Surprise At WWE Lack Of Urgency To Re-Sign Natalya
Natalya's existing WWE deal is reportedly set to expire later this month.
With plenty of talks in recent months about the expiring WWE contracts of names like Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, and Drew McIntyre, one other talent whose existing WWE deal is nearing an end is Natalya.
As per PWInsider, the third-generation star's current WWE contract is due to expire at some point this month. From those within the company whom PWInsider has spoken to, there's surprise at how WWE has allowed Natalya's deal to get so close to expiring. It's noted how, as of two or three weeks ago, discussions between the two parties had yet to start.
Natalya is obviously a long-standing member of the WWE roster, having been with the promotion as far back as 2007. Not just is she a good in-ring talent and a valued veteran, but the Canadian is an ambassador for the company and also runs the Dungeon 2.0 training facility with her husband TJ Wilson, aka Tyson Kidd.
On that matter, TJ is nowadays one of the top producers in WWE, with top talents often specifically requesting him to work on their matches. As such, there's interest in what Wilson would do should Natalya ultimately not sign a new deal with the promotion.
From the WWE side, one source PWInsider spoke to indicated that there's still time to come to an agreement and extend Natalya's stay with the market leader.
By this point, Natalya is a 24-year veteran of the squared circle, having her first match back in 2000. The only ever female graduate of the famed Hart Dungeon, the Calgary native is a one-time SmackDown Women's Champion, a one-time Divas Champion, a one-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion, has been part of shows such as Total Divas, Total Bellas, and Tough Enough, and holds six different records in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Where certain other WWE talent are concerned, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, and Finn Balor are some of those to recently sign new deals with the company, with Becky Lynch's deal having expired over the weekend. For the Man, she's expected to be taking an extended hiatus from the ring, with there a belief that she'll eventually pen a new deal to return to WWE. Much like Natalya, Chad Gable and Ricochet are other names whose existing WWE contracts are said to be expiring shortly.