like, she's just really good. She posts a lot and that's awesome stuff. So follow her.
- [46:01]
B
There's.
- [46:02]
A
When I asked you this last, I was just thinking about it. I wasn't going to ask you this, but just listening to you today made me think about it. I wonder if I went back to, like that 14, 15, 16 year old you. And, you know, I can picture her. She comes from this Family of all these very successful people. Her dad's like my dad, you know, he just wasn't stable. It's just. Right. Just there wasn't stability.
- [46:27]
B
Right.
- [46:28]
A
We tried to do for my daughter especially is just provide stability and strength and safety that she could feel safe. You didn't get all of that. And a lot of people listening to this didn't either. And then obviously, you basically were homeless. If it wasn't for your grandfather. I just wanted that little girl that's in that house there. What would she think? Seriously, what would she think if she saw you now? What would she say? What would she think? Would it even be possible at that time to be where you're at, the space in your life?
- [46:59]
B
Life? I. It's funny because I think about, like, just, it's. It's like there's been so much. There have been so many things that we've gone through and that we were trying to uncover. And like, I, you know, we talked about it a little earlier, like when I was growing up as a little girl and, you know, there was. There was such happy times with my dad because he was such a larger than life person. He, like. If I describe him like, he's kind of like John Candy in that movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles. He's very lovable. He's very like. He was always the life of the party. He was always very charming. But then there was this pendulum of when things would get bad, they were really bad. And so I spent a lot of my childhood just trying to find stability and trying to make sure that nobody was going to take everything that we had. And so when I was a little girl, I feel like now I'm able to identify with. I was constantly struggling for control. I was constantly. Even at a young age, I remember, and I wrote about this in the book, but my dad had gotten into a fight in a bar. Some guy, we were watching the super bowl with my dad, he'd just gotten in off the road, and some guy shoved my dad in a bar. And my dad, like, went to shove him back. And I was like, I don't even think I was 10 years old, but I, like, got in between my dad and this bar fight and tried to stop this bar fight between these two big men. And I look back on that time, that's why I wrote about it in the book, because I was a little girl trying to control the situation because I was trying to make sure my dad didn't get into trouble. I knew that that could lead my dad to getting into Trouble. So I was trying to stop it. Every time my dad would lose his job, I would try to stop it, and I would be like, you know, I just pray hard enough. If I just prayed hard enough, it would, you know, he would keep his job or he would do better. He would love us more. He would be better. And so now I look at that, I look at me and I look at how it was growing up, and I'm like, I'm so grateful for all those experiences because it truly made me stronger. It made me appreciate everything so much more. It made me appreciate my family. It made me appreciate my. My. My life. It made me appreciate. Appreciate all the things that I have now. Like, everything I have now. I don't take it for granted, you know, because I know what it's like to struggle, and I know what it's like to not have a lot. Like, we. We, you know, getting. When you're a little girl and your car gets repossessed in your. In your driveway and you're. You lose your home and your dad, you know, constantly loses his job and you just go through all this stuff. Like, the thing is, that was my journey. If I had not gone through that, Ed, I would not have the work ethic that I have today, and I would not. I sure as hell would have not survived WWE 19 years in. And in a way that I've had, you know, and I'm proud of it. I have six world records for basically outworking everyone. I have outworked every woman that's ever wrestled ever, you know, in the way that I have the most. A record for the most matches, a record for the most wins, a record for the most pay per view matches, a record for the most WrestleMania matches. If I had not gone through so much as a little girl, I would not have had the grit that I have today to be the person that I am today to chase the dreams that I want to chase today. You got to go through the hard times in order to find, like, in order for me to be where I'm at now. I had to go through that. I had to figure it out. It's given me a lot of compassion towards people, especially towards my dad. Because after my dad passed away and we were able to understand more of what was going on with his health, I forgave him, and I have this deeper love for my dad now. It's like, that's why I wanted to dedicate my book to my dad, because we had to go through that journey with him to really understand and to get to where I'm at now. So I'm extremely grateful for it, but I'm so proud of where I'm at today. Of course, it's still a day to day struggle because even with, even with this book tour, I'm like, I hope people want to read the book. That little girl is like, that little insecure girl is creeping in. I'm like, I hope they read the book. I hope they like the book. I hope they understand the book. I hope I don't piss off my family. I hope I don't piss off my bosses. And I'm like, you know what, nanny? It's done. Just enjoy it. Just enjoy it. Just enjoy the book now. Let everybody just enjoy it and take it in as they want to take it in.
- [50:59]
A
Yeah. I'm so happy for you and I'm proud of you too. You guys see why I tell you that. She's one of my favorites of all times. And for the record, this was an exemplary, amazing conversation today.
- [51:13]
B
Oh, it really was.
- [51:15]
A
Step into a power of. It's an anointing is what it really is. And it's just. I'm just sitting back here. This is awesome. And you're awesome. And so everybody, first off, Natty, thank you. You're busy and I know you had to arrange some stuff to be here today. So thank you for doing this today for everybody in the audience.
- [51:33]
B
Thank you, Ed. Thank you.
- [51:35]
A
I love her. She's awesome. You guys, go get the last heart beating. Go follow Natty on social media. You got anybody healing. Anybody wants to work on their self esteem, their self confidence, their work ethic, they want to be a record breaker. They want to be a boat, which she uses in the book instead of of goat. The term oak is another thing that's in the book that you should see. Share this episode with them. Okay, you guys, God bless you. Max out.