Natalie Neidhart may be part of a wrestling dynasty, but as the powerhouse âNatalya,â she is forging her own story in womenâs wrestling.
Ahead of this yearâs WWE SummerSlam wrestling extravaganza, being held Sunday at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Neidhart sat down with Âéśš´ŤĂ˝âs Sandie Rinaldo to talk about her familyâs wrestling legacy, women in wrestling and her plans to defeat fellow superstar Becky Lynch.
A winner of both WWEâs Divas Championship and WWEâs SmackDown Womenâs, Neidhart comes from a long line of professional wrestlers.
The Calgary-born wrestler makes up the third generation of wrestlers from the âHartâ lineage. Her grandfather on her motherâs side, Stu Hart, trained well known wrestling stars, and his eight sons all went on to be wrestlers, two of them gaining significant fame in the pro-wrestling world.
âWhen your uncle is Bret âThe Hitmanâ Hart, one of the greatest superstars in the history of WWE and a Canadian icon, it's hard,â Neidhart told Âéśš´ŤĂ˝.
The pressure, she added, came not from her family members, but from her own desire to âbe great.â
âWrestling is in my blood,â she said. âGrowing up, we didn't have a sandbox in our backyard. We had a wrestling ring.â
But carrying on her familyâs legacy in the ring was not a foregone conclusion.
Her father, Jim Neidhart, did not want her to get into the sport at first. As a former wrestler, heâd seen how tough the industry could be for women.
âI was his baby girl,â Neidhart said. âSo he always tried to protect me ⌠my Dad didnât want me getting hurt because at that time it was more of a manâs world.â
But the face of professional wrestling is changing in favour of women.
At last yearâs WrestleMania, women were the main event for the first time in 35 years, with Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair serving as the headliners.
âRight now, there's a women's evolution in WWE and the women are really at the forefront,â Neidhart said. âFor the first time ever in the industry ⌠the girls are front and center.â
Neidhart believes the draw of women in wrestling is that âwomen are more emotional,â â flipping a common insult used against women in sports on its head.
âI think the women are just so unique to watch because I feel like we're more passionate than the men,â she explained. âIâm going to blaze my own trail, which has been remarkable and exciting.â
She said before her father passed away last summer, he had come around on her wrestling, and âended up becoming my biggest fan.â
On Sunday, Neidhart will go head-to-head with current womenâs champion Becky Lynch, the first woman to beat Ronda Rousey at WrestleMania. Neidhart says sheâs excited to wrestle her superstar opponent, known for her confidence in the ring.
âShe believes so much in her heart that she is the best,â she said. âBut I also believe that I'm the best.â
Neidhart trained in Calgary at a gym known as the âHart Dungeon,â where countless professionalsâpredominantly menâhave honed their body slams and submission holds. But she says the gender imbalance made her a more determined, resilient wrestler.
âThere was one other girl and myself and then 20 guys, 30 guys,â she said. âSo if she wasn't at the practice I had to wrestle men.â
Sundayâs match will serve as a milestone moment for Neidhart, not only for the opportunity to steal the womenâs championship title from Lynch, but to compete in the country she calls home.
âI'm at a point right now where I've never felt so inspired to compete and perform, especially in my home country of Canada,â she said.
She wants spectators to focus on her passion when she challenges Lynch.
âYou will feel something, you'll feel an emotional connection, but you also understand that I thought very, very hard to get here,â she said.
âAnd when I win the Raw Womenâs championship, you'll know whyâbecause I have grit, determination and passion.â