Summary

Nattie Neidhart says Steve Austin sought out both her and Shayna Baszler backstage after their Bloodsport match and told them he loved the intensity they brought to the fight.

Neidhart faced Baszler at Bloodsport XV and won by countout in an eight-minute bout. Reflecting on the reaction afterward, she said Austin was especially complimentary about the grit and physicality of the match.

Quote from Nattie Neidhart

"After the match, (Stone Cold) Steve Austin came backstage and he was trying to find me and Shayna (Baszler) and was like, ‘That was f*cking awesome.’ He’s like, ‘That was so gritty, that was so intense.’ He was like, ‘This is what I’m talking about when I’m saying I wanna see a grittier side of people’ and he’s like, ‘That was amazing.’ He’s like, ‘What next? What are you gonna do next? That was incredible.'"

Neidhart later turned to what she wants out of this current stage of her career and named Jaida Parker as one wrestler who stands out to her.

"To me, it’s like, OK, yeah, I’m on Raw. That’s the brand that I’m on. But, I’m looking at women that can knock me on my ass because this new — I don’t know — mindset that I have, I don’t wanna just go in there and… yeah, I’d like to have really great matches but I need women that are gonna really, really challenge me and knock me on my ass and I think about some of the different women on the main roster. There’s quite a few that I would like to work with but… for example, Jaida Parker, NXT… She only probably reached half of her potential, if that. But I see her as somebody that I’m like, this girl can throw down. I’ve seen her in matches where I’m like, she is somebody that I kind of want to start a fight with. I want her to knock me on my ass so I can kick her ass back. I need that to survive. It’s like that rush of kill or be killed sort of thing so, if I was looking for a fight with somebody, I’d be like, I’d like to start a fight with Jaida Parker for example."

What Jaida Parker could mean for Nattie Neidhart

Neidhart naming Jaida Parker gives this update a clear WWE angle beyond a one-off reaction quote. If Neidhart is serious about leaning harder into the tougher style she showed against Baszler, Parker is exactly the kind of younger, physical opponent who fits that direction.

It also keeps Neidhart tied to a more aggressive presentation after Bloodsport, instead of letting that match sit as an isolated side project. Austin's praise adds another layer to that idea, and his standard for grit still hangs over WWE, as LA Knight recently discussed while comparing his own rise to names like Bryan Danielson and Steve Austin.

Sources

Nattie Neidhart while speaking on Busted Open