Mid 20th Century
183-407: Shantelle Larissa Malawski (born January 26, 1986) is a Canadian professional wrestler . She is best known for her time spent with TNA Wrestling , where she wrestled under the ring name Taylor Wilde . Malawski was under a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) contract from 2006 to 2007, but never made it past the developmental system . In May 2008, Malawski joined TNA and would go on to become
366-598: A 10-Diva tag team match at WrestleMania 32 's pre-show. Natalya's team won after Naomi submitted to Brie Bella. After confronting Charlotte during her championship celebration the following night, she challenged Charlotte to a championship match on the April 11 episode of Raw , in which she was unsuccessful in capturing the WWE Women's Championship . On the April 18 episode of Raw , Natalya confronted Charlotte during an interview and revealed that Shane McMahon had booked them in
549-596: A dark match at the television tapings on July 18, 2007, where she won a battle royal . She debuted the next week as a member of the Next Generation Hart Foundation , accompanying her cousins Teddy Hart and Harry Smith for tag team matches . In September, she and the rest of the Hart Foundation were moved back to FCW. Initially, Neidhart formed an alliance with Victoria Crawford to take on The Bella Twins ( Nikki and Brie Bella ), but in 2008,
732-504: A fan favorite for the first time since June 2016 . In her first match, she defeated Mandy Rose , but after the match, both Rose and Sonya Deville attacked her before Ronda Rousey made the save. Shortly after that scene, Natalya was placed in a storyline with Rousey as she was revealed to be her training partner and friend. In June, Natalya competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match for
915-488: A six–woman tag team match at the first ever all women's pay–per–view, Evolution , where Natalya, Banks and Bayley were victorious. Shortly after the event, Natalya continued her feud with Ruby Riott after the latter broke the "glasses" of Natalya's recently deceased father . During that time, both women were announced as the final members of Team Raw for the interbrand women's traditional five–on–five tag team elimination match , however, they were eventually removed from
1098-446: A " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to the platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of
1281-545: A Monster's Ball match at Slammiversary , thus ending her feud with Daffney. In August, Wilde formed an alliance with Sarita after TNA announced that they were going to crown new Knockouts Tag Team Champions . On the September 10 edition of Impact! , Wilde and Sarita advanced the semifinals of the Tag Team Championship tournament by defeating Alissa Flash and Daffney. The following week on Impact! , they advanced to
1464-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
1647-557: A brief feud against Naomi and Jimmy Uso , facing off during an intergender tag team match on the February 16, episode of Raw , which Natalya and Kidd lost. When Kidd allied himself with Cesaro , Natalya began managing the team and was by their side in February, when they won the WWE Tag Team Championship 's at Fastlane . The following night on Raw , Natalya helped the duo retain the titles against The Usos, turning heel in
1830-520: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
2013-513: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
SECTION 10
#17328766862772196-574: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
2379-589: A darker edge of witchcraft . On January 13, 2023, at Hard To Kill , Wilde competed in a four-way match to determine the number one contender to the Impact Knockouts World Championship , which was won by Masha Slamovich . On the February 9, 2023 episode of Impact! , Wilde would team with Killer Kelly to challenge the Knockouts World Tag Team Champions The Death Dollz ( Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie ) in
2562-468: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Nattie Neidhart This is an accepted version of this page Natalie Katherine Neidhart-Wilson ( née Neidhart ; born May 27, 1982)
2745-462: A disqualification loss after she attacked Flair with a chair. On November 14 episode of SmackDown , she dropped the title to Charlotte, losing by submission, and hereby ending her reign at 86 days. Natalya then competed at Survivor Series along with Becky Lynch , Tamina Snuka , Naomi and Carmella as a part of Team Smackdown against Team Raw in a losing effort. Natalya received her Smackdown Women's Championship rematch at Clash of Champions , but
2928-427: A fatal four-way tag team match for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 35 on April 7, however, the match was won by The IIconics ( Billie Kay and Peyton Royce ). In May, Natalya competed in the Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake pay–per–view, where she was unsuccessful in winning the match. In June, Natalya and Alexa Bliss were supposed to compete in an late addition match at
3111-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
3294-507: A feud between the trios, with The Hart Dynasty attacking The Usos and Tamina the following week in retaliation. At the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view in June, Natalya and The Hart Dynasty defeated Tamina and The Uso brothers in a six-person mixed tag team match, when Natalya pinned Tamina following a discus clothesline . At the next pay-per-view, Money in the Bank , Natalya helped The Hart Dynasty to retain
3477-469: A feud with AJ Lee , the WWE Divas Champion , who ridiculed the cast and the show. This resulted in a four-way match at Night of Champions in September, where AJ successfully retained the title against Natalya, Brie, and Naomi . Simultaneously, Natalya continued appearing alongside long–time ally The Great Khali , and the two began a feud with Fandango and the debúting Summer Rae , which led to
3660-414: A genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has a more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for
3843-414: A heart attack. A neurological health issue she faced was the final push in her stepping away from wrestling in 2024. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling ) is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that
SECTION 20
#17328766862774026-406: A hiatus while still being under contract with Impact. She returned to Impact in 2022. She once again left TNA (previously known as Impact Wrestling) suddenly in early 2024 and has stepped away from wrestling for the foreseeable future due to multiple personal life factors. Malawski made her professional debut in June 2003 at the age of 17 under the name Shantelle Taylor. In 2004, she was featured in
4209-681: A last woman standing match. The pair later took on the Kabuki Warriors in a losing effort. Natalya defeated Evans again at Crown Jewel , which was the first ever women's match to take place in Saudi Arabia. On the second night of WrestleMania 36 on April 5, 2020, she lost to Liv Morgan in the pre-show. On the June 15 episode of Raw , Natalya and Liv Morgan lost to The IIconics . Afterward, Natalya began turning heel by ripping on Morgan and claiming that she had been given no respect, with Lana venting her frustrations to Natalya afterward. On
4392-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
4575-403: A losing effort against Charlotte and Dana Brooke . After the match, Natalya attacked Becky, turning into a villainess for the first time since 2012. Followed by multiple continuous attacks between both women, Natalya defeated Becky in a match at Battleground . On July 19, Natalya was drafted to SmackDown as part of the 2016 WWE draft . She made her first appearance for the brand on
4758-654: A mask including a bout where she defeated Jillian Hall . On the January 18 episode of DSW TV Tapings, Shantelle teamed up with Williams to defeat Taylor and Luscious. On the January 19 episode of DSW TV Taping, Taylor continued her feud with Williams where she defeated Williams. On the January 25 episode of DSW TV Tapings, Taylor teamed up with Kofi Kingston to defeat Brian Cage and Williams. In March 2007, Taylor would gain an ally in Nattie Neidhart where they feud with Williams and Vaine in various tag team and singles matches. At
4941-652: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
5124-476: A match to Kelly. Post-match, Phoenix jumped into the ring and delivered a 'Glam Slam' on Kelly, then Natalya applied and debuted their new submission manoeuvre the 'Pin-Up Strong'. Phoenix received her title match against Kelly on October 2 at Hell in a Cell , which she won, with Natalya's help, to become a one–time WWE Divas Champion. Phoenix successfully defended her title against Eve Torres, on two different occasions, at Vengeance , on October 23, in which Natalya
5307-725: A match to determine the captain of the SmackDown women's team at the Survivor Series pay-per-view. However, after Nikki had been attacked backstage before the match, Natalya replaced Nikki but led her team to defeat. At the TLC pay-per-view, Carmella accused Natalya of having been Nikki's attacker at Survivor Series; Natalya denied this for weeks before attacking Carmella on the December 20 episode of SmackDown and admitting to having attacked Nikki, revealing her pent-up jealousy of Bella's success over
5490-469: A maternal great-grandmother. Neidhart cites her grandfather, Stu, and her uncle, Bret , as her inspirations, both in and out of the ring. As a member of the Hart wrestling family , she is a cousin to Harry Smith , Teddy , Matt , and Mike Hart , who are all also professional wrestlers. She is close friends with Smith, and the two lived together for a short time as children while their fathers were wrestling as
5673-506: A member of the SmackDown brand, she made her debut for the ECW brand , via the talent exchange agreement, on February 10, 2009, managing her real life boyfriend Tyson Kidd (TJ Wilson). In her ECW in-ring debut, on the March 3 episode, Natalya defeated Alicia Fox . On April 5, Neidhart competed in a Divas battle royal at WrestleMania XXV , but the match was won by Santina Marella . On April 15 Natalya
Taylor Wilde - Misplaced Pages Continue
5856-608: A mixed tag team match at the Hell in a Cell pay–per–view, which Natalya and Khali lost. After forcing AJ to submit on the November 1 episode of SmackDown during a tag team match, Natalya unsuccessfully challenged AJ for the Divas Championship on WWE Main Event two weeks later. At Survivor Series , the cast of Total Divas faced off with a team led by AJ and Natalya and Nikki Bella were
6039-594: A neurological health issue. Due to the stress she was enduring, she decided it's best to put "wrestling on the shelf for now." Malawski took Psychology courses at York University to complete a Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree while on the road full time with TNA. In 2011, she completed a certificate at Humber College in Pre-Service Firefighter Education and Training. She has been a full time Professional Firefighter in Toronto since January 5, 2015. Malawski had
6222-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
6405-541: A non-title match. At the Survivor Series pay-per-view on November 21, Natalya defeated McCool and Layla in a two-on-one handicap match to win the WWE Divas Championship for the first time. After the match she was attacked by Lay-Cool until Beth Phoenix came to her aid, with the pair forming an alliance. At the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view in December, Natalya and Phoenix defeated Lay-Cool in
6588-657: A non-title match. During the match, Wilde refused to tag in, leaving Kelly to be beaten down and pinned thereby turning heel for the first time in her career. On the March 9 episode of Impact! , Wilde would align herself with KiLynn King , forming a team called The Coven. On the March 16 episode of Impact! , Wilde and King defeated the Death Dollz to win the Impact Knockouts Tag Team Championship. On April 16, at Rebellion , The Coven had their first successful title defense against Jessicka and Rosemary. On
6771-677: A one-time TNA Women's Knockout Champion and also went on to become the inaugural and three-time TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion with her first reign being with her first tag team partner Sarita , her second reign being with her second tag team partner Hamada and her third reign being with her third tag team partner KiLynn King , while also becoming the first wrestler to have held both titles. After departing from TNA in December 2010, Malawski announced her retirement from professional wrestling and wrestled her final match on February 5, 2011 at an independent show. She returned to wrestling with Impact Wrestling in 2021, however, that same year she went on
6954-572: A rematch for the Women's Championship at Payback and that her uncle Bret Hart will be at her corner. At the event, she was defeated after match referee Charles Robinson , ended the match as Charlotte held her in the Sharpshooter submission hold , Natalya's signature finishing move, even though she had not submitted making reference to the infamous " shoot screwjob " the Montreal Screwjob . After
7137-598: A result. On April 26, The Hart Dynasty won the Unified WWE Tag Team Championship from The Miz and The Big Show. The following day, as part of the 2010 WWE Supplemental Draft , Natalya was drafted to the Raw brand, along with Kidd and Smith. On the May 24, 2010, episode of Raw , all three members of The Hart Dynasty were attacked by The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso) and Tamina , who were making their debuts. This provoked
7320-530: A secret admirer. The following week, Lauren and Taylor were shown sitting at a table, waiting for the admirer to arrive. Soon, Daffney arrived, attacking and choking Taylor, blaming her for The Beautiful People cutting her hair off, and in the process, challenging her to the first ever Monster's Ball match at Sacrifice , which Wilde won. From the feud with Daffney, it was shown that Wilde is on-screen best friends with backstage interviewer, Lauren. Wilde and her tag team partner Abyss defeated Daffney and Raven in
7503-528: A six-Diva tag team match at Money in the Bank , which Natalya's team lost. Their feud ended on August 31, when Natalya lost to Kaitlyn in a singles match on SmackDown . In November, Natalya began an on-screen relationship with The Great Khali . The following month, Natalya saved Hornswoggle from an attack by Rosa Mendes, thus turning face in the process. This led to a feud with Natalya, Khali, and Hornswoggle facing off against Mendes and her allies, Primo and Epico in mixed tag team matches in early 2013. On
Taylor Wilde - Misplaced Pages Continue
7686-477: A six-woman tag team match. At Lockdown , she competed in a 3 way cage match for the TNA Knockouts Championship against Angelina Love and Awesome Kong, but the match was eventually won by Love. On April 23 she lost a number one contenders ladder match to Sojournor Bolt. Wilde was interviewed on the May 7 edition of Impact , where she told interviewer Lauren that she had received notice of having
7869-425: A son on April 20, 2018, named after her mother, Taylor. She is divorced. She said in her podcast how when she returned to wrestling, she brought her son with her. Her father suffered multiple health issues, she stated how he 'almost died a few times' in the hospital. Her father is currently living independently. She lost her brother in law due to a heart attack, almost a year to the day that her father suffered from
8052-457: A team, The Hart Foundation . Neidhart attended Vincent Massey junior high school and Bishop Carroll High School , from which she graduated in 2000. Neidhart is trained in Jiu-Jitsu and amateur wrestling , and also participated in dance and gymnastics . She briefly worked as a saleswoman for Kirby vacuum when she was eighteen. Neidhart received formal professional wrestling training in
8235-544: A three-month absence from television, Natalya returned on the September 21, 2015, episode of Raw , as a face , confronting the villainous Paige over her actions during Charlotte 's WWE Divas Championship celebration. Later that evening, she was defeated by Naomi in a singles match. After multiple confrontations between the two, Natalya would defeat Paige on the October 5 episode of Raw . Three days later, on SmackDown , Natalya teamed with Becky Lynch and Charlotte
8418-640: A tour in England , and in March 2005, started on a two-month tour of Japan where she used the name Nadia Hart. When she returned to Canada she promptly turned into a villainous character, labeling herself "Nasty Nattie". On June 17, 2005, she defeated Anna Marie, Lovitz, and Ma Myers in a four-way match to become the first Stampede Women's Pacific Champion , though she later vacated the championship. In November 2005, Neidhart damaged her cruciate ligament while wrestling in Japan, and underwent surgery in early 2006. She
8601-497: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
8784-575: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
8967-512: Is a Canadian-American professional wrestler and columnist. She is signed to WWE , where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Natalya . She is a two-time women's world champion, having won the Divas Championship and SmackDown Women's Championship once each. She is also a one-time WWE Women's Tag Team Champion with Tamina . She is a third generation professional wrestler, and
9150-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
9333-535: Is also the daughter of Hart Foundation member and Hall of Famer Jim Neidhart . Neidhart is a member of the Hart wrestling family through her mother. She trained in the Hart family Dungeon under the tutelage of her uncles Ross and Bruce Hart . From 2000 to 2001, she worked for the Matrats promotion, before debuting for Stampede Wrestling in 2003. In 2004 and 2005, she wrestled abroad in England and Japan. She became
SECTION 50
#17328766862779516-422: Is the longest-signed female WWE wrestler, actively being with the company since 2007. Neidhart is the daughter of wrestler Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and Elizabeth "Ellie" Hart, a daughter of Stu Hart , making Neidhart a third generation wrestler. She has two sisters; her older sister, Jennifer, is a gourmet chef and caterer, and Kristen (nicknamed "Muffy") is her younger sister. She is of Greek descent through
9699-570: The Main Event and Smackdown shows, losing both tag matches due to miscommunication as a team. Additionally they also faced off against AJ Lee and Paige on the September 8, episode of Raw , once again in a losing effort. On the September 29, episode of Raw , Natalya and Tyson Kidd accompanied Mendes to her match against Layla, in which she was defeated, followed this her association with Mendes quietly disbanded. On November 23, Natalya took part of Alicia Fox's team at Survivor Series , which
9882-685: The Divas Championship , and that same night the Divas competed in a Golden Dreams match to qualify for the championship match at The Great American Bash . Natalya won and advanced to the Bash, but lost the Championship match to Michelle McCool. Natalya and Victoria started a feud with the debuting Brie Bella, after Victoria lost to her on the August 29 episode of SmackDown . On the September 26 episode of SmackDown , Victoria and Natalya lost to Maria and Brie. On
10065-531: The Hall of Fame . On April 26, Natalya was drafted back to the SmackDown brand as part of the 2011 supplemental draft . In her return match for the brand, she unsuccessfully challenged Brie Bella for the Divas Championship. In May, Natalya began acting as the on-screen mentor to The Chickbusters of AJ and Kaitlyn , giving them advice and managing them during their matches. Natalya, AJ, and Kaitlyn feuded with Alicia Fox, Tamina, and Rosa Mendes throughout 2011. On
10248-573: The Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on October 3, she defeated Michelle McCool via disqualification in a match for the championship, which meant that McCool retained the championship. She received another championship match three weeks later at the Bragging Rights pay-per-view, where she lost to Layla after McCool interfered. On November 1, she once again became number one contender to the Unified Divas Championship after defeating McCool in
10431-609: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
10614-487: The Royal Rumble match at the namesake event on January 19, 2022, entering at No. 24 and eliminating Tamina and Summer Rae , but was eliminated by Bianca Belair . In March, Natalya formed an alliance with Shayna Baszler , challenging for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship ; this led to a fatal four-way tag team match for the titles on the second night of WrestleMania 38 , which was won by Sasha Banks and Naomi . On
10797-550: The SummerSlam pay-per-view against Kelly Kelly, who was accompanied by Eve Torres, but she failed to win the match. On the September 19 episode of Raw , the Divas of Doom lost a tag team match to Kelly and Torres after Eve pinned Natalya for the win. On the September 26 episode of Raw , Phoenix pinned Kelly Kelly in a tag team match and granted her a new match for Kelly's WWE Divas Championship . Four days later on SmackDown , Natalya lost
10980-570: The Super Show-Down pay–per–view in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia , however, the match was rejected by the Saudi Arabian government just before the show started due to the suppression of women's rights . On July 15's edition of Raw , Natalya won a fatal four-way elimination match to become the #1 contender for Becky Lynch 's Raw Women's Championship . At SummerSlam , Natalya was unsuccessful in winning
11163-402: The TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs event, where Natalya gained revenge and defeated Riott after powerbombing her from the top rope through a table. On the December 24 episode of Raw , after she won an eight-woman gauntlet match to become the number one contender a week prior, Natalya faced Rousey for her Raw Women's Championship , however, she was unsuccessful in winning the match and
SECTION 60
#173287668627711346-762: The United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including a distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by
11529-541: The WWE Divas Championship , which was won by the defending champion AJ Lee . In May, Natalya was entered into a tournament to determine the new NXT Women's Champion. She defeated Layla and Sasha Banks en route to the final at NXT TakeOver , in which she lost to Charlotte . Throughout September, Natalya started acting as the on-screen mentor for Rosa Mendes , starting a feud against "The Slayers" ( Summer Rae and Layla ). They faced off against them during
11712-455: The independent circuit and was actually done with professional wrestling until TNA contacted her, as she had concentrated on pursuing a college degree instead. Malawski's tryout match for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) was against Raisha Saeed . In May 2008, Malawski signed a contract with TNA, making her an official member of the TNA roster . She then appeared on television as a " plant " on
11895-495: The performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain
12078-515: The " sharpshooter ". At the Backlash pay–per–view on April 27 Natalya teamed up with Victoria, Beth Phoenix , Jillian Hall , Layla and Melina to defeat Mickie James , Maria Kanellis , Ashley , Michelle McCool, Cherry and Kelly Kelly in a 12-Diva tag team match . On the May 2 episode of SmackDown , Victoria and Natalya defeated McCool and Cherry. On the June 6 episode of SmackDown , SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero introduced
12261-448: The "perky little princesses" that comprised the rest of the Divas division. As part of the storyline, she aligned herself with Phoenix, and the pair dubbed themselves "The Divas of Doom", defeating The Chickbusters the following week. Throughout September, The Divas of Doom feuded with The Chickbusters on SmackDown , while feuding with Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres on Raw . Natalya accompanied Phoenix to her Divas Championship match at
12444-577: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
12627-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
12810-506: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
12993-411: The 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance the spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from
13176-503: The April 27 episode of Impact! , during the main event, Wilde challenged Deonna Purrazzo for the Knockouts World Championship, but was unsuccessful. Post-match, Wilde alongside King attacked Purrazzo before she was saved by Jordynne Grace . On the May 11, 2023 episode of Impact! , The Coven successful title defense against Purrazzo and Grace. Post-match, The Coven attacked both Purrazzo and Grace but Trinity runs down to
13359-469: The April 8, 2021 episode of Impact! , a vignette aired promoting Wilde's return to the company. Wilde returned to Impact Wrestling on April 25 at the Rebellion pay-per-view. On May 15 at Under Siege , she teamed with Tenille Dashwood and defeated Kimber Lee and Susan . At Emergence , Wilde lost to a returning Madison Rayne. On September 18, at Victory Road , Wilde defeated Dashwood. In November 2021, it
13542-641: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
13725-462: The August 1, 2011, episode of Raw , she competed in a battle royal to determinate the number one contender to Kelly Kelly's Divas Championship at SummerSlam , which was won by Beth Phoenix . Post-match, she turned villainous by attacking Kelly, and stating "[her] days as the perky, cute, blonde little bimbo were officially over", four days later on SmackDown , Natalya defeated AJ before turning on her protégé, attacking her and declaring war on
13908-453: The Bella Twins and Michelle McCool, before the feud ended. Followed this, her association with Victoria also ended after she retired from the company on the January 16, 2009, episode of SmackDown . at Armageddon (2008) , Natalya, Jillian Hall, Victoria and Maryse lost to Maria, Kelly Kelly, Mickie James, and Michelle McCool in an Eight-Diva Santa's Little Helper tag team match. While still
14091-545: The DSW Park Slam pay-per-view on March 17, 2007, Taylor teamed up with Neidhart in a winning effort, defeating Vaine and Williams. On the March 22 episode of DSW TV Tapings, Taylor teamed up with Eric Perez in a winning effort defeating Williams and Cru Jones in a mixed tag-team match. On the April 12 episode of DSW TV Tapings, Taylor teamed up with Neidhart to defeat Krissy Vaine and Angel Williams to end their feud. When Florida Championship Wrestling opened in 2007, Taylor
14274-448: The Divas Championship. On the March 22 episode of Main Event , alongside Alicia Fox she accompanied Paige to her match against Naomi, accompanied by Tamina and Lana . Later in the match, she and Fox were viciously attacked by Summer Rae and a returning Emma , distracting Paige as they aligned themselves with Lana and Team B.A.D. The following week, she along with Brie Bella and Alicia Fox accompanied Paige to her match against Emma on
14457-736: The Divas Championship. In 2017, she became the SmackDown Women's Champion after defeating Naomi at SummerSlam . She is the first woman in WWE history to hold both the Divas Championship and the SmackDown Women's Championship. From 2013 to 2019, Neidhart was a main cast member of the reality television series Total Divas . She has set six records as recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records for female WWE wrestlers – most pay-per-view appearances, most matches, most wins, most Raw matches, most SmackDown matches, and most WrestleMania matches. Neidhart
14640-499: The Divas of Doom competed in an eight-woman tag team match alongside the Bella Twins, and defeated the team of Eve Torres, Kelly Kelly, Alicia Fox , and Tamina . The next night on Raw , Phoenix successfully defended her Divas Championship against Eve. At the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Phoenix successfully defended her championship against Tamina, in a point where her association with Phoenix started splitting up, and on
14823-614: The Hart family " Dungeon " from her uncles Ross and Bruce Hart , becoming the first woman to do so. In addition to her professional wrestling career, Neidhart has received training in amateur wrestling and mixed martial arts . In late 2000 through 2001, she served as the host and ring announcer of the Eric Bischoff led youth- promotion MatRats. In 2003, she began working for the Hart Family's own promotion, Stampede Wrestling under
15006-418: The January 4, 2010, live, three-hour, Monday night edition of Impact! , Wilde and Sarita lost the Tag Team Championship to Hamada and Awesome Kong. Wilde and Sarita made their return in the March 8 edition of Impact! , unsuccessfully challenging for the vacant Tag Team titles. On the June 25 edition of Xplosion , Wilde defeated Daffney after interference from Sarita, ending the team's long losing streak. On
15189-467: The July 1 edition of Impact! , Wilde's alliance with Sarita came to an end, when Sarita turned heel and attacked her, proclaiming she was sick of losing matches. Wilde and Sarita faced each other on the following edition of Xplosion , with Sarita picking up the pinfall victory by holding her trunks. On the July 15 edition of Impact! Sarita defeated Wilde again, this time in a Street Fight . On July 27, at
15372-436: The July 26 episode of SmackDown , losing against Becky Lynch . On the August 9 episode of SmackDown , Natalya competed in a losing effort against Carmella . The following week, Natalya teamed with Alexa Bliss in a losing effort against the team of Carmella, and Becky Lynch, after a distraction provided by Eva Marie and Naomi , At SummerSlam , Natalya teamed with Alexa Bliss and the returning Nikki Bella (who replaced
15555-422: The June 22 episode of Raw , Natalya turned heel for the first time since 2018, when she solidified her alliance with Lana and defeated Morgan by submission. On the October 12 episode of Raw , Natalya would end her alliance with Lana after the duo were defeated by Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke . The same night, Natalya competed in a battle royal for a Raw Women's Championship opportunity where she would survive to
15738-565: The Knockouts World Tag Team Championship, however, Wilde was attacked during the pre-show. Jody Threat would later replace Wilde in the match, where MK Ultra retained their titles. On The October 12 episode of Impact! , King admitted to be the one who attacked Wilde with a tire iron, as she felt that Wilde became a deadweight after losing their tag titles. Wilde revealed in early 2024 that she has stepped away from wrestling due to multiple personal life stressors as well as
15921-595: The Kongtourage once more. Wilde and Roxxi began feuding with the Beautiful People when Wilde and Roxxi humiliated the Beautiful People by covering them with "muck." Soon after Wilde and Roxxi would continue to have series of tag team matches against The Beautiful People. On February 12, she competed in a 9 wrestler Gauntlet match which was won by Sojourner Bolt. At Destination X , she teamed with Roxxi and The Governor to defeat The Beautiful People and Madison Rayne in
16104-525: The March 22 episode of Superstars , Phoenix teamed with Eve Torres against Natalya and Tamina, in a losing effort, with this effectively ensuring the ending for the team. Beginning in April, while on NXT Redemption , Natalya became allied with former Hart Dynasty partner Tyson Kidd again, and started feuding with former protégé Kaitlyn when she felt Kaitlyn was paying Kidd too much attention. The pair faced off in both singles and tag team competition throughout mid-2012, including being on opposite sides of
16287-453: The March 27 episode of NXT , Natalya lost a Divas Championship match to champion Kaitlyn. Upon the debut of the Total Divas reality television program in July 2013, Natalya began feuding with fellow co–stars on the show, The Bella Twins. Natalya and Brie Bella went on to trade victories in singles matches on Raw and at SummerSlam . The cast of Total Divas then transitioned into
16470-416: The March 28 episode of Raw , where she was defeated after Lana attacked Paige. Post-match, she along her allies were attacked by Emma, Summer Rae, Lana, Tamina and Naomi, before they were saved by a returning Eva Marie . As a result, Natalya's Total Divas team (also including Brie, Alicia Fox, Eva Marie and Paige) faced the newly dubbed team B.A.D. & Blonde (Naomi, Tamina, Lana, Emma, and Summer Rae) in
16653-436: The May 29 episode of Impact! . She responded to the $ 25,000 challenge from Awesome Kong to any females age 18 or older in the audience, but was not selected to wrestle her. She reappeared in the audience on the June 5 episode of Impact! to challenge Kong, but once again was not selected to wrestle her. On June 19, she challenged Kong in the $ 25,000 challenge. She was announced under the name Taylor, and despite losing, she
16836-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
17019-477: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
17202-580: The November 15 episode of Raw , when Kidd refused to tag in and attacked Smith during a match for the WWE Tag Team Championship against The Nexus ( Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater ), resulting in Kidd became a heel once again. Smith defeated Kidd in a singles match on the November 25 episode of WWE Superstars . Afterward, Smith offered to shake Kidd's hand, but Kidd refused and instead slapped him across
17385-486: The October 26, 2006 episode of DSW TV Tapings, Taylor defeated Angel Williams after a distraction from Tracy Taylor and again on the November 2 episode. In January 2007, Malawski appeared on the SmackDown! / ECW house shows as San-Eye, a masked Japanese wrestler, where she defeated Jamie Noble in an intergender match. In June 2007, Malawski wrestled in dark matches prior to the SmackDown! television tapings while wearing
17568-427: The October 31 episode of SmackDown , Natalya teamed up with Victoria and Maryse during a Divas Halloween costume tag team match in a losing effort to Michelle McCool, Maria and Brie. On the November 7 episode of SmackDown , Natalya accompanied Victoria to her match against Brie, where she was once again defeated. Post-match, Brie ran under the ring to escape from Natalya and Victoria, but they both reached under
17751-735: The Pure Women's Action shows for the Pure Wrestling Association in Southern Ontario. In May 2006, Malawski signed a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment and was assigned to their developmental territory Deep South Wrestling . She made her Deep South in-ring debut at the June 27, 2006 TV tapings as simply Shantelle, where she lost against Krissy Vaine . On September 9, 2006, Malawski defeated Vaine at Deep South Wrestling Grand Park Slam event in Six Flags Over Georgia . On
17934-508: The Raw Divas at the Bragging Rights pay-per-view in October. On December 4, Natalya lost in a triple threat match to determine to number one contender for the WWE Women's Championship after she was pinned by Mickie James . The match also involved Beth Phoenix . Natalya, along with the other Hart Dynasty members, appeared at WrestleMania XXVI , helping her uncle Bret Hart during his match against Vince McMahon , turning them into faces as
18117-516: The Raw Women's title from Lynch in a Submission match . On the Raw after SummerSlam, Natalya revealed that she suffered a storyline dislocated elbow and came out wearing a cast, when she was then subjected to a brutal assault from the returning Sasha Banks, whom Natalya considered a friend. Natalya was defeated by Banks on August 26 edition of Raw . Natalya later began feuding with Lacey Evans , exchanging victories and losses, before defeating her in
18300-455: The Royal Rumble, in which Natalya won, earning her spot. Natalya and Tamina won a Tag Team Turmoil Match on the first night of WrestleMania 37 for an opportunity to face Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler for the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship on the second night. However, they failed to win the titles. On the May 14 episode of SmackDown , she and Tamina would defeat Baszler and Jax to win
18483-400: The SmackDown Women's Championship. With this victory, Natalya became the first woman to hold both the Divas Championship and the SmackDown Women's Championship. On the September 12 episode of SmackDown , Natalya made her first successful title defense in a rematch against Naomi. At Hell in a Cell on October 8, Natalya defended her championship against Charlotte Flair , which resulted into
18666-501: The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship. On the September 20 episode of Raw , they lost the titles to Nikki A.S.H. and Rhea Ripley . As part of the 2021 Draft , Tamina was drafted to the Raw brand while Natalya remained on the SmackDown brand , ending the team. In October, Natalya entered the Queen's Crown tournament , where she lost to Doudrop in the first round. She participated in
18849-604: The all-female promotion, Shimmer Women Athletes . She lost to Sara Del Rey at the tapings of Volume 7, but defeated "The Portuguese Princess" Ariel at the Volume 8 tapings. The following month she competed in the tournament to determine Great Canadian Wrestling 's inaugural W.I.L.D. Champion, and defeated Danyah and Aurora en route to the final, where she lost to Sirelda . She had her last match for Stampede Wrestling on January 26, 2007, after she had signed with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), defeating Veronika Vice. During
19032-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
19215-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
19398-550: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
19581-458: The brand was in a six-person mixed tag team match on the July 17 episode, when The Hart Dynasty defeated Cryme Tyme ( JTG and Shad Gaspard ) and Eve Torres . Natalya, Kidd, and Smith went on to feud with Torres and Cryme Tyme, with Natalya also facing Torres in singles matches and tag team matches involving other Divas. Natalya was on the winning team when the SmackDown Divas defeated
19764-412: The broader public. In the United States, wrestling is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as
19947-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
20130-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
20313-433: The championship against The Usos by stopping Tamina from interfering in the match, ending the feud. In September, at Night of Champions , The Hart Dynasty lost the Tag Team Championship in a Tag Team Turmoil match . After a failed attempt to regain the championship, in which Kidd was pushed off balance during their double-team Hart Attack move, Kidd and Smith began to have a falling out with one another. This culminated on
20496-465: The championship to Kong after interference from Saeed. At Turning Point , she teamed with Roxxi to defeat Raisha Saeed and Awesome Kong with a Bronco Buster. Continuing her feud with The Beautiful People , Wilde teamed with ODB and Roxxi to defeat them and Sharmell at Final Resolution . At Genesis she teamed once again with Roxxi and ODB to defeat Rhaka Khan , Raisha Saeed and Sojourner Bolt . The next week on Impact! Wilde, Roxxi and ODB defeated
20679-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
20862-461: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
21045-468: The competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on the independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in
21228-478: The crowd to aid Victoria in an attack against McCool and Cherry , forming an alliance with her in the process. On the April 11, 2008, episode of SmackDown! , she introduced herself as the daughter of Jim Neidhart under the name Natalya Neidhart, accompanying Victoria to her match against Michelle McCool . Two weeks later on SmackDown she made her televised in-ring debut, under the shortened ring name Natalya, defeating Cherry with her uncle 's submission move
21411-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
21594-441: The defeats. On the December 6 SmackDown tapings, the Divas of Doom defeated The Chickbusters once again. Post match, Kaitlyn solidified her heel turn after joining the Divas of Doom, however the segment was cut from the broadcast and not recognized by WWE. In early 2012, Natalya was characterized as being notable for smelly flatulence ; this character development was heavily panned by critics. On January 29, at Royal Rumble ,
21777-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
21960-597: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
22143-496: The face. On the following episode of Raw , Kidd defeated Smith in a rematch, with this officially ending the alliance as a team. Natalya started her singles competition run, on the September 27 episode of Raw , when she won a battle royal to become the number one contender to the WWE Unified Divas Championship , and began feuding with self-professed co-Divas Champions Lay-Cool (Michelle McCool and Layla ). At
22326-411: The final two before being eliminated by winner Lana. As part of the 2020 Draft in October, Natalya was drafted to the SmackDown brand . In January 2021, Natalya formed an alliance with Tamina while putting the women's tag team division on notice. On the January 30 episode of WWE Backstage, the two allies were forced to face each other in a match to determine who would be the number 30 entrant at
22509-557: The finals of the tournament by defeating Awesome Kong and Raisha Saeed. At No Surrender , Wilde and Sarita defeated Madison Rayne and Velvet Sky to become the inaugural Knockouts Tag Team Champions. This win makes Taylor Wilde the first wrestler in TNA history to win the singles and tag team titles. Wilde and Sarita successfully defended their titles against The Beautiful People at Bound for Glory and at Turning Point teamed with ODB to defeat The Beautiful People and retain both sets of titles. On
22692-477: The first Diva's Tag Team Tables match in WWE history. Natalya was scheduled to defend her championship against Lay-Cool in a two-on-one handicap match at the Royal Rumble , but the match was changed to a fatal four-way, also involving Eve. Eve went on to pin Layla and become the new Divas Champion ending Natalya's reign at 70 days. On April 2, Natalya, alongside the entire roster of WWE Divas , inducted Sunny into
22875-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
23058-499: The following week, Wilde confronted her tag team partner and explained that she didn't want to win by cheating, which led to Sarita displaying a villainous persona by claiming that she is a winner and, unlike Wilde, doesn't need her tag team partner's help in her match against Daffney. After Sarita was defeated by Daffney in a singles match, Wilde ran out to the ring and stopped her tag team partner from attacking her opponent. After being defeated by Women's Knockout Champion Madison Rayne on
23241-482: The following week, when Rayne turned on Von Erich. Wilde and Sarita had their third one–on–one match at the November 9 tapings of Xplosion , with Sarita once again coming out victorious. On December 6 at the tapings of the December 9 edition of Impact! , Wilde and Hamada were stripped of the Tag Team Championship, after Hamada had been released from TNA. Three days later it was reported that Malawski's contract with TNA had also expired. Malawski confirmed her departure from
23424-399: The following week, with Cameron coming out victorious. During a dark match on the June 1 episode of Raw , Kidd had suffered a severe neck/spinal injury after receiving Samoa Joe 's ' Muscle buster ' finishing maneuver. Several weeks later, Kidd stated that he would be out of action for over a year, with Natalya taken off television for the very first time in order to care for Kidd. After
23607-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
23790-455: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
23973-731: The inaugural Stampede Women's Pacific Champion in 2005, and won the SuperGirls Championship the following year. In 2007, Neidhart signed with WWE and spent time in Deep South Wrestling , Ohio Valley Wrestling , and Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) developmental territories . While in FCW, she managed her cousin, Harry Smith , and her husband, T.J. Wilson . She debuted on the main roster in 2008, allying herself with Victoria . The following year she and Wilson were joined by Smith to form The Hart Dynasty . In 2010, Neidhart won
24156-402: The inaugural women's Money in the Bank ladder match , which was won by Carmella following an interference by James Ellsworth . On July 23, Natalya defeated Flair, Lynch, Tamina , and Lana in a five-way elimination match at Battleground , earning an opportunity to face Naomi for the SmackDown Women's Championship at SummerSlam on August 20. At the event, Natalya defeated Naomi to capture
24339-513: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
24522-492: The individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in a professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
24705-471: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
24888-487: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
25071-403: The match as they brawled just before Survivor Series started. On the December 3 episode of Raw , in what was supposed to be a tag team match pitting Natalya and Ronda Rousey against Nia Jax and Tamina , The Riott Squad attacked Natalya and put her through a table while Jax and Tamina cornered Rousey to prevent her from helping. This led to a tables match between Ruby Riott and Natalya at
25254-515: The match, both Natalya and Hart applied their finishing maneuver the "Sharpshooter" on Charlotte and Ric Flair . The following month at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view, she was once again defeated by Charlotte in a submission match in which Ric Flair was banned from ringside, however, she was helped by Dana Brooke while dressed as Flair allowing Charlotte to get the victory. On June 19 at Money In The Bank , Natalya teamed with Becky Lynch in
25437-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
25620-553: The name Nattie Neidhart, beginning a long time feud with Belle Lovitz. The pair wrestled each other repeatedly, including a match for the Prairie Wrestling Alliance , where Neidhart teamed with her father, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart , against Lovitz and Apocalypse . In 2004, however, Neidhart and Lovitz formed a tag team , wrestling several intergender matches against The Meyers Brothers as well as against Anna and Ma Myers. In mid-2004, she began accepting bookings for
25803-514: The pair began competing against one another, either in singles matches or in tag team matches with various partners. She continued to make appearances in FCW in late 2008, after debuting on SmackDown , and managed TJ Wilson and DH Smith (Harry Smith) to the FCW Florida Tag Team Championship on October 30. On the April 4 episode of SmackDown she made her main roster debut, as a villainous character , when she came out of
25986-569: The process. On the February 26 episode of Smackdown , the villainous Natalya defeated Naomi in a singles match, before the feud ended. On March 28, Natalya inducted Alundra Blayze into the WWE Hall of Fame . On March 29, she accompanied Kidd and Cesaro during the WrestleMania 31 kick-off show, in which they successfully retained the Tag Team Championships. Natalya lasted the rest of
26169-435: The promotion on December 29, 2010. On January 10, 2011, Malawski announced that she was retiring from professional wrestling in order to concentrate on her psychology studies. She wrestled her retirement match on February 5, 2011, at a ChickFight and Pro Wrestling Revolution co–promoted event, where she was defeated by Alissa Flash . In early 2021, it was reported that Wilde was returning to TNA (now Impact Wrestling ). On
26352-714: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
26535-439: The purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether
26718-491: The ring and makes the save. On the June 8, 2023 episode of Impact! , The Coven successfully defended the Knockouts Tag Team Championships against Death Dollz (Courtney Rush and Jessicka). On July 15, at Slammiversary , The Coven lost their title to Killer Kelly and Masha Slamovich, ending their reign at 139 days. On August 27, at Emergence , The Coven were set to participate in a four-way tag team match for
26901-462: The ring for her, pulling her and Nicole out. The twins then attacked them and celebrated afterward. On the November 21 episode of SmackDown , Victoria teamed up with Natalya in a losing effort to The Bella Twins. At Survivor Series (2008) , Natalya competed in a 5-on-5 Survivor Series elimination match a part of Team Smackdown where her team lost to Team Raw. On the November 28 episode of SmackDown , Victoria teamed up with Natalya and Maryse to defeat
27084-440: The save. On the September 11 episode of Impact , Wilde beat Love in the first ever "Beautiful People Beauty Pageant", but was attacked by the Beautiful People, causing Rhino to make the save for a second time. At No Surrender she was accompanied by Rhino when she defeated Love. Wilde won a Triple Threat match at Bound for Glory against Awesome Kong and Roxxi to keep the title. On the October 23 episode of Impact! , Wilde lost
27267-482: The show, she also delivered a speech thanking the fans for their support. On January 5, 2007, Neidhart signed a contract with WWE. Upon signing she was assigned to their developmental territory Deep South Wrestling for the first half of the year, competing against wrestlers including Krissy Vaine and Angel Williams . She was briefly transferred to Florida Championship Wrestling when it opened in June, and then moved to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), debuting in
27450-485: The sole survivors in the match. In December, Natalya unsuccessfully challenged Paige for the NXT Women's Championship . After pinning AJ again in a tag team match on Raw , Natalya was named number one contender to the WWE Divas Championship, but failed to capture the title at Tables, Ladders and Chairs . On April 6, 2014, Natalya competed at WrestleMania XXX in the 14– Diva " Vickie Guerrero Invitational match" for
27633-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
27816-423: The storyline was done in order to use the marriage problems they both had. On the January 5, 2015, episode of Raw , after Natalya defeated WWE Divas Champion Nikki Bella in a non–title match, Brie and Nikki would attack Natalya, with Paige making the save. This led to a tag team match at Royal Rumble between the two teams, with The Bella Twins picking up the win. Through February, Natalya and Kidd started
27999-405: The suspended Eva Marie ) against Naomi, Lynch, and Carmella in a six-woman tag team match . Nikki Bella pinned Carmella to score the victory for Natalya's team. At Backlash , Natalya competed in a six-pack elimination challenge to determine the inaugural SmackDown Women's Champion and was eliminated by Nikki Bella. On the October 25 episode of SmackDown , Natalya lost against Nikki Bella in
28182-529: The tapings of the August 5 edition of Impact! , Wilde teamed with new tag team partner Hamada to defeat The Beautiful People (Velvet Sky and Lacey Von Erich ) to win the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Championship for the second time. During September, Wilde and Hamada made two successful defenses of their championship, first defeating Lacey Von Erich and Madison Rayne on the September 16 episode of Impact Wrestling , and then Von Erich and Velvet Sky
28365-694: The team by defeating Naomi and Tamina in two singles matches before the feud quietly ended. In January 2016, Natalya revealed that she had been working through a broken ankle, which was mistaken for a simple sprain and after two months of inactivity, she made her official return during a live event on January 3. Few weeks later, Natalya returned to WWE television, on the January 18 episode of Raw , where she defeated Brie Bella, with her former rival Paige in her corner. Upon her return, Natalya started competing in various singles and tag team matches, ending on both winning and losing sides. On March 12, at Roadblock , Natalya unsuccessfully challenged Charlotte for
28548-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
28731-517: The third time in her career, however, at the event , the match was ultimately won by Alexa Bliss . Throughout the following months, Natalya continued to compete in various singles and tag team matches and also worked as a manager for both Nia Jax and Ronda Rousey in some of their matches against Alexa Bliss to avoid Mickie James ' interference. In October, Natalya joined forces with Sasha Banks and Bayley against The Riott Squad ( Sarah Logan , Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott ) which led to
28914-479: The three defeated Team Bella (Alicia Fox, Brie Bella, and Nikki Bella). On the October 15 episode of Smackdown , while Paige saved Charlotte and Becky from an attack by Team Bella, Natalya, after a backstage altercation with Paige, would be attacked. In the end of October, Natalya started a feud with Team B.A.D. (Naomi, Tamina and Sasha Banks ), after the three distracted her during her match with Paige, and attacked her, but Natalya went on to gain revenge over
29097-427: The title in a rematch at Victory Road against Kong. On the July 24 episode of Impact! , Wilde defeated Velvet Sky in five seconds to retain the championship, and when immediately challenged to a rematch, defeated her in 20 seconds. Afterward, Wilde was attacked by the duo of Sky and Angelina Love (known as The Beautiful People ) and was given the 'Brown Paper Bag Treatment', before ODB and Gail Kim could make
29280-466: The title. On January 27, 2019, at the 2019 Royal Rumble , Natalya entered the second women's Royal Rumble match at number 2, lasting 56:01 (surpassing Sasha Banks ' previous record set in 2018), and eliminated Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan , before she was eliminated by Nia Jax . At Fastlane , Natalya reunited her team with Beth Phoenix , known as The Divas of Doom, after the two were attacked by Nia Jax and Tamina . The Divas of Doom took part of
29463-505: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
29646-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
29829-715: The two-part wrestling documentary, Slam Bam , which aired on the Discovery Channel . In 2005, she won her first women's championship while competing in New Vision Pro Wrestling. She spent the summer of that year in Monterrey , Mexico working on her lucha libre style. In December she participated in a three-show tour of South Africa wrestling on a card that featured former World Wrestling Entertainment stars Kevin Nash , Andrew Martin and Scott Steiner . Also in December, she
30012-405: The venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as a performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in
30195-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
30378-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
30561-398: The year competing in various matches, including a number one contender's battle royal for Nikki Bella's Divas Championship, on the April 13 episode of Raw , which was won by Paige . On the April 9 episode of Smackdown , Natalya defeated Alicia Fox . Post-match, she and Fox were attacked by the special guest referee for the match Cameron , which would lead to a triple–threat match
30744-411: The years. Natalya and Nikki were set to compete in a match on the January 10, 2017, episode of SmackDown , but the match never officially started due a brawl between the two, where referees came in to break them up. At the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 29, Natalya competed in a six-woman tag team match alongside Alexa Bliss and Mickie James against Nikki, Naomi, and Becky Lynch, where her team
30927-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
31110-428: Was banned from ringside after she and Phoenix had attacked Torres and Kelly at backstage, and at Survivor Series , on November 20, during a Divas lumberjack match . Through November, the Divas of Doom started a winning streak over "The Chickbusters" (AJ and Kaitlyn ), after defeating them in both tag team and singles matches, with Kaitlyn beginning to display villainous traits, due to her being upset at AJ over
31293-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
31476-400: Was defeated after Naomi pinned Bliss. On February 12 at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Natalya faced Nikki in singles competition, which ended in a double count-out. The feud culminated in a Falls Count Anywhere match on the February 21 episode of SmackDown , in which Natalya was victorious after an interference from Maryse . On June 18 at Money in the Bank , Natalya competed in
31659-524: Was invited to a tryout in Buffalo, New York for World Wrestling Entertainment. Malawski also worked for several independent wrestling promotions including Shimmer Women Athletes , Ring Divas' Battle Angels, Twin Wrestling Entertainment, and Blood Sweat and Ears . On April 16, 2006, Malawski defeated Traci Brooks to become the inaugural Battle Angels Women's Champion. Malawski also spent time working
31842-547: Was made an official member of the ECW brand, when she was drafted there as part of the 2009 Supplemental Draft . On the May 13 episode of ECW , Kidd and Natalya were joined by her real-life cousin David Hart Smith, forming The Hart Dynasty , although it was originally called The Hart Trilogy. On June 29, 2009, Natalya was traded back to SmackDown along with the other members of The Hart Dynasty. Natalya's first match back for
32025-636: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
32208-503: Was reported that Malawski was going on temporary leave for personal reasons and was subsequently removed from the roster page for the foreseeable future. On October 7, 2022, at Bound for Glory , Wilde made her return by participating in the Call Your Shot Gauntlet , being eliminated by the returning Matt Cardona . On November 18, at Over Drive , Wilde lost to Mickie James . Through December, Wilde's character transformed into
32391-500: Was sidelined for six months while she recovered. On October 8, 2006, Neidhart won the SuperGirls Championship from Lisa Moretti at a Big Time Wrestling show held by NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling in Newark, California . She held the championship for 19 days, before losing it to Nikki Matthews on October 27 in Surrey, British Columbia . Also in October 2006, she debuted in
32574-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
32757-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
32940-482: Was the closest out of any of the contestants to defeating Kong. On the July 3 episode of Impact! , Taylor defeated Raisha Saeed and earned the right to face Kong again the following week in the $ 25,000 challenge, this time with the TNA Women's Knockout Championship also on the line. The following week, now using the name "Taylor Wilde", she defeated Kong in the $ 25,000 challenge and won the championship. Wilde then retained
33123-407: Was transferred there. Taylor made her debut for FCW on the June 26 episode of FCW Television , losing to Neidhart in a triple treat match, also involving Krissy Vaine . On the June 30 episode of FCW Television , Taylor was defeated by Neidhart with Vaine as the special guest referee. On August 13, 2007 Malawski was released from her developmental contract. Following the release, she did not return to
33306-408: Was unsuccessful against Flair in a lumberjack match. At the 2018 Royal Rumble , Natalya participated in the first Women's Royal Rumble Match; she entered at number 18 but was eliminated by Trish Stratus . At Fastlane , Carmella and Natalya defeated Naomi and Becky Lynch after Carmella pinned Becky. On the April 16, 2018, episode of Raw , Natalya was once again drafted to Raw and became
33489-438: Was victorious in a clean sweep. In mid–2014, Natalya entered a storyline with her real–life husband Tyson Kidd , in which their relationship was openly acknowledged on-screen. She regularly accompanied Kidd to the ring, where he often used her as a distraction to win his matches. The storyline would continue followed Total Divas footage, in which Kidd transitioned into a disrespectful angle against Natalya, this part of
#276723