Natalya Addresses Goldberg’s Kick and Its Lasting Toll on Bret Hart

Natalya isn’t holding back when it comes to the moment that altered her family’s history — and she made it clear that Bill Goldberg’s infamous kick to Bret Hart didn’t just end a career, it reshaped an entire legacy.

During an appearance on Wrestling Life with Ben Val, the WWE veteran reflected on Bret Hart’s career-ending concussion at WCW Starrcade 1999. While reading Bret’s foreword from her book, The Last Hart Beating, Natalya became visibly emotional before explaining just how deeply that injury affected her uncle and the Hart family.

After reading Bret’s words about initially discouraging her from wrestling, Natalya addressed the long-term damage caused by the kick.

“I always think, you know, like how that really broke Bret in a lot of ways because your brain is so delicate. And so that injury left him very — it just left him really wounded.”

She made it clear that the injury wasn’t just about a lost championship run or a forced retirement. In her eyes, it permanently altered Bret’s quality of life.

“It left him with a very serious brain injury that he has now had for the rest of his life.”

For Natalya, the Goldberg incident represents something bigger — the physical toll wrestling has taken on her family. She connected Bret’s concussion to the larger pattern of trauma that has followed the Harts for decades.

“My dad died penniless and had a very serious brain injury too. My uncle Davey died before he was 40. Dynamite died from, you know, being very broken. He was very broke. And so I always wanted it to be my goal to beat the house.”

That phrase — “beat the house” — became her mission statement. Watching what happened to Bret after the Goldberg kick, combined with her father Jim Neidhart’s health struggles and financial issues, shaped how she approached her own career in WWE. She explained that surviving the business intact became more important than chasing titles.

“The secret to winning isn’t always about winning the most championships or making it to WrestleMania or getting the biggest contract in the world. Like, it’s not about that. It’s about being able to look at yourself in the mirror and like what you see looking back at you. That is winning. Leaving with your head held high, not broke and not broken.”

Nearly 20 years into her WWE run, Natalya believes longevity — and avoiding the fate that followed so many of her relatives — is her biggest accomplishment. And it all traces back to seeing firsthand what that one kick did to Bret Hart.

The Goldberg moment has been debated for years, but for Natalya, it’s not about blame — it’s about consequences and survival in a brutal industry.

Do you think Bret Hart’s career-ending injury still casts a shadow over wrestling today? And does Natalya have the right mindset about what real success in WWE looks like? Drop your thoughts below and let us know.

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