Tag: Jim Neidhart

Natalya: I wanted to be ‘everything that my dad wasn’t’ in WWE

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Despite all the love she has for her father, Natalya modeled her WWE career on being everything Jim Neidhart wasn’t.

Natalya was the guest on Tuesday’s episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, promoting her new book that is set to be released on October 28. She discussed the current character evolution that she’s going through in the ring. After spending so much time just trying to make other people happy, Natalya is now focused on bringing a different side of herself with her “Nattie Neidhart” persona.

“I’ve done so many first-evers. I’ve had great matches. I’ve had monumental moments. I’ve had so much fun,” Natalya said. “But it was a character that I felt like I had to do to survive and make sure everybody was happy. I wanted to make the girls in the locker room happy. I wanted to make management happy. I wanted to make my family proud.”

Jim Neidhart (who passed away in 2018) had a Hall of Fame career in WWE as a member of The Hart Foundation, but his life was a tumultuous one and he was let go by the company multiple times. Because of that, Natalya was determined to always be dependable and do what was asked of her.

Natalya believes the difficulties her father went through were due to Neidhart suffering from brain trauma dating back to his early days playing football. That trauma also made it very challenging for Neidhart to be a good parent, but Natalya loved him unconditionally through all of his flaws.

“I wanted to just, you know, be everything that my dad wasn’t,” she said. “Which, you know, my dad wasn’t — he wasn’t stable. He wasn’t reliable. He was going through, which I talk about in the book, he was going through the hardest times of his life, suffering from — my dad had a very serious brain injury. And nobody knew that, but I just knew growing up, like, he got let go from WWE so many times. I was like, I am bound and determined to be everything everybody needs from me so I’ll never be like my dad and I’ll never let anybody down.”

When Natalya re-signed with WWE in 2024, she did so knowing that she still wanted to grow and evolve in her career. She is less of a people-pleaser than she used to be, and it’s been liberating for her to showcase her authentic self as “Nattie Neidhart” outside of WWE in promotions like GCW Bloodsport and the NWA. The persona is a more gritty and ruthless version of who fans have come to know her as.

Natalya said WWE and Paul “Triple H” Levesque have been very supportive in giving her permission for these outside appearances. Her hope is that she can now parlay her new character into WWE.

“While it’s taken me a long time for my ship to really come in, I really want to go on a powerful run in WWE. That’s my goal. That’s my dream,” she said.

DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The WON Hall of Fame case for the Hart Foundation

Posted on by Karl Stern

On today’s DragonKingKarl, I continue my look at acts which have not yet been voted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame with a focus on the Hart Foundation.

While Bret Hart is already in, his team with Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart is not. Why?

Then, we travel in time back to the mid-1930s for a look at what was happening at Madison Square Garden as the big name of Danno O’Mahoney enters the scene. Plus, I provide an extensive look at a 1990s Tokyo Dome card during the midst of the mixed martial arts influence.

Click Here to Listen (sub needed)

Hart Foundation to be inducted into WWE Hall of Fame

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Two members of the Hart Foundation will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame over WrestleMania 35 weekend.

WWE confirmed via Yahoo Sports today that Bret Hart & Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart will be inducted into their Hall of Fame on Saturday, April 6.

“It was very emotional for me,” Bret told Yahoo Sports. “It really means a lot to me and I think it would mean a lot to my late tag partner, who would be really honored to be in the Hall of Fame. I think we both were really proud of our work as a team. I had hoped for years that we would get inducted together and get to go on stage together, but that’s not going to happen now. Emotionally, I feel really proud and I’m glad to get a chance to speak for Jim and I know he’ll be listening.”

Natalya tweeted: “GRIT. DETERMINATION. PASSION. THAT’S WHAT BUILDS A FOUNDATION. CONGRATULATIONS DADDY & @brethart … YOU. DESERVE. IT. #wwehalloffame”

Though he was originally reported as being inducted with the Hart Foundation, Jimmy Hart wasn’t included in today’s announcement. Jimmy was inducted individually in 2005.

Bret joins Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, and Booker T on the list of two-time WWE Hall of Famers. Michaels is being inducted as part of D-Generation X this year, while Booker T and Stevie Ray are being inducted as Harlem Heat.

This year’s Hall of Fame ceremony is taking place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. D-X (Michaels, Triple H, Chyna, X-Pac, Road Dogg & Billy Gunn), Honky Tonk Man, Torrie Wilson, Harlem Heat, and Bret & Neidhart have been announced for the Hall of Fame class, and longtime WWE employee Sue Aitchison will receive the Warrior Award.

Report: Original Hart Foundation being inducted into WWE Hall of Fame

Posted on by Joseph Currier

While WWE has yet to make any official announcements for this year’s Hall of Fame class, it appears that the first act for it has been confirmed.

PWInsider reported this afternoon that the original Hart Foundation (Bret Hart, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, and Jimmy Hart) will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as part of this year’s class. The Hall of Fame ceremony is taking place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Saturday, April 6.

Bret and Jimmy Hart have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame individually. Bret headlined the 2006 class, while Jimmy was part of the 2005 class.

Neidhart passed away in August 2018. He was 63 years old.

Bret & Neidhart were two-time Tag Team Champions together in the WWF.

This year’s Hall of Fame ceremony was originally scheduled to take place on the Friday of WrestleMania weekend before being moved to Saturday.

August 20, 2018 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Death of Jim Neidhart, ROH/NJPW sell out MSG

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The Ring of Honor/New Japan Pro Wrestling show on 4/6 in Madison Square Garden sold out on 8/10 less than 19 minutes after the public on-sale began.

Of course, they had already sold 12,000 of the 15,000 seats put on sale, with the first 9,000 going to Honor Club subscribers on 8/8, and another 3,000 going to those with codes that weren’t hard to get, and in fact were tweeted out.

The significance of this could be monumental in ways that are obvious and other ways perhaps less obvious. While ROH officials would not release a gate number, it was confirmed to be well in excess of $1 million, making it the largest gate for a non-WWE pro wrestling gate not only in the United States, but likely anywhere in the world except for the Far East.

The previous largest gate for a non-WWE show in North America was $1 million, set on September 11, 2014, for the Atlantis vs.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

Natalya comments on her father’s passing

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Nattie Neidhart has issued a statement following her father Jim Neidhart’s passing earlier today.

“I can’t put into words how hard it is going to be for myself and our family to have to say goodbye to my dad,” she said on Twitter. “He meant he world to us, and nothing will ever replace the special times we shared together as a family. My dad was always a fighter and an incredibly special person. There was no one like him! I’m just gonna miss him so much. We are going to hold all of the moments we had with him close to our hearts forever and never let them go. I promise to keep your memory alive. We love you so much, Daddy!”

“On behalf of my entire family, we would also like to personally thank everyone for the outpouring of thoughts and prayers. It’s meant so much to us” she further added.

Nattie was originally scheduled to face Alexa Bliss in a non-title match tonight on Raw, with Ronda Rousey and Alicia Fox in their respective corners. However, it is currently believed the match is off and she will be flying home instead. The preview for the match was later removed from WWE’s website.

Jim Neidhart, 63, passed away early this morning due to a gran mal seizure. He had been battling Alzheimer’s disease prior to his death.

Jim ‘The Anvil’ Neidhart passes away at 63 years old

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, best known as a member of the Hart Foundation and Hart Family, who was the longtime tag team partner of Bret Hart, passed away early this morning in Tampa at the age of 63.

According to Ross Hart, his brother-in-law, the death was due to a grand mal seizure related to the Alzheimer’s Disease that Neidhart had been suffering from for some time.

Neidhart was a powerhouse, about 280 pounds with a huge chest and shoulders, who was one of the strongest men in the world in the late 70s, as one of the best shot putters in the United States and an Olympic hopeful.

He set the California state high school record in the shot put in 1973 and continued in college, placing highly in national meets. After failing to make the Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys after college, he ended up in Calgary, where he started a pro wrestling career.

He married Elizabeth “Ellie” Hart, one of Stu Hart’s daughters, and became a regular on the Stampede circuit as one of its biggest stars. He ventured to a number of other territories over the years, most notably New Japan, Florida, Georgia and Mid South, where he formed a tag team with Butch Reed.

When Vince McMahon purchased Stampede Wrestling in late 1984, which was to close it down and get its valuable television network that covered all of Western Canada, one of Stu Hart’s provisos was that his top stars, Bret Hart, Dynamite Kid, Davey Boy Smith, and Neidhart all got jobs.

At first they weren’t pushed, but The Hart Foundation and British Bulldogs became the stars of the tag team division. Bret Hart suggested forming the tag team and they won the WWF Tag Team titles from the Bulldogs at a time when Dynamite Kid was so badly injured that he literally had to be carried to the ring to drop the titles in the ring. They were managed by Jimmy Hart and were often affiliated with former heel referee Danny Davis.

They had a second run as tag team champions, beating Demolition at the 1990 SummerSlam.

The Hart Foundation were considered one of the best tag teams of the era. Neidhart, with the more outgoing personality, was the original star and powerhouse of the team. Neidhart was the power man and Bret Hart was the technical wrestler who carried the action inside the ring. While best remembered as heels, they were also strong as babyfaces and it was this period where, in time, people began to notice what a strong performer Bret Hart was.

When Bret Hart became a singles star after the team broke up, Neidhart’s career struggled. At one time he teamed with Owen Hart as The New Foundation, and also worked for New Japan, competing in the 1992 G1 Climax, and had a number of WWF returns. His full-time major league career ended in WCW, but he continued to work independents for more than a decade until his Alzheimer’s issues surfaced.

Today he’s best known as the father of Natalya, and appeared on several episodes of Total Divas.

Another daughter, Jennifer, was years ago the girlfriend of Mauro Ranallo. Ranallo noted that Jim Neidhart had always shown him nothing but love during that period. 

He had a number of legal issues late in his life and substance abuse issues that led to rehab. He had divorced Elizabeth but they later remarried.

Natalya was scheduled to face Alexa Bliss in a non-title match on Raw tonight, but it is believed that she will be flying home and that match will be changed.

DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Marathon Finale: Jim Neidhart

Posted on by Karl Stern

The final day of the July Classic Wrestling Marathon is finally here. And for the last show, host Karl Stern takes a listener request deep cut looking at the lesser successful member of the Hart Foundation, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart.

Neidhart did have a wrestling career prior to the Hart Foundation working in Memphis, Mid-South, Florida, and of course Stampede. His career also closely followed another contemporary until his time in the WWF.

Today the marathon concludes with Jim Neidhart, father of current WWE star Nattie Neidhart.

Today also concludes the Super Stern Stick 16gb pro wrestling history flashdrive. The product will be pulled at Midnight U.S. Central Time tonight and discontinued. This is version 6.0 of the flashdrive and it will not be sold again in it’s entirety. There are many audio series, audio documentaries, interviews, question and answer shows and much more on the flashdrive — over 500 in all.

In addition, there is in excess of 500 pdf and text files dealing with pro wrestling history including old fanzines, newsletters, the entire run of the DragonKing Press Newsletter, match clippings, results, and much more. Order today or be left out. You can order at Karl’s website.

Right click save