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Natalya recently spoke with the Toronto Sun, whom she writes a column for, about the news of Michelle McCool going into the Hall of Fame this year. The news broke last week that McCool along with Triple H are two names confirmed for the 2025 class.
In the discussion, Natalya spoke about the struggles of the Divas Era and how McCool really championed the women during a time before the Women’s Revolution caught a flame.
“Well, it’s funny because people would ask me like, ‘hey, did you know that Michelle was going to get inducted?’ and I had the day before she got inducted or the day before she got told the news that she was going to be put in the Hall of Fame, I was texting her the day before. We were talking about, I’m working on a project right now and I was talking to her about our tables match. I was like, ‘we had such a good match and I wish we like got a ride off of that momentum.’ We were just talking about the struggles. We were texting back and forth a little bit about like, just about the struggles that we had coming into that era.
When I debuted, it was against Michelle. She was my first rivalry in WWE. So it was just hard because women weren’t getting as much attention and the attention and the spotlight and the accolades. accolades that we have now. So we were fighting tooth and nail for just scraps, literally, and it was really, it was hard. So we were talking about that tables match and how groundbreaking that first ever women’s tables match was for us. Then,she and I were just going back and forth about how it’s so great that the girls get- are getting so many more opportunities, but it was just hard for us when we first started because, we were just begging and screaming for anything. So that tables match was really something special for us and she said and I agreed with her it was one of her favorite matches of her career but I agree it was one of my favorite matches, if not my favorite match in my career so much fun, so special and I’m so happy that she’s getting inducted because it also sheds or shines a spotlight on the women from the Divas Era and we haven’t really seen that in a while.
We haven’t seen a woman from the divas era get inducted in a minute. I can’t remember the last time a woman from the Divas era was inducted. I know it was Torrie. I know it was Stacy. They were more from the Attitude era. Of course, Bull Nakano last year, she was from an era before the Attitude era. So this actually puts a really cool spotlight on the women from the Divas Era, and I’m grateful that I was able to be a part of that era.I’m so excited for Michelle because she was somebody that wanted to do more, and she’s somebody that fought for the Women’s Revolution before. It was like we were ready for the Women’s Revolution before it was ready for us. Women like Michelle McCool, women like Beth Phoenix, women like Mickie James, women like Melina, Victoria, Jillian Hall, women like Cherry, women that didn’t always get the attention. But those women loved, loved, loved wrestling, and they were fighting for more. So, Michelle, it’s really cool to see her kind of lead the pack in this induction.” (Transcript: Fightful)
In 2008 at The Great American Bash, McCool defeated Natalya to become the inaugural Divas Champion.
The 2025 HOF ceremony is scheduled to take place on April 18, 2025, at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, the night before WrestleMania 41.
