Natalya says Dungeon 2.0 is her ‘love letter to wrestling’

Natalya says that the Dungeon 2.0 is her and TJ Wilson’s “love letter to pro-wrestling.”

Their gym isn’t a wrestling school, Natalya recently told TV Insider. Rather, it is an invite-only wrestling workshop for those who are intermediate to advanced. It’s their way to give back to the industry. 

Natalya said:

TJ and I rented a warehouse. A little warehouse. There is no air conditioning, one small bathroom, and a wrestling ring. And the only thing you need is passion.

We have friends who work in every corner of the industry. We have friends from every promotion. Our ring is not a school where you can sign up, or pay a fee, or just drop in. It’s invite only. You have to know a friend who knows a friend who knows a friend. It’s kind of a wrestling workshop for intermediate to advanced people.

We rent the space, but “The Dungeon” is our way of giving back to the industry. It’s our love letter to wrestling. I love being able to give back from women of NXT to women in the independent industry to women who love this industry.

Liv Morgan, Angelo Dawkins, Ricky Starks, David Finlay and many others have trained at the Dungeon 2.0. Recently, Jade Cargill requested to train there, something Natalya says she was impressed by. 

Natalya continued: 

When Jade Cargill asked to train in “The Dungeon,” I was so honored because when she asked she had just lost her mother. I thought, ‘That shows me right there the women we are going to get in WWE. Someone who has such passion for this.’ Having just lost a parent and thinking, ‘You know what? This is a positive focus for me and a way to shift my focus to work hard.’ I have so much respect for her for wanting to train during that difficult time in her life. “The Dungeon” is our love letter to professional wrestling.

In recent interviews, Natalya has neither confirmed nor denied rumors of a possible movie on The Hart Family. While she wouldn’t admit to such a project being in the works, she did say Paul Walter Hauser is who she would choose to portray her father, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart.

I am working on something near and dear to my heart. I can’t confirm or deny what I’m working on, but it’s very special, and I’m really excited about it.

She continued:

If I were going to do a movie and could choose who I would personally want to play my dad, it would be Paul Walter Hauser. Paul is a huge wrestling fan. He just won the Emmy Award and called out [wrestler] Matt Cardona in his acceptance speech. I love Paul’s passion for the industry. I see old footage of my dad and think, ‘If there was a movie on the Hart family, call Paul Walter Hauser.’ I can’t unsee him as my dad. He has to be my dad. I love Paul. I think it’s so commendable that someone from his world has so much respect for us.

Natalya also gave her thoughts on The Iron Claw film based on The Von Erich family, as well as what her uncle, Bret Hart, had to say about it. 

I loved The Iron Claw. After watching I said to Bret, ‘Wow, this Von Erich movie is so inspiring and sad at the same time.’ Bret told me, and I never knew this, that Fritz Von Erich got into wrestling through my grandfather. He met my grandfather in Edmonton. My grandfather Stu said he should get into wrestling. So had Fritz not met Stu, the Von Erich family may not been in wrestling. Fritz and the family lived on my grandfather’s property, the Hart house. It was so cool because I never knew that. I met Kevin Von Erich and the grandkids and didn’t know this. They told me, ‘Yeah, your family is very special to us.”’The Von Erich family is very special to my family. My dad was one of Kerry Von Erich’s last matches, so watching that movie brought back different emotions.