Friday Night SmackDown star has been forced to respond to suggestions that she will be retiring.
The former WWE Women’s, Divas and Women’s Tag Team Champion has been recovering from surgery to a broken nose which WWE are attributing to a knee to the face by Shayna Baszler in a post match beatdown on the November 4 2022 episode of Smackdown. Postwrestling.com however claim that this was just a cover story to explain Natalya’s absence as she apparently was already scheduled to have nasal surgery prior to the match.
SmackDown Star Natalya Responds To Retirement Rumours
After being written off TV in the injury angle, Natalya has kept herself busy on social media. She recently shared a lengthy post on social media, which saw comments pour in from fans and fellow Superstars both past and present. Although one fan seemed to be under the impression that the post was Natalya’s farewell. The SmackDown star was quick to fire back, laughing off suggestions that her career is over.
“This whole thing would collapse if you just go out there and think of yourself. It’s been my view my entire career to give back whenever I can. New talent, established talent, top of the card or not. I wanted to make sure the business that runs through my families veins, is there even stronger after I’m done with it.
This past year has been incredible. I somehow ended up with three @guinnessworldrecords. (And it wasn’t for having the longest fingernails or eating the most hot dogs in 10 minutes 😜) It was for a massive body of work in @wwe— 15 years of uninterrupted work. A whole lot of insanity! 🤣
The hardest decision was to step away this November. Normally I’d work through anything. I always have. Injuries. Deaths. Tragedies. Emotional and physical pain. Taking a break for the first time gave me a chance to reflect on what this all means to me.
My time away has helped me see my own piece of a massive jigsaw puzzle. And it’s helped me define what success in our business is and what success in my own personal life is. Attaining longevity while cultivating the future is like the ‘pat your head and rub your stomach’ trick. Not many can do it, but I’m very grateful to be someone who can.
I’m excited to wrestle in 2023 and for women’s wrestling! I always want to make that my top priority, to continue to contribute as much as I can to women in this sport— to give back to all the women who gave to me. Women who inspire me to earn my spot every time I walk through the “curtain.” You never know which little girl you’re going to inspire”
In response to the fan who said her career was over, Natalya simply responded:
“Lol Who said I was retiring?!”
SmackDown star Natalya signed with WWE back in 2007 where she initially appeared in developmental territories, Deep South Wrestling, Ohio Valley Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling.
On April 4th 2008 the star made her main roster debut on SmackDown where she joined forces with Victoria.
Over the next 15 years the only ever female graduate from the Hart Family Dungeon established herself as a mainstay of the women’s division, racking up a number of records in the process. At time of writing the star has wrestled more WWE matches than any woman in history, appeared on more pay-per-views than any other female performer, and scored more wins than any other female star.