WWE reportedly had Shayna Baszler bust Natalya’s nose on last week’s SmackDown to keep her off the show for a previously scheduled surgery.
Baszler defeated Natalya on last Friday’s Crown Jewel go-home edition of SmackDown on FOX, with SmackDown Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey in her corner. The segment included a post-match scene in which Natalya’s nose was busted open and bloodied. The match was recorded on October 28.
In an update, POST Wrestling reports that Baszler’s strike to Natalya’s face was a pretext for nasal surgery that Natalya had already planned.
Natalya posted a post-surgery photo from the hospital to Twitter today, as seen below. Her “dislocated nose [was] moved back to the center” of her face, she noted.
“We moved my dislocated nose back to the center of my face where it belongs!! I love the shape of my nose and it will stay the same, thank goodness! Can finally breathe again [folded hands emoji] Pain is beauty! LFG! [laughing emoji],” she said.
Natalya had previously tweeted that Baszler was to blame for her broken nose.
There’s no word on whether Natalya will miss any more ring time, but she has wrestled since the match with Baszler, working Triple Threats on the WWE European tour last weekend alongside Baszler and winner Liv Morgan.
Below is video from Friday’s SmackDown, as well as Natalya’s full tweets and photos:
We moved my dislocated nose back to the center of my face where it belongs!! I love the shape of my nose and it will stay the same, thank goodness! Can finally breathe again? Pain is beauty! LFG! ? pic.twitter.com/V6zZTivjHQ
— Nattie (@NatbyNature) November 7, 2022
I knew Shayna wanted her big break in WWE. Didn’t know it would be my nose. pic.twitter.com/wkWqzDq7if
— Nattie (@NatbyNature) November 5, 2022
