Natalya Reveals Honest Feelings About WWE Experiences With Vince McMahon (Exclusive)

"I just have so much gratitude for my career. I'm so, so grateful, because all those highs and lows taught me so much," she said. "If I had it easy and I came in and I got this huge push and it was just smooth sailing, I can absolutely guarantee you that I would not be the person that I am today if I didn't have all that crazy s**t that I went through. But it was not all bad."

Revelations About Vince McMahon

McMahon has always been a polarizing figure in wrestling, but has become even more so following his involvement in a sex trafficking and sexual misconduct lawsuit filed by former WWE employee Janel Grant. The civil suit ultimately led to his permanent departure from the company at the beginning of 2024.

Even so, many WWE performers and employees have their own personal and professional relationships with McMahon dating back decades, each taking away something different from working for him. Neidhart is no exception.

"I think, to be brutally honest, if I was going to say the person that I learned the most from was Vince, I learned the most from working for Vince," Neidhart said. "He taught me the most of anybody that I've ever worked for. And I was always just inspired by his work ethic."

"He worked harder than anybody that I've ever met in my life, and I think probably still does. And so I always looked at him, and in my own life, I would be like, 'If Vince is working out, I'm going to work out.' You know, as far as his work ethic, Vince worked out seven days a week, and he attended every single show. He was at Raw, he was at SmackDown. He was at all the pay-per-views. He was very, very hands-on."

Throughout the book, Neidhart documents several one-on-one encounters she had with McMahon while working for him, dating back to her early days on the roster. While some pitches fell flat and left her deflated (there is an extensive passage about her ill-fated flatulence character), her persistence with him led to several career breakthroughs.

"There was never a moment that I couldn't go up to Vince and ask him a question or make a suggestion about my career. And for a billionaire boss who didn't have to be as present as he was and those aspects, he never, ever let me down," she said.

"I could always pitch stuff to him. I actually pitched three different WrestleMania matches that could include more women in WrestleMania, and Vince went with it. Like I said to Vince, 'I really want to get more women on the show.' This is like three years in a row. And Vince went with my ideas that could get more women involved on the show. Like he listened to me. He was very, I would say, genuinely very good to me. But there were hard times with Vince too, which I document in the book because no relationships are linear."

Finding Her Voice With Vince And Others

In one of her first major interactions with McMahon, Neidhart writes about him being ultimately dismissive of her pitch, barely even looking her in the face while eating a steak. As she was about to leave, though, he would allow her an opportunity to move forward with it.

It's just one of many examples the former WWE Divas and Women's Champion showcases in the book that, while critical, is also fair to the subject. That is something that was extremely important to her while writing it.

"I felt like I had been a good girl for such a long time, and I had always done the right things and said the right things, and just been the good, good girl that was like, this is not about me being exploited for anyone. To be brutally honest, I would be so proud to hand my book to any person that I wrote about," Neidhart said.

"I would be proud to hand my book to Vince. I would be proud to hand my book to Bret Hart. I would be proud to hand my book to Triple H. I would be proud to hand my book to my husband, to my family members, to every character in the book. I would be so proud to hand the book to them."

Her honesty in her struggles are a major selling point of the book, and it was imperative she be up front so others could learn from her authenticity.

"When I think about Vince and I think about my dad, and I think about TJ, and I think about WWE, and I think about the really important aspects of my journey, my grandfather, my family, I think it would be doing them an injustice if I just painted everything out to be sunshine and roses and rainbows. That's not real life," Neidhart told The Takedown on SI.

"If I'm going to write a book and have it be all bulls**t and have it be everything is just coming up rainbows and puppies and butterflies to me, it's not real. So there's no point in even writing the book because I'm not coming to coming at it from an authentic way."

If you use any quotes or transcriptions from this piece, please H/T and link to The Takedown on SI.