Among The Best Wrestling Memoirs Ever Written. I've been reading wrestling memoirs roughly as long as Niedhart has been a professional wrestler - beginning roughly in 2001 when we were both in our late teens, maybe slightly earlier - whenever Mick Foley's first book hit mass market paperback. And yes, I've read both of Foley's early books. I've read at least one of Jericho's books, I've read Batista's book and at least one of HBK's books. I even read The Rock's dad ("Soulman" Rocky Johnson)'s book and Hornswoggle's book. More recently, I've read Rousey's 2024 book along with Lynch's book released at nearly the same time. Earlier this year, I had a chance to do an Advance Review Copy of Killer Kross's book that released about a month ago as I write this review.

In other words, I have a lot of experience reading wrestler's memoirs, though there are still several I've yet to get to.

And y'all, I absolutely put this one right up there among the top.

This one is full of everything that makes a good wrestling memoir great - the history, the peeks behind the scenes at various points and from Niedhart's view from whatever age she was at the time growing up, her own story from the first time she ever picked up The Anvil's championship belt through becoming a multi-time Champion within WWE herself. We see more of her struggles with her dad than even Total Divas really had any capacity of showing. We see her fears - shared by fellow third generation Superstar who also wrote a forward to this book, "some kid named Dwayne" (as Soulman said in his book) - of whether she could live up to her family's legacy. We see how that legacy shaped both the woman and the professional Neidhart has become - for good and not so great. We even get a friends to lovers romance for the ages that few even fictional romance authors can replicate, showing the first time TJ first showed up at Hart House through their struggles together when he broke his neck in the ring and beyond.

This book seems very transparent - yes, many of us thought we knew Niedhart particularly from Total Divas (though as with all "reality" shows, that one became quite obviously *barely anything resembling reality* rather quickly, particularly after the first season), but here we see even more of her story, particularly her absolute love and admiration for her dad... and all the heartache this caused as his mental condition deteriorated over the years.

Bookending with the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame Induction of Neidart's uncle Bret 'The Hitman' Hart and her dad Jim 'The Anvil' Niedhart as The Hart Foundation seems a deliberate editorial choice, a way to stop before the pandemic / "Thunderdome" era of WWE... and perhaps lay the groundwork for a later memoir to pick up exactly there, ala Foley, Jericho, and even HBK's follow-up books?

Wrestling fans of any stripe are going to love this book. There's simply too much history here for you not to, including Niedhart's own interactions with one Vincent Kennedy McMahon, Jr over the years. More than that though, this is going to be one for a lot more people. For the Millennial cat moms - yes, Niedhart briefly touches on why she chose not to have human children. For the woman afraid to stand up for herself in her own career - Niedhart shows that even with a legendary legacy in your industry behind you, standing up for yourself is still daunting, but sometimes absolutely must be done. For those interested in women in sports - Niedhart shows the path she made through some family connections but also several shit tons of hard ass work... and a bit of luck even, at times.

Very much recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley and BenBella Books for allowing me to read this book. I really enjoyed this book because I am a huge fan of wrestling. Nattie does give insight into her family with her grandparents how they met and how Stampede Wrestling by her grandfather. She also shares stories of her uncles and their history with wwe. I love learning more about Nattie and family but I wish Nattie went more into detail on her times on the indies before wwe. She also shares stories about her husband TJ and of him always hanging with her family at the Hart House or training in the Hart dungeon.

3.5⭐
This book really said “strap in, we’re going for a ride”… and then kind of forgot to keep pressing the gas pedal 😅
The concept? Loved it.
The emotional punches? Landed.
But sometimes I felt like I was waiting for the big moment that never fully came through. Still, there’s enough heart (yes, pun 100% intended) to keep the pages turning, and I did enjoy the journey even if it wasn’t all fireworks.

THE LAST HART BEATING: FROM THE DUNGEON TO WWE BY NATTIE NEIDHART.
Release date set for the 28th of October 2025
5 ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨ ✨s.
Anyone who is a wrestling fan will love this book about this strong amazing woman.
Parts of this book had tears running down my face with laughing and crying.
What a truly magnificent and incredible lady she is.
It's been an absolute honour to have early access to this book.
Absoulte legend is our nattie ♥ 💪

The Last Hart Beating by Nattie Neidhart--This upcoming memoir by WWE superstar Natalya releases on 10/28. Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for the advance copy. Nattie tells her story of being the first woman wrestler to come from her famous Hart family. From her childhood to her days in WWE, she details the ups and downs of her life. I liked her behind-the-scenes wrestling stories but felt she glossed over the ugly allegations about Vince McMahon that occurred during her time in WWE. I suppose it makes sense since she is still employed there but it was a bit disappointing. She seems very motivated to succeed and honor her family's legacy.