Bully Ray has a way with words.
The WWE Hall of Famer has no problem saying whatever is on his mind, whether it’s good or bad. In the case of former Natalya Neidhart, Ray called out WWE’s booking of the former WWE Women’s Champion.
Since Natalya re-signed with the company back in July 2024, the 42-year-old really hasn’t done much on television. Natalya has yet to compete on RAW or Smackdown in 2025. The second generation star mostly spends her time wrestling on Main Event or Speed tournaments. And when she does wrestle on the main brand, it’s usually an inconsequential match with her on the losing side. But Bully Ray felt that Natalya's value in WWE had been sapped long before he re-signing. In fact, he stated on Busted Open Radio that the company hasn’t done anything for her in the past ten years.
"Nattie's a great pro wrestler," Bully said. "What's she done for the past ten years? Not a f*****g thing. I'd rather watch Chelsea, entertaining Chelsea Green, than the pro wrestler Nattie Neidhart, and you know how much I love Nattie. And for the love of god, give Nattie a heel run as a 'Housewife of New Jersey' esq diva. But I'm just saying, you don't have to be a great pro wrestler. Nattie's always wrestling, wrestling at the Dungeon and the dojo and having great matches and all this. What good is it doing her? I'd rather see a sports entertainer who's a decent pro wrestler any day of the week."
Well, Natalya herself was recently on Busted Open Radio and actually agreed with Bully Ray that she hasn’t done much in past ten years, which really pisses her off.
"If I'm going to be brutally honest, sometimes when you see yourself in a headline, it does piss me off," Natalya said. "I'll see something and it'll just say, 'Bubba says Nattie hasn't done anything in WWE in ten years'. So yeah, Bubba, honestly, that has pissed me off. But here's the thing. In a lot of ways, it was a catalyst for me to want to be more and do more, because financially, when you've worked in WWE, as long as I have, I don't have to be scratching and clawing the way that I am.
That's the difference between me and so many other people, is that I don't want to settle for mediocrity. I don't want to settle for just taking the easy route ... in a lot of ways, it motivated me. You were not wrong."
Natalya wants to prove that she still belongs in WWE, but I don’t think many fans are questioning her skill. It all comes down to booking and the way WWE presents the former WWE Women’s Champion. Hopefully, Natalya gets something to do following WrestleMania 41, but with an influx of new talent coming in, that might be hard for the veteran to stand out.