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 ♥ 💪

Nattie Neidhart’s The Last Hart Beating is a raw, gripping memoir. Growing up in the legendary Hart wrestling family, Nattie shares everything good and bad. She reveals the cost of carrying a legacy: and the emotional toll of watching her father’s health decline from CTE. I love that the book feels raw and real, not skipping over the bad or good. Her storytelling was emotional and powerful. I loved learning more about her journey into the WWE as she made a name for herself, and changed women’s wrestling forever. Interwoven is the journey of her husband TJ’s (Tyson Kidd) neck and spine injury. I learned so much in that section both about spinal cord injury and their journey through it as a couple.

This book details the ups and downs of Natalya “Nattie” Neidhart's life so far. This book delves into her atypical childhood as a member of the big and illustrious Hart family. She is blunt about the bright parts and ugly parts of the wrestling business in the 80's and 90's. Nattie then explains what precipitated her involvement in wrestling from her humble beginnings to her long-standing tenure with WWE. There are many other riveting tales entrenched in this memoir.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It is engaging and candid. This book is perfect for any pro-wrestling fan. Nattie seems like such a sweet eccentric soul. The book felt enthusiastic and fun, with touches of emotionally gripping moments. Nattie was one of the main reasons I began watching wrestling due to her stint on the WWE reality show Total Divas. This book solidified my fandom of Nattie and the WWE. A huge thank you to NetGalley and BenBella Books for access to this book. All opinions in this review are my own. I posted my review on Goodreads and Instagram on September 10, 2025.

I loved reading Nattie’s memoir..the whole thing just captivated and pulled me into her life, career and family. I grew up watching the her uncles in WWE (formerly WWF) and eventually her own debut. She is truly a magnificent and incredible woman. 100% guaranteed that this will be an NYT bestseller. It has been an honor to have had early access to this amazing book.

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.

I love a good personal story, especially when I'm familiar with the author/celebrity. I really enjoyed reading Nattie's story. She didn't shy away from sharing tough stories and really brought you into her world. A great read for any wrestling fan, Divas fan, or just a reader who loves to learn more about people and their stories.

The Last Hart Beating is a raw, gripping memoir from one of the best wrestlers in WWE history, Nattie Neidhart. Growing up in the legendary Hart family, Nattie details all the highs and lows, never shying away from the hardships that came along the way. Wrestling fans will enjoy this memoir so much because you get to see Nattie Neidhart, the person, and not just the WWE professional. It's emotional, heartwrenching, and hopeful.

I have always been a wrestling fan, remembering the days of running to the TV with my cousins, waiting for the latest PPV. My favorite wrestlers are always the ones that didn't necessarily fit the mold, and I think that's why Nattie has always been my favorite. She wasn't just a pretty face; she backed it up with hard work and talent. Reading about how she fell in love with wrestling and the time she decided to dedicate herself to it brought a smile to my face.

When she begins the memoir, Nattie describes her childhood. Growing up with the Hart legacy was a privilege with so many fun, memorable, and chaotic moments. I appreciated seeing how close the entire family is/was. From a very young age, Nattie always felt the weight of being a Hart. And while it did add pressure, her main purpose was to find her own way to keep the legacy alive. Although she was hesitant at first, wrestling was just in her blood. Once she committed to becoming a professional wrestler and making it to the big league, she put her all in.

We also get a look at the relationship she had with her father, Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart. She loved him so much, and while he was great, there were difficult times. She opens up about his health struggles. It could feel so overwhelming at times because she just wanted to help her dad, but she never gave up on him.

One of my favorite parts is getting to read about her and her husband, TJ. A friends-to-lovers romance that is just one of a kind. I love that they have each other. Nattie is so relatable in the sense that she found it hard to speak up for herself, but she never had to worry because TJ was there, ready to give her the confidence boost she needed. You see how important he is to her, especially when she details the time that TJ injured his neck and spine. Sometimes, it takes tough moments for us to find our voice, and no one was treating TJ wrong on her watch.

I just love her story of hard work and dedication. It did anger me a bit at the business side of wrestling and how many times Nattie got overlooked because she didn't fit the 'image'. That feeling of being overlooked or judged based simply on appearance hurt my heart and hit home. Nattie's talent eventually overshadowed the doubt, and I think her dedication is a main reason why she was able to have a long-standing career.

The Last Hart Beating is a fantastic memoir that I couldn't put down. Nattie is a legend, and no one can take that away from her! Thank you, Nattie, for not only taking female wrestlers to the next level, but for showing girls and women to find their voice and speak up for themselves.

Nattie is just the best. As a huge wrestling fan, I have admired and respected her for a long time, but this book just made me even more in awe of her. She is so kind and inspiring and her story is beyond interesing.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Last Hart Beating by Nattie Neidhart. I found it teuly inspiring and an emotional read. It thoroughly portrayed her life filled with personal challenges and personal growth as well as the professional ones that she is known and not known for. Readers cab find this lighthearted and sad through out the book. It is truly an inspiring story of an amazing person that has become the perfect role model and an icon.

Thanks to NetGalley and BenBella books for the eARC.

I have been a WWE fan since I was a child and Nattie has been a larger than life character for so many years. Her family's history with the industry and the tragedies they endured made this book so interesting and a fast read. Loved it.

Fascinating look at the backstage life of one of the top wrestlers in the business, and how she was at the forefront of women's wrestling as it changed from being seen as a sideshow and objectifying part of the show to being closer to the men's division. Nattie's life has been a series of both tragedy and triumph, and her writing doesn't sidestep the difficulties that she had to endure to make it to the top. Highly recommended for any fan who wants to see what goes on behind the scenes and in the ring while battling obstacles both seen and unseen by the audience.