Natalya has been with WWE for nearly ten years now, and for the past couple of years, the role she has been assuming was that of the ring general in the women’s division, helping the younger talent find their footing.
She started being more prominently featured this year, especially post-Wrestlemania, where she had a two-month feud with Charlotte, unsuccessfully challenging her twice for the WWE Women’s Championship.
At Money In The Bank, she had teamed up with Becky Lynch against Charlotte and Dana Brooke, where she was once again unsuccessful. She then turned heel after the match when she attacked Becky Lynch. She has been assuming the status of a heel since, and in an interview with Channel Guide Mag, she opened up about how it has been as a heel so far:
It's challenging. What feels comfortable to me is being good. What feels normal to Nattie is the way I've been portrayed. I was vulnerable on TV, sympathetic where I have had moments where I have felt overlooked and sometimes where I naturally slipped in the babyface role because that is who I am.
I kind of realize that with the struggling to prove myself and prove what I can do, I feel it made the fans sympathetic, and they could relate to me. Now I'm on this other side of the coin as a bad girl.
She further describes her dilemma with the fan reactions:
It's challenging because I'm still trying to convince the audience I'm bad and not to like me. When I come out, I want them to boo me. There are times when I come out they don't boo me.
I don't want them to cheer me because then I feel like I'm not doing my job. I'm just excited if it leads to a storyline that drives my character to being more of a bad guy. I think that is the opportunity I'm waiting for in the heel role.
Right now, Natalya is not feuding with anyone. Out of the six active females on the roster, Becky Lynch is feuding with Alexa Bliss and Carmella is feuding with Nikki Bella. The most logical option would now be to put her in a feud with Naomi, who is one of the three babyfaces on the blue brand female roster.
Naomi, however, may have inserted herself in the title picture with her victory against Alexa Bliss at No Mercy. Could a four-way feud be on the cards? Either way, once Natalya gets into a good, active storyline, it will certainly be easier for her to establish herself as a heel, and help carry the blue brand going forward.
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