WWE veteran details initial struggle to get hired by Vince McMahon

WWE has had hundreds of superstars on the roster over the years, ranging from Hall of Famers all the way to enhancement talents. One longtime veteran has just revealed why it was so hard to get hired by Vince McMahon.

The rivalry between The Hart Family and The McMahon Family goes back to even before the infamous Montreal Screwjob of 1997. Despite the heat, members of the two families are friends these days, and WWE has employed several of Bret Hart's family members, including Natalya. She has been with the company since January 5, 2007.

The Queen of Harts appeared on WWE's The Bump this week for a Women's History Month roundtable with Liv Morgan and Shayna Baszler, hosted by Jackie Redmond. Natalya was asked about the biggest hurdle she had to overcome as a woman on her journey to where she is at right now. She revealed how hard it was to get a job from Mr. McMahon.

"I think even just for myself, it's... a lot of people think because I came from a big wrestling family, that I had it easier, that I got handed this position, and I remember it took me over five years to get hired by WWE. There was a lot of conflict with The Harts and WWE at one point. I think we can refer back to The Montreal Screwjob for that [laughs]... many, many documentaries have been made about it. But for me, it was very challenging to get hired here because going back to what Shayna said, I didn't fit into a certain, like... I wasn't exactly what they wanted," she said.

Natalya continued and dished on the wisdom she picked up from Rhea Ripley about being authentic.

"And so no matter how hard I tried to be, um... what I thought that they wanted I ended up finding my most successful points in WWE when I was just myself. And I've heard Rhea Ripley say that, when she just started being herself is when she really became accepted and she really started to do her best work, so, um... I think just being myself and not worrying about what everybody else thinks, and just being authentic, um, has been... has really been awesome. But yeah, it's been hard because, like, we've gone through so many different stages of the Women's Evolution, where we were trying to be certain ways to fit into that moment, and really the best thing is when we can be our authentic selves," she said. [From 30:45 - 32:00]

Natalya's last match was against Zoey Stark at Monday's pre-RAW tapings for Main Event. The Superstar Spectacle rematch will air on Thursday's episode.

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WWE Hall of Famer on the Vince McMahon allegations

Vince McMahon was forced to resign from TKO Group Holdings earlier this year after he was accused of sexual misconduct by a former WWE employee. He has vowed to fight the allegations and strongly denied them.

McMahon has been a constant trending topic among fans and wrestlers this year. Rob Van Dam recently discussed the lawsuit on the Cafe de René podcast with former WWE star Renee Dupree. The Hall of Famer said he has read the full filing, incorrectly referring to it as an indictment.

"It's crazy. I read the whole 67-page indictment so I could have my own perspective of everything. I feel like even if everything was consensual, I still find it very disturbing and I almost feel like I don't want to know about it," Van Dam said. [From 01:27 - 01:50]

RVD went on to comment on McMahon's potential defense, offering insight into his former boss.