In the mid-2010s, women's wrestling underwent a revolution in WWE. The division went from five-minute matches and lingerie stipulations at the beginning of the decade to main eventing WrestleMania before the end, and one match involving two second-generation wrestlers can be identified as an important turning point.
When WWE NXT was relaunched as the company's new developmental brand in 2012, it didn't take too long for it to find its footing. The first WWE Network streaming special was NXT Arrival in early 2014, and it was followed up in May with NXT Takeover. Early stars for NXT included Sami Zayn, Neville, and Seth Rollins, but soon a new wave of women would change the face of the brand.
The daughter of Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and niece of Bret and Owen Hart, Natalya Neidhart was already well into her WWE career and had previously held the company's Divas Championship years prior. As the company was planning the first-ever NXT Takeover, Natalya was booked into a tournament to crown a new NXT Women's Champion after Paige was forced to vacate the title.
At the same time, Flair was still in the early days of her WWE career, but her status as the daughter of Ric Flair was already ensuring she had a prominent place on the company's roster, even as she learned the ropes. Both she and Natalya advanced to the end of the tournament, with their match set for the first Takeover.
Looking back, Natalya recalls being given free rein to put together any kind of match they wanted. That includes being given no time restrictions, despite not going on as the main event. The two wrestled for 17 minutes, and in a 2019 piece for the Calgary Sun, Natalya wrote that she had the goal of putting on a "masterpiece."
The match saw both women accompanied by company legends, with Ric Flair at Charlotte's side while Bret Hart was there to support Natalya. Once the bell rang, though, the women were the ones in the spotlight (apart from Ric Flair occasionally doing Ric Flair things outside the ring). With a level of technique not often featured in women's matches up to that point, the title bout served as a preview of what was to come in the "Women's Revolution" that would be officially kicked off the following year.
Things started with the two performers going back and forth as Natalya played the babyface and Flair the heel. The two built off their shared status as the family of legends, exchanging taunts as well as familiar moves.
In the end, Flair won and became the second-ever WWE NXT Women's Champion. She remained on the brand until 2015, while Natalya made an immediate return to the main roster following Takeover.
Flair went on to become known as one of the "Four Horsewomen" of WWE alongside Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, and Bayley. While she now has enough world championship reigns to rival her father, she remains a divisive figure among fans.
Natalya is meanwhile steadily approaching 20 years with WWE, but the veteran performer is still looking for ways to reinvent herself. Not quite satisfied with her use in WWE, Natalya set up an agreement between WWE and several independent promotions in 2025 that allowed her to wrestle outside of the promotion for the first time since 2007. It remains to be seen if this momentum carries over to her presence in WWE.
