- published: 15 Sep 2013
- views: 6086
Natalie Katherine "Nattie" Neidhart (born May 27, 1982) is a Canadian professional wrestler. She is working for WWE on its SmackDown brand under the ring name Natalya.
Neidhart is a third-generation wrestler and member of the Hart wrestling family. She trained in the Hart family Dungeon under the tutelage of her uncles Ross and Bruce Hart. In 2000 and 2001, she worked for the Matrats promotion, before debuting for Stampede Wrestling in 2003. In 2004 and 2005, she wrestled abroad in both England and Japan. In June 2005, she became the inaugural Stampede Women's Pacific Championship, and won the SuperGirls Championship the following year in October 2006.
In January 2007, she signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to the Deep South Wrestling developmental territory, before wrestling in Ohio Valley Wrestling and Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). While in FCW, she managed her cousin, DH Smith, and her boyfriend, TJ Wilson. She debuted on the main roster in April 2008 as Natalya, allying herself with Victoria. The following year, she moved to the ECW brand to manage the debuting Tyson Kidd. They were later joined by David Hart Smith to form The Hart Dynasty and moved to the SmackDown brand. In April 2010, The Hart Dynasty won the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship and were moved to the Raw brand. In September, Natalya began focusing on singles competition, which culminated in her winning the WWE Divas Championship in November. The following April, she returned to SmackDown as part of the 2011 supplemental draft.
Barbara Jean "Barbie" Blank (born January 15, 1987) is an American model, professional wrestler, and professional wrestling valet better known by her ring name Kelly Kelly. She is working for WWE on its Raw brand.
Blank has a background in gymnastics and cheerleading. She studied broadcast journalism, hoping to become a television anchor, and worked as a model for Venus Swimwear and Hawaiian Tropic. In 2006, Blank was signed to a contract by WWE and sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling, a WWE developmental territory. She debuted on the ECW brand in June 2006 as 'Kelly Kelly', with the character of an exhibitionist and performing a striptease. She continued her stripteases, in a segment known as Kelly's Exposé, weekly on ECW, and also became the valet of her on-screen boyfriend Mike Knox. The following year, she formed Extreme Exposé with Layla and Brooke Adams, and the trio performed a regular dance segment on ECW. They later became involved in a storyline with The Miz, which led to the dissolution of the group.