Current WWE Superstar details her childhood crush on Shawn Michaels 

Natalya once had a crush on Shawn Michaels

Many of the current crop of WWE Superstars idolized the past generation of wrestlers, and several even developed crushes, like Natalya on Shawn Michaels.

Natalya grew up in the business as the daughter of Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and the niece of Bret Hart. As a result, from a young age, she watched some of the biggest legends who ever stepped foot in a ring.

The SmackDown star recently revealed in an interview with Dr. Beau Hightower that she developed quite the crush on Shawn Michaels when she was younger:

“Shawn Michaels was like my very first crush. When I was a little girl I loved The Rockers. When they were the Rockers, I had a huge crush on Shawn Michaels. My little sister liked Marty Jannetty. We would always watch them wrestle my dad and my uncle," said Natalya. (via SEScoops)

Given the history her uncle Bret and Shawn have, this crush must have been quite the talking point at family dinners. The two men were bitter rivals, both on WWE TV and in real life. They were also famously involved in the Montreal Screwjob, one of the most controversial moments in wrestling history.

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Natalya is set to face Ronda Rousey at WWE Money in the Bank next weekend

Natalya has been a part of WWE for more than 12 years. But after being overlooked for much of her career, she appears to have hit her stride in recent weeks.

The former women's champion has delivered some heated promos in the process of building up to her SmackDown Women's Championship match against Ronda Rousey.

Natalya trained Rousey ahead of her debut, and now they're engaged in an intense rivalry. Come next weekend at Money in the Bank, the veteran will look to become the first woman to ever force Rousey to tap out.

The former best friends have made their feud personal in recent weeks. The WWE Universe is looking forward to seeing how this will play out when they face off in Las Vegas on Saturday night.