Why Natalya Turned to The Rock Instead of Bret Hart for Her Memoir’s Foreword

Natalya Neidhart is stepping into a new chapter—literally. The WWE veteran just dropped her memoir, and during her appearance on SiriusXM’s The Nikki & Brie Show, Nattie opened up about how Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson didn’t just write the foreword—he helped her figure out the perfect ending.

Nattie admitted that while she initially thought about asking her uncle Bret Hart to contribute, she ultimately decided to reach out to The Rock instead because she wanted to prove she could stand on her own.

“So, I wanted Bret to be a part of my book because Bret is just a master storyteller, but I was also like, the thing with Dwayne is that part of asking him to be a part of the book was that it was part of me standing on my own two feet… I also wanted to show that this was also like, ‘Okay, I’m not gonna just lean on family,’ because Bret is, he’s one of the greatest storytellers ever.”

It wasn’t just about stepping out of Bret’s shadow—Nattie saw a deep connection between her journey and The Rock’s. Both come from wrestling royalty, and that shared lineage made him the ideal choice.

“I want to ask Dwayne if he would help me with this project because Dwayne’s dad was a wrestler. Dwayne’s grandmother, just like my grandfather, they were a wrestling promoter… Dwayne is the first third-generation male superstar in WWE. I’m the first female third-generation superstar in WWE… he also went through a lot. So I was like, ‘I would love to have his help,’ and this is gonna sound crazy guys, but he jumped at the chance to help me. He was like, ‘Absolutely.’”

She recounted the moment she worked up the nerve to ask him during a Netflix premiere—despite being surrounded by a sea of people, The Rock treated her like the only person in the room.

“I was just getting up my courage to ask him at the Netflix premiere… Everybody and their brother was trying to talk to him. He sees me, gives me a huge hug, stops and talks to me as if I’m the only person in the room and then agrees to do the foreword.”

But The Rock didn’t just slap his name on the project. He wanted to be involved for real—and ended up steering the emotional conclusion of the memoir.

“He reached out to me and asked me a bunch of questions and he’s like, ‘I want to write this from my heart. I want to make it great. I really want to be involved in it’… he helped me with actually the ending of the book because when we were talking about the foreword, he said to me, he’s like, ‘I really want to know what legacy means to you. What does legacy mean to you? I need you to think about it.’”

That question stuck with her—and ended up unlocking the perfect final page.

“I was struggling with the finish of the book… when I was trying to answer Dwayne’s question, and I was like, ‘Oh my god, I have to finish the book. This is the finish. This is the finish of the book, what legacy means.’”

Natalya’s journey to finishing her memoir wasn’t just about telling her story—it was about finding her voice without leaning on her legendary last name. And with The Rock’s help, she found exactly how to do it.

What do you think about Natalya choosing The Rock over Bret Hart for her book’s foreword? Do you think it was the right move? Drop your thoughts below.