Natalya Recalls Vince McMahon’s ‘Nattie Neid-fart’ Idea: “I’m Gonna Own It, I’m Going To Show Vince That I’m Not Gonna Be Difficult”
The farting gimmick that Natalya was strapped with.
During Natalya’s chat with Chris Van Vliet, she further opened up about the farting gimmick that was given to her on WWE television, which was billed as ‘Nattie Neid-fart.’
Natalya stated that she wanted to show former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon that she could roll with the punches and did not want to be difficult like her father, the late Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart. She also detailed learning that the gimmick would be coming to an end.
“I remember with that idea, when the writer came out of the production meeting, he pulled me aside… It’s in the book but he made it very clear this was not his idea, and I remember being like, ‘What’s the idea?’ I was so excited because earlier in the day, it was like, ‘Hey, this head writer wants to talk to you after the production meeting. They have something they want to talk to you about creatively.’ I had butterflies in my stomach because I was like, finally, I’m gonna get this cool idea. They’re gonna have a plan for me and this is gonna be what I need, this is gonna be what’s gonna finally give me my turning point, and being a good girl has paid off and you’ve been helping everybody Nattie but this is your time now, and he came out of the production meeting and he just kept saying over and over and over again, ‘This is not my idea but, this is Vince’s idea and he really loves this idea.’ Well, the thing with Vince (McMahon) is that he liked to do things that were — it was a lot about entertainment… I think he saw me as being kind of a serious wrestler, and so he’s like, let’s do something that’s gonna make Nattie entertaining, and it was this character, you know, eventually what I’m getting to is this Nattie Neid-fart character… So that was what the idea was for me to morph into Nattie or Natalya Neid-fart, and I remember when the writer was explaining it to me, he’s like, ‘What you’re going to do is you’re going to be passing gas and it’s going to lead to this big babyface moment where you have this crazy flatulence. It’s gonna lead to a big babyface moment.’ Think about Kurt Angle. He’s an Olympic gold medalist but he’s done goofy stuff. The Rock did goofy stuff, Trish Stratus did goofy stuff. I didn’t think anybody was trying to bury me. I think it was just an outlandish, outrageous, kooky, crazy, wacky idea. But I was like, I don’t wanna fart. I just don’t wanna do that. But, but, in true Natalya form, I smiled. I said, ‘Of course, I’ll do it.’ Not only will I do it, I’m gonna make this amazing. I’m gonna own it. I’m going to show Vince that I’m not gonna be difficult. I’m not gonna be difficult like my dad. I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna make it great, I’m gonna do exactly what he wants, I’m gonna be a professional.
Yeah, they would play it off of an audio recorder,” Natalya replied when asked if she could hear the fart sound effects. “They’d play noises and stuff like that. We did it for about six weeks, pre-tapes. The thing with Vince and that whole thing was that he was so helpful… Because Vince, when I first started in WWE, he was in the rehearsals, he was in this, he was helping. He was very, very hands-on. He was a workaholic. He loved being involved in everything, and he was super hands-on with making sure everything was lit right. So he was very helpful with it. I was like, wow, this is so cool. Vince, this is his baby. He’s really getting involved. I think he initially cared about it, but, I think feedback from people that were watching the product and stuff, they didn’t like it. Fans didn’t like it. Fans said, ‘This isn’t good…’ I think enough people had spoken up and said, ‘The fans don’t like this,’ and so, one of the writers came up to me again and was like, ‘Hey, we’re not gonna do the Nattie Neid-fart character. There’s been a lot of negative feedback about it from fans and stuff like that. We’re just gonna drop it,’ and I go, you know what? In my mind, I was like, I’m so happy that I agreed to that, because now, I’m gonna ask for an idea that I wanna do… I didn’t have to tell Vince or the writers or anybody no. The fans did it for me. They protected me, and I was able to ask Vince. I pitched another idea…”
Natalya last wrestled on WWE television in August when she challenged Becky Lynch for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship.
She is going to be in action for AAA at Héroes Inmortales on 10/25, where she’ll be challenging for the AAA Reina de Reinas Title.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet with an H/T to Fightful for the transcriptions.
