If you were wandering through the icy corridors of Moscow in 2006, trying to find heat in the chill of post-Soviet steel and Cold War hangovers, you wouldn’t expect to find it inside a wrestling ring. But there she was: Natalia Markova, 17 years old and already dishing out blunt force trauma like it was her side hustle. Trained by the Independent Wrestling Federation (NFR), Russia’s own WWE Lite, Markova wasn’t just learning how to wrestle—she was learning how to be dangerous with a side of rhinestones.
By January 2007, Natalia—then known by the saccharine moniker “Bonnie”—stepped into the ring against Lilith in a match that ended with interference. Not the last time her matches would end in chaos, just the first. Wrestling in Russia is like ballet, only with more suplexes and fewer people pretending they understand it. And Natalia? She was its prima donna—with kickpads.
She captured the NFR Championship multiple times and piled up battle royales like parking tickets on a Lada. But it wasn’t enough. The Tsarina of Turnbuckles wanted more. She set her sights on Japan, where she brought her stiff style to DDT Pro-Wrestling and Wrestling New Classic. Japan was tough. Markova was tougher. She tangoed with Io Shirai, Mayu Iwatani, and Toni Storm before they were mainstream. She lost. A lot. But she kept coming. Because losing in Japan isn’t failure—it’s seasoning.
From Moscow to Miami: The Transcontinental Glow-Up
After nearly a decade of Russian roughhousing and strong-style apprenticeships, Markova went dark. A two-year hiatus in an industry that forgets faces quicker than Tinder forgets matches. Then she came back. In 2016, she resumed wrestling. By 2017, she was in America. This wasn’t a comeback. It was a statement. Natalia Markova was reborn in the land of spray tans and C-show circuits.
She dipped her toes in WWE’s murky developmental waters with a tryout at the Performance Center. It didn’t take. Maybe she was too Russian. Maybe she was too real. Maybe WWE just didn’t know what to do with a tall, blonde woman who didn’t smile like an influencer caught in traffic. Regardless, Markova walked out and never looked back.
Instead, she made a home in Shine Wrestling—Florida’s premier destination for women’s wrestling and aggressive glitter usage. She debuted in 2017 and by 2019, she’d picked up the ACW Women’s Championship like a crow collects shiny things. From there, she snagged the Shine Nova Championship and eventually dethroned Ivelisse for the Shine Championship in a match that felt more like a mugging. It didn’t last long. Ivelisse took it back weeks later, because in Shine, belts change hands like shared vape pens.
AEW: Dark Matches and Brighter Intentions
In 2021, Markova appeared on AEW Dark, the company’s streaming equivalent of a practice quiz before a midterm. She got fed to the wolves—Hikaru Shida, Tay Conti, Abadon—and walked away with nothing but bruises and screen time. AEW was already bloated with hopefuls, and Natalia got lost in the deluge of branded gear and awkward promos. She didn’t have a storyline. She didn’t need one. She was Natalia Markova, damn it.
So she pivoted to the place where personalities go to flourish: The National Wrestling Alliance.
NWA: Lipstick, Lariats, and Lobotomies
In late 2021, Markova became NWA’s worst-kept secret. She wasn’t here to collect belts; she was here to collect teeth. By 2022, she was dubbed the inaugural “Queen Bee” at NWA 74, a title that means absolutely nothing in kayfabe but sounds like something a Bond villain would call herself.
She feuded with monsters like Max the Impaler in casket matches—because of course she did—and even lost a few. But in a promotion built on nostalgia and neck braces, Markova brought an aesthetic equal parts dominatrix, Russian pop diva, and certified striker.
When she wasn’t snapping necks or dressing like a Mortal Kombat final boss, she was appearing in tabloid fluff pieces. In one viral summer tale, she tracked down a purse thief using AirPods and a healthy amount of vengeance, making her not just a wrestler—but a cautionary tale for petty criminals everywhere.
Wrestling, Real Life, and Just Enough Chaos
Markova lives her life like her matches: fast, aggressive, and slightly over the top. She became a U.S. citizen in 2023, though one suspects she didn’t take the oath so much as glare at the judge until they swore her in out of fear.
She’s wrestled everywhere. Literally. Europe. Asia. The Middle East. She once wrestled Shotzi Blackheart, Tay Conti, and Jessi Kamea all in the span of a few months, and that’s not even counting her tag matches or her sojourns into Evolve Wrestling where she actually, finally, got a win.
Natalia Markova isn’t just a wrestler. She’s a walking contradiction: part technician, part showgirl. She’ll drop you with a roundhouse kick and then adjust her lipstick while you’re counting ceiling tiles. She’s a glamazon with a mean streak and a Rolodex of opponents who still wake up with phantom pains in their clavicles.
In a world where everyone wants to be a brand, Natalia Markova remains an experience. One that comes with rhinestones, receipts, and no refunds.
Stat Line
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Debut: 2007 (NFR)
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Championships Held: Shine Championship, Shine Nova Championship, ACW Women’s Title
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Countries Conquered: Russia, Japan, U.S., and Anywhere Wi-Fi Exists
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Fun Fact: Solved a theft case with AirPods and fury