It's been 18 years in the WWE for the veteran Natalya Neidhart, who's already carved a future Hall of Fame career for herself in the company. Last year, she was without a WWE contract for a few months, which led many to speculate about her departure from the company, alongside a retirement, only to be proven wrong by the veteran.
As such, Natalya Neidhart has taken steps in 2025 to ensure a career resurgence for herself. While continuing to perform in WWE and its affiliated promotions, she's continuously wrestling matches in cross-promotional events like the NWA, GCW, and even AAA. In all of those matches, she channeled a hardcore Nattie persona, which is different from the character she portrays on WWE TV.
Natalya Neidhart Names "Somebody Who's So Respectful" On WWE Raw
In July 2025, Natalya Neidhart defeated Masha Slamovich at Josh Barnett's Bloodsport XIV. Appearing on the Busted Open Radio podcast, the second-generation WWE Superstar reflected on her current career perspective, revealing that she views her current persona as an entirely new character.
"Natalya is an 18-year veteran. Masha had me mistaken for Natalya, and I think that's where she f**ked up," explained Natalya Neidhart in the conversation. "What Masha doesn't realize is that ... this is Nattie's first year. ... This is my first six months in this game as Nattie, doing this stuff outside of WWE that I've never done before."
Now that Natalya Neidhart has found the freedom of working both in and outside of the WWE, she feels she has a lot to prove. Being an aged veteran, she certainly wants to ensure she doesn't get weary during matches. It meant a lot to her to have the support of WWE President Nick Khan, who was in attendance at Bloodsport even though it took place the same day as WWE SummerSlam,
"I think Triple H and Nick, they respect the building blocks of creativity. WWE is a global juggernaut but [Paul Levesque] understands that for me to create this new character and to bring her to life, I have to build her first."
Working sporadically on WWE television, Natalya Neidhart has mostly been wrestling under inter-promotional events throughout the year 2025. She previously scored victories in Josh Barnett and GCW's Bloodsport, but then unsuccessfully challenged for the NWA Women's World title. Also, at AAA TriplemanÃa XXXIII, in Mexico City, Mexico, she took part in a three-way match against Faby Apache and champion Lady Flammer for the AAA Reina de Reinas Championship, but came up short.