Natalya on Hart Family Controversies Affecting Her WWE Career

While on Busted Open Radio, Natalya shared how being a Hart isn’t as easy as being a Charlotte Flair or a Cody Rhodes. For her defense, she brought up when her uncle punched former WWE chairman Vince McMahon. She said:

"When your uncle punches out the boss? The Hart Family? I'm pretty sure we got banned from coming backstage in WWE for a long time. That was the most controversial thing I think that ever happened in WWE [at that time]. I'm not saying it's always perfect, and it was always smooth, but with my family, there was a lot of crazy stuff that happened.” (h/t: WrestlingInc)

So why did Bret Hart punch his boss at the time? Two words:. Montreal Screwjob. McMahon didn't want Hart to take the WWE World title to WCW, so in the 1997 main event of Survivor Series, he orchestrated an infamous match ending that would go on to wrestling history.

Here’s the short version: Bret’s opponent, Shawn Michaels, put him in a sharpshooter, and the referee called it that Shawn won because Bret tapped out. The problem was that Bret didn’t tap out.

An irate Hart went backstage and then punched McMahon. It would be more than a decade until Hart would step into a WWE ring. He made his WWE in-ring return in 2010, though four years earlier, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Though Natalya did say even after his HOF induction, times were shaky for the Harts and WWE.

Nattie Didn’t Think She Would Ever Be In WWE

At the time, the daughter of Jim Neidhart wasn’t so sure WWE would hire her due to her family’s controversies. She said:

“There was a point in my life where I never thought that I'd get here because of what happened between Vince and Bret.”

Obviously, she was wrong about that, though Natalya has had plenty of ups and downs in her WWE career. She’s not the first name WWE thinks about when it comes to WWE singles titles or the biggest pushes. Could it be because of past animosity towards her family? Probably not so much now, but earlier in her career, that was a yes.

Natalya has spent much of her career being a mentor to a lot of young talent, currently Maxxine Dupri. At the moment, she’s reinventing herself as a more aggressive wrestler who comes out with an entourage to the ring. Though this persona has yet to be unleashed in WWE.

As for Uncle Bret, he's still upset with WWE, though for slightly different reasons. The Hitman feels underappreciated by the company since he wasn't given a seat at SummerSlam. WWE had invited him beforehand, and once he got there, there was no room for the legend.