Wrestling / Natalya Neidhart

*Guitar screech...*

Natalie Katherine "Nattie" Neidhart-Wilson (born May 27, 1982) is a Canadian professional wrestler who debuted in 2000 for her family's Stampede Wrestling promotion but worked primarily for Matrats until 2003. After a run through Stampede, Nattie spent the next two years touring England and Japan, particularly in NEO Women's Pro Wrestling, before returning to Canada to become the first Stampede Women's Pacific Champion. Nattie then moved down south to wrestle in the Western USA, snagging the NWA Pacific Northwest SuperGirls Title, the attention of then fledgling promotion SHIMMER and eventually a contract with WWE under the name Natalya.

Natalya is the daughter of WWE Legend Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and the niece of Bret "The Hitman" Hart. Natalya was trained in her family's famous Dungeon and is, to this day, the only female graduate. In the WWE, she was the first 3rd-generation Diva and initially managed cousin DH Smith and real-life boyfriend (now husband) Tyson Kidd as The Hart Dynasty but she entered the women's division when they split up and eventually became WWE Divas Champion. She is also currently a member of the Total Divas reality show.

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"Pink and Black tropes:"

• Aborted Arc:
  • When NXT was rebranded to be a developmental show at Full Sail University, Natalya wrestled a match against Ivelisse Vélez where she refused to get back in the ring, lost by count-out and attacked Ivelisse afterwards. Nothing ever came of this angle, as Ivelisse (using the name Sofia Cortez) wrestled as a heel against Tamina Snuka at the next tapings and was released. Years later, Ivelisse says she was about to tape vignettes to debut on the main roster, so it's possible the rest of the program was meant to happen there.
  • An episode of WWE Superstars had her teaming with Layla against The Funkadactyls in a face vs face match. Natalya and Cameron got into a fight in the match over the latter feeling disrespected, seemingly foreshadowing a heel turn. This was never referenced again (though Cameron turned heel a year later). It appeared to have been taped for a subplot on Total Divas - the Season 1 previews tried to portray it as a Worked Shoot - that never made it to air.
  • The Divas of Doom storyline got dropped completely, interrupting two plot developments - Kaitlyn turning heel to become the third Diva of Doom, and Alicia Fox becoming the #1 contender for Beth's title. Natalya started appearing on her own, only occasionally tagging with Beth.
• Actually Pretty Funny: LayCool showed a graphic of Natalya with a beard like her father's photoshopped on - in a clear attempt to humilate her. Nattie instead burst out laughing and could be seen mouthing "I like that".
• All Women Love Shoes: Naomi Knight commented on Natalya's already large shoe collection when Natalya inquired about where Naomi had gotten a pair Natalya took a liking to. An episode of Superstar Toyz featured entirely around Nattie's shoes.
• Alternate Company Equivalent: Was like a younger version of Lola Gonzales for Stampede, as Nattie early in her career was like Lola in the latter stages of her own, which just so happened to be contemporary.
• Arch-Enemy: First LayCool. Then the "Barbie Doll" Divas. Nikki Bella became a big one, and probably the most personal feud she has ever had in WWE - to the point where they had to be interviewed via satellite feeds because the brawls between them had gotten so physical.
  • Naomi after becoming number 1 contender for Smackdown Women's Champion.
  • Charlotte Flair in middle 2016 as a face & fall 2017 as a heel.
  • Ruby Riott (and by extension The Riott Squad) during 2018.
• Battle Bikini: It is not too noticeable when most of the roster wrestles in knee braces and tights the size of briefs but it is what she mostly wears in the ring.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: A small aversion during her farting gimmick.
• Bitch Slap: To Vince McMahon, no less. Has said it was one of the favorite moments of her career. This was also how Melina turned heel on her.
• Bridal Carry: Ended up being carried this way on SHIMMER Volume 8 while trying to escape "Portuguese Princess" Ariel.
• The Bully: Essentially her gimmick when teamed with Victoria, especially toward Cherry. (But they were hardly unique in that regard)
• Butt-Monkey: Towards the end of 2011.
• Canon Name: Neidhart was dropped from her name after about two weeks but she's still called that by fans. Also, before going to WWE she used to insist on being called "Nattie" and could get crowds chanting it just by politely asking. Even in WWE it's still used as an informal version of her name. At least two Japanese promotions billed her as "Nadia Hart".
• Catfight: Occasionally when she was a manager.
• Characterisation Marches On/Flanderization: Has morphed through psychotic 3rd generation star, badass Pollyanna, The Mentor, female Hardcore Holly, Chew Toy and playful dancer all in the space of about five years.
• Childhood Friend Romance: With Tyson Kidd, whom she eventually married.
• Cleavage Window: When she was starting out she had gear with a window in the shape of a valentine symbol.
• Cool Big Sis: She was this to A.J. Lee and Kaitlyn before she turned on them.
• Crazy Cat Lady: Portrayed as such during a segment on the October 18, 2016 episode of WWE SmackDown. It started with Natalya asking General Manager Daniel Bryan to be part of the 5-on-5 Women's Elimination Match at the upcoming Survivor Series pay-per-view. Eventually, the segment spiraled into Natalya offering to let Bryan see pictures of her cats as the show went to commercial break, and she was still showing him pictures when the commercials ended. Perhaps the only reason Bryan wasn't trapped for the entire show was that Dean Ambrose walked into the locker room, giving Bryan an excuse to get away from Nattie.
  Bryan: [to Ambrose] Thank God you're here.
  Ambrose: [sympathetic look] Cat pictures, huh?
• Characterization Marches On: On the first season of Total Divas, she was portrayed as a Cool Big Sis and Team Mom to the other Divas - offering advice and taking on the role of the Only Sane Man with only minimal relationship troubles. In the second season, she became far more petty and combative to the others - including a feud with Summer Rae and despising all of TJ's relatives - as well as something of a Butt-Monkey.
• Cute Bruiser: Especially during her initial WWE run when contrasted against the unorthodox Cherry, the mat and shoot Michelle McCool and the goofy Victoria. Later she would emphasize more of her mat and shoot (submission) ability. This was less noticeable on the indies where Natalya was not always as well groomed and sometimes was just one of many bruisers.
• Demoted to Extra: Whenever she has played out a feud.
• Denser and Wackier: When she debuted in 2008, she was a rather serious Blood Knight who demanded respect and sought to punish all the other Divas. As the years have gone on, her character has become slightly more comedic. If she's a face, she's usually very playful. If she's a heel, she is very much Evil Is Hammy.
• Designated Girl Fight: WWE would often add other Divas to teams the Hart Dynasty were feuding with so Nattie would have something to do. Eve Torres, Maria Kanellis and Tamina Snuka are examples.
• Enemy Mine: Girls Gone Wrestling were a thorn in the side of the Stampede Girls in ECCW but Cheerleader Melissa found common ground with Nattie against the Dangerous Angels during SHIMMER/All American Wrestling cross promotional show.
• Even Evil Has Standards: While still in her Divas of Doom phase, she took exception to Eve Torres's blatant manipulation of Zack Ryder. She also seemed genuinely concerned for AJ Lee after Daniel Bryan's cruel break-up with her.
• Evil Laugh: She somehow manages an even more sadistic version than her father's.
• Evil Redhead: In 2008 right around the time she became #1 contender for the Divas' Championship. Notably although she has been blonde as both a face and heel, she was never face as a redhead.
• Face/Heel Double-Turn:
  • Twice. First in her feud with Michelle McCool she was heel and Michelle was face, then they feuded two years later with the roles reversed. Ditto with Tamina.
  • The trope played out during a match against Alicia Fox. Alicia had been face previously on television (though she flip-flops depending on the whims of the bookers) and high fived the fans during her entrance. But she turned heel immediately when the bell rang and Nattie became the face since the match took place in Canada.
• Fanservice Pack:
  • She got really pretty towards the end of 2010 and was seen in fancy dresses more often.
  • Then again in 2015 when she adopted ring attire that was clearly inspired by dominatrix gear.
• The Fashionista: In real life. It's carried over onto TV as well, with her usually appearing in various fashionable outfits whenever she's not wrestling.
• Faux Affably Evil: Led the crowd in a "Let's go Kaitlyn!" chant while stretching out Kaitlyn's abs.
• Finishing Move: It's still an impressive sight to see a Diva doing the Sharpshooter so she still receives great pops whenever she locks it on. Sometimes she'll finish with a powerbomb or Discus Clothesline.
• Gasshole: Gained this gimmick in late 2011. A former writer claimed they had one day pitched it as a joke. Months later he was in shock when it actually got used.
• Genre Blind: After Cheerleader Melissa had wrapped Allison Danger's leg in the ropes and drop kicked it, Nattie followed through with...a chin lock. Soon enough Danger had tagged in a fresh Sara Del Rey. It was up to Melissa to follow through with the hold Nattie should have started with.
• Girliness Upgrade: In WWE Natalya started out as a cackling, bullying self absorbed obsessive athlete who only wore pink because she found ass kickings to be more humiliating if dealt out by someone in pink. After the Hart Dynasty won tag team gold she started caring about other people's problems, getting involved in gossip and not only wearing pink but also valentine symbols and even her later heel turns showed her to be much more jubilant and conscious to domestic issues. The Bella Twins commented on this in their shoot interview, stating that Nattie helped show them wrestling-related stuff - and they in turn showed her how to do the 'Diva thing'.
• Girly Bruiser: Wears more pink than any other Diva (pink and black are the Harts' colours) and outside of the ring has an insane amount of shoes in her collection, yet not any less of a badass.
• Hairstyle Malfunction: She and Alicia Fox really love doing this to each other.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: And sometimes without a setup as to why she turned.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: Started wearing leather as part of her latest heel turn.
• Hotter and Sexier: In late 2014, she swapped her usual long tights for hot pants, showing off her legs for the first time in her WWE run. And in 2015, she gave herself a complete costume switch to ring gear designed to evoke a dominatrix.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Her stint as the valet/girlfriend(?) of The Great Khali. Nattie is 5'3", and Khali is 22 inches taller... and the two of them usually appeared with Hornswoggle, so it was also an example of Tiny Guy, Huge Girl. How huge or tiny Natalya is, is a matter of perspective, though. (She is kind of short but she's also kind of bulky.)
• Informed Attribute: Subverted mostly, since she is a bit larger than the other Divas, but the only time this has been mentioned is LayCool getting some Cheap Heat. Played Straight with Miz's claims she was sweet and innocent, ignoring the last year the Hart Dynasty had been stirring up trouble with her in WWECW.
• In-Series Nickname: Jim Ross often called her "The Anvilette". William Regal liked to call her "The Dungeon Diva".
• Insult Backfire: Lay Cool attempted to mock her by claiming she had inherited her father's facial hair gene, showing a graphic with an Anvil moustache photoshopped onto her face. Nattie laughed it off and actually wore a fake beard the week after.
• Irony: In Big Time Wrestling, she said then SuperGirls champion Ivory represented everything that was wrong with professional wrestling and would never amount to anything more than a WWE diva. On Total Divas, Natalya talked about how relieved she was when she finally got signed by WWE and didn't have to travel around the world as a nobody anymore.
• Kick the Dog: With Beth Phoenix they loved to trap the other Divas in painful looking submission holds and hold up the house mic to hear them scream.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Has owned at least a few cats and is not afraid to let the world know she loves them very much. Total Divas shows her Squeeing at getting to meet the famous Grumpy Cat.
• Lovely Angels:
  • The initial face version of her team-up with Beth Phoenix.
  • In 2012-2013 she and Layla often appeared as a face tag team to take on the likes of Alicia Fox and Aksana.
• Muscles Are Meaningful: She was the first woman on WWE TV to no sell a shoulder block from Beth Phoenix and for awhile she would not fall to most clothesline attempts and such, even from Beth. She also duplicates some of John Cena's regular spots.
• Pink Means Feminine: Inverted. Pink and black are the Hart family's colours and she wears more pink than any other Diva. It makes her even more badass.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Pretty apparent in her matches with Sirelda, Amazing Kong and Beth Phoenix.
• Plenty of Blondes:
  • Realised this in 2008 and dyed her hair red to stand out. She's back to blonde now, though usually carries a pink streak to stand out while paying homage to the Hart line.
  • This also led to Natalya becoming a suspect in the 2012 mystery of who attacked Kaitlyn at Night of Champions. Getting access to the CCTV footage revealed that the attacker was a blonde. Natalya and Beth Phoenix both fell under suspicion, until it was revealed to be Aksana in a blonde wig.
• The Pollyanna: As a face. The Miz seemingly mistook this trait for her being "sweet and innocent" though, which she really wasn't.
• The Power of Friendship: She and Victoria became super best friends at first sight and proceeded to feed each others egos.
• Potty Failure: Peed her pants after getting hit in the gut by Naomi's butt during a waistlock. Apparently managed to never get hit in that particular spot till then, despite all the matches she had been in.
• Power Stable: The Welcoming Committee with Tamina and Carmella.
• Rage Quit: Took a count out loss after being slapped by Sofia Cortez on NXT and then attacked while Cortez was celebrating after the bell.
• Red Baron: The Anvilette, Nattie by Nature (also the name of her signature reverse power bomb, before it became the name of her discus clothesline in WWE), The Queen of Harts.
• The Rival:
  • As she and Alicia Fox as of 2017 are the only two remaining women to have debuted in the 2000s, they've racked up quite a big combination of singles matches together. They've rarely teamed together and are usually against each other. Natalya has more wins over Alicia.
  • Nattie was the first Stampede Women's Pacific Title holder, the second was Dusty Adonis...wait, that's a dude! And he would win it from Nattie twice! The second time Nattie would not get it back because her other rival, Belle Lovitz, already beat him for it. As much as she fought Lovitz, Nattie spent almost as much time teaming with her, often because they were united against Anna Marie.
  • In OVW and WWE, it was definitely Beth Phoenix. They teamed up a lot but Natalya relished any chance she got to compete against Phoenix, who by contrast was usually reluctant, not really wanting to hurt Natalya.
• Shameful Strip: Lost a "bra and panties" match to Victoria Crawford in WWE's FCW.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: She's not really held up as one of the pretty Divas, but damn she looks fine when she wants to. Case in point◊.
• Show Within a Show: "Pin-up Strong Magazine", started by herself and Beth Phoenix in protest of Maxim Magazine choosing Kelly Kelly over them. It never got off WWE.com
• Signature Move: A wristlock/surfboard type maneuver dubbed "pinup strong" by fans that she and Beth Phoenix came up with in an attempt to take Kelly's title belt (the likes of Lady Victoria, Pippa L'Vinn and MsChif had been using it outside of WWE though) A Headspring kip-up from her time with the Hart Dynasty.
• Slasher Smile: Has a very effective one as a heel.
• Stalker with a Crush: Hilariously on Mickie James's "Road To WrestleMania" on Smackdown vs Raw 2010, a Recycled Script of Mickie's feud with Trish Stratus.
• Tag Team: The Stampede Girls with Belle Lovitz
• The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: This is partially because of Jim's hard living though, rather than having always been "ugly". Also because Natalya is more cut than he is (or at least has been during her entire WWE run).
• Three Month Rule: When the Bella Twins had a Face–Heel Turn, Natalya cried about how awful they had become as if they had been friends up till that point. From developmental when she put aside her grudge with Victoria Crawford, to exposing their ruse on the main roster, her entire WWE career had been spent in opposition to the Bellas.
• Tomboy: For the first two years of her career though this has been dropped now. She's not like that in real life at all.
• Ur-Example: According to Canada's Slam Sports, Natalya is the first third generation woman professional wrestler in the world. Considering how big the world is and how long pro wrestling has been around, that is pretty impressive if true, a fact she would mention after coming back to North America and emphasizing how much better she discovered she was than everyone else.
• Villain Teamup: With Beth Phoenix as the heel Divas of Doom.
• Visual Pun: During her farting gimmick she was seen backstage with a selection of cheese surrounding her. Nuff said.
• What Does She See in Him?: For a while, Natalya and Tyson Kidd's characters as an official husband-wife couple was portrayed to evoke this on main show programming and NXT to go with his turn as a frustrated stuck-up heel. Some of his antics during matches (for example, 'accidentally' ending up behind Natalya when he's getting physically overpowered or holding a falling Bella Twin in a Bridal Carry for several seconds too long) would call to question at times how the hell the two can stay together. Michael Cole subtly painted the picture while interviewing them that Tyson had to step up and win more to meet Nattie's standard, acknowledging the then-surging "Nattie's Husband" chants meant to deride him as the heel. He made a far bigger showing of being upset at that particular development than she did.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Got a big one when she turned on AJ.
• Wrestling Family: Grandfather is Stu Hart, father is Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, uncles are Bret and Owen Hart, cousin is DH Smith (son of the British Bulldog), you get the picture. On top of that, her husband is Tyson Kidd.
• You Go, Girl!: Once on a random episode of Superstars gave Jimmy Wang Yang a body slam, to a huge pop from the crowd.

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