Natalya Appears To No-Sell Top WWE Star's Finisher At Live Event
An uncommon incident occurred at a WWE live event this past weekend between Natalya and new "SmackDown" Women's Champion, Liv Morgan. Natalya took on Morgan and Ronda Rousey in Sacramento, CA in a match that ended when Morgan hit her springboard flatliner finisher on Natalya. Morgan covered Natalya for the pinfall victory, but after the count was administered, Natalya got right back up, exchanging a few words and pointing her finger at Morgan before rolling out and walking away, despite the fact that she had supposedly just participated in a competitive wrestling match.
LMAO?????? pic.twitter.com/aPhNIHB0Dh
— DEE (@TheDEEsciple) July 11, 2022
Natalya's actions could be interpreted as "no-selling" Morgan's finisher, which is a big rarity in today's wrestling, as it breaks the illusion of a legitimate contest. The last notable instance took place at 2018's Bound For Glory event for Impact Wrestling when Austin Aries no-sold John Morrison's (then known as Johnny Impact) finisher to close out the show. After being pinned, Aries immediately rolled out of the ring and walked up the entryway, spewing profanities at Impact management, while showing no signs he had been hurt, thus "no-selling" the move.
Natalya is no stranger to helping talent develop in the ring. She played a factor in getting Ronda Rousey acclimated in the squared circle, and earlier this year went down to "NXT" to work with newcomer Cora Jade. Natalya has previously stated that she's "too selfish" to be a producer as the job requires long weeks and little fanfare, but credits the work ethic of someone like Adam Pearce.
Morgan just became the women's Money In The Bank winner just a week ago when she was victorious against Becky Lynch, Asuka, Alexa Bliss, Raquel Rodriguez, Lacey Evans, and Shotzi. Later in the evening, Morgan came out to cash in against Rousey to become the new "Smackdown" Women's Champion. Now, she and Natalya are set to face off this Friday on "SmackDown."