“I am the loudest and quietest person, depends on who I’m with”
– Unknown
Since 2007, Natalya Neidhart has been under a WWE contract and has been in front of the WWE audience for almost 20 years carrying on the torch of the legendary Hart family as a third-generation talent. Being a generational talent is a double edge sword in this business; on one hand it can absolutely open doors for you a lot easier, but at the same time you have the burdens of justifying to the fans and your peers that you actually deserve the spot more so than a talent that earned that spot after working the indies for years and let’s not forget the burden of living up to the family name that proceeded you.
For Natalya she comes from one of the royalists’ bloodlines in the history of the business with her grandfather being the legendary HOFamer, Stu Hart and the HOFame lineage her father, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart and her uncles, Bret “Hitman” Hart, Owen Hart and the “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith. Talk about an insanely high bar to try and live up to it and let’s also add the added challenge of being the first woman in your family to enter the family business when the industry didn’t look at women wrestlers with anywhere near the respect we see today when Natalya entered this business 25 years ago when bra and panties matches were the norm for the females of WWF/E back then in 2000.
Carving A Legacy:
Natalya has certainly had her challenges both on and off screen proving that she truly belongs there and she isn’t just there because of her last name. Today she is one of the most respected women in that locker room behind the scenes from her peers and to the educated portion of the audience that gets and respects what she has done in this business. Putting up with horrible gimmicks and booking decisions including Vince’s “farting” Natalya gimmick deserves some type of medal for refusing to give up on her passion and love for this business even when the business didn’t love her back.
Unfortunately, there are still fans that refuse to get passed the “she is only there because of her last name” and to those supposed “fans” I question your fandom and shake my head at the sheer stupidity of that statement. This portion of the audience is the minority in my opinion as I think more fans recognize that Natalya has more than earned her spot and legacy in the business.
However, the one thing that Natalya has not been able to overcome is that the booker and fans often take Natalya for granted and view her just as a “reliable good hand”. There are a lot of talents both male and female that have been saddled with this unfortunate badge that you’re good enough to put on a good match and to get others over, but you aren’t the chosen one to be main player stars.
Listen I am guilty of this when it comes to Natalya, I thought she is a great reliable talent, but I didn’t see main event player in her and I will say I was wrong, and I would like to apologize to Natalya for not seeing the star quality in her.
Nattie Is Not Natalya:
Last Saturday at the legendary 2300 Arena, I went to the NWA Crockett Cup, where Natalya was set to take on reigning NWA Women’s champion, Kenzie Page for the “Burke”. Going into this show I was just expecting WWE Natalya appearing in the NWA, but that quickly changed as her them started in the typical WWE theme way then switched to “Killing In The Name Of” by Rage Against the Machine.
The look and the attitude completely changed as it became abundantly clear that this was absolutely not Natalya, but in actuality was Nattie a completely different personality than we have ever seen on WWE TV for almost 20 years. Nattie is not just happy to be there; Nattie is that to kick some ass and won’t back down to anyone. That became abundantly clear just by her look, presentation and demeanor and the bell hadn’t even rung yet. The blood thirsty Philly crowd in the building that has a reputation of being extreme was 100% behind this kick ass version of Nattie.
Nattie started out aggressive from the very beginning and there was nobody in the building that night that want Nattie to take the NWA Women’s Championship. I cannot emphasize this enough I know if you weren’t in the building last Saturday night you haven’t seen this match yet, but once it is up check it out; believe me whatever I type about it, will not do it justice. Nattie was hard hitting and her opponent who I was not familiar with absolutely held her own and both women truly honored the legendary HOFamer, Midred Burke, who the NWA Women’s Championship is affectionately named after. Side note: if you haven’t seen Queen of the Ring, I highly recommend it.
Everyone could not take their eyes off this match and Nattie was a huge reason why and I even caught the man behind the Smashing Pumpkins, the owner of the NWA, Billy Corgan at the top of the ramp looking at the in-ring action. The NWA as a brand has certainly been tarnished over the years long before Corgan bought it, but I have to say as my first NWA show that I have attended, I absolutely feel I more than got my money’s worth and Corgan working out a deal to get Nattie on this card just made this show incredibly special.
It ended up being a 4.5-hour show, and Nattie didn’t go on until well into the third hour being the first match in a triple main event. Nattie and Kenzie Page absolutely delivered the match of the absolute night. These women through the gauntlet down to the two matches that would follow them saying go ahead and try and follow that!
After the match I turned to my buddy, Chris and said where did this version of Natalya come from and why haven’t we ever seen this side of her on WWE TV?
Nattie Needs WWE TV Time:
WWE has two mid-card championships in the Women’s division and the booking has not exactly been lighting the world on fire and Nattie could be the jump start for one of them. This is how I would do it, at the moment it looks like Becky Lynch with her recent heel turn is going after the IC Championship that Lyra currently has so that leaves the U.S. Championship held by babyface, Zelina.
I’d have Natalya appear like she usually does respectfully and ask for a match with Zelina and because all the babyfaces respect Natalya, she of course says yes. However, during the match like her legendary uncle Owen, “enough is enough and it’s time for a change”, we see the switch from fun loving Natalya to cutthroat Nattie.
Perhaps even recapture when Owen Hart turned heel and joined the Nation of Domination where he put Ken Shamrock in the sharpshooter and refused to let go and they played the sound effect that Owen snapped Shamrock’s leg. Have Nattie take the U.S. Championship off of Zelina as a heel and have her be a dominate champion running through opponents.
Have her music change to possibly her indie music she is using or something edgier and it would be awesome if she recorded the “Enough is Enough” lines like her uncle Owen to play in the beginning. She cut an amazing promo video leading into the Kenzie Page match and I believe she can cut a promo along the lines:
“Enough is enough! For almost 20 years I have had to endure this company disrespecting me and taking me for granted while all these less talented b****** have been getting all the promotions and opportunities. Meanwhile I keep busting my ass and told “oh Nattie we’re sorry we don’t have anything for you” of the “you’re a good hand bullsh*t”. I’m sick of this company disrespecting me and for even longer this company disrespecting my family. Well, no more! Natalya is a gone! Long live the Queen of Harts” Nattie!”
This new edgier version of Nattie could be absolutely huge for the mid-card and possibly world titles in WWE. I think fans could connect and gravitate to this new version. The reason Austin vs McMahon worked so well is that people could relate to Austin as they had authority figures in their life that abused their position and would have loved to have stunned them, so fans lived vicariously through Austin.
In Nattie’s case it is perfectly relatable in life being overlooked or taken for granted and would love to go off to prove to the people that wronged that they were wrong. We have seen fellow generational talent; Cody Rhodes leave WWE to prove to WWE he was the performer he believed he truly was, and WWE realized they screwed up and brought him back and the rest is history.
If WWE doesn’t realize what they have here, then a Nattie run in TNA that could be huge for her and them, but WWE should seriously make the switch from Natalya to Nattie immediately.
ITTMP
