Natalya Defends SmackDown Women’s Main Event After Botched Finish

WWE tried scrubbing a major botch from last week’s SmackDown main event, but fans didn’t forget. And now, Natalya is stepping up to defend her fellow Superstars—offering a heartfelt response to the criticism surrounding the women’s triple threat match.

During the September 26 SmackDown in Orlando, Tiffany Stratton retained her WWE Women’s Championship against Jade Cargill and Nia Jax. But the match fell apart live on USA Network after a messy sequence involving a delayed dropkick, an awkward referee count, and a crowd that instantly turned on the finish. WWE later uploaded a heavily edited version of the match to YouTube, completely removing the botch.

Now, Natalya is speaking out about the backlash—and her perspective is both personal and grounded. On Busted Open Radio, she broke down how hard these moments are on the performers themselves.

“I watched it from multiple different standpoints. I watched it from, like, okay, what would I think about this as a fan? And then I’m like, oh, damn, I’ve so been in shitty situations in matches where I am like, I can’t believe… you’re kind of like, I can’t believe this is happening. It’s happening on live TV.”

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She added that fans often don’t realize how much wrestlers care—or how hard they take it when something goes wrong.

“I’m gonna be honest—there was a huge part of me that just… like, I know what it’s like to go through stuff in matches where things don’t go as planned. But it made me more compassionate. I looked at all of my coworkers, I looked at everybody involved and I was like—nobody really knows what we’re going through unless they have been in that situation.”

“I have been in similar situations where I will have made the mistake—me, Nattie. And then I’ll beat myself up for days. I won’t sleep, I’ll get a pit in my stomach. I’ll need people to talk me off a ledge because I care so much about it.”

Natalya even reflected on one of her own career low points during her FCW days.

“I had a match, Dave, when I was in FCW… I completely forgot the finish of the match. I think I was supposed to make a save, I forgot to do that, it caused a domino effect. I thought my world was ruined. I literally thought my life was over.”

But as she pointed out, nobody even remembers it now—and that’s the lesson she wants fans to take away.

“I’ve had matches where I’ve lost hair extensions, wardrobe malfunctions, my bra snapped off… this sht really happens. But the best thing to do is move forward—it only drives us to perform better.”*

Natalya closed with a reminder that every top star has stumbled at some point.

“Show me somebody in this industry at the highest level who has not made a mistake. You won’t find one.”

While fans may continue to dissect the now-infamous SmackDown clip, Natalya’s message offers a necessary reality check—and a little grace—for those who risk it all in the ring.

Please credit Ringside News if you use the above transcript in your publication.