Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart Dies at 63

Former WWE Tag Team Champion Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart died on Monday in Florida at the age of 63.

According to The Blast, Neidhart was at the home of his daughter, WWE wrestler Natalya, when he suffered from a seizure and fell and hit his head. Later, TMZ received a statement from the local sheriff’s office, which stated: “”Preliminary information indicates that [Neidhart] fell at home, hit his head, and succumbed to his injury.”

Last month, former WWE wrestler Chris Nowinski, who now heads the Concussion Legacy Institute, said that Neidhart was beginning to suffer from Alzheimers. Nowinski visited with Natalya when Raw was in Boston on July 9; Nowinski’s Concussion Legacy Foundation is based out of Boston University.

“Always great to catch up with the living legend @natbynature when she is in Boston for RAW,” he wrote. “Heck of a match, heck of a show. She is so courageous to share her family’s life with her father’s Alzheimer’s disease.”

Neidhart is best known for his run in The Hart Foundation, originally a tag team with his brother-in-law, Bret Hart, in the 1980’s in the WWF. Neidhart was part of the second reincarnation of the Hart Foundation in the late-90’s, prior to Bret leaving the company after the infamous “Montreal Screwjob.” Neidhart is a former two-time WWF Tag Team Champion along with Hart.

“Neidhart last competed in WWE in 1997 but his legacy lives on today through his daughter, Natalya, who displays her father’s signature charisma and toughness every time she steps in the ring,” WWE wrote in a statement on its website. “WWE extends its condolences to Neidhart’s family, friends and fans.”

Neidhart has been semi-active in recent years on the independent wrestling circuit. His last recorded match came in 2016 for BCW in Pennsylvania, and he had been wrestling regularly up until 2013.

Neidhart last wrestled for WWE in 2007, when he appeared in a Battle Royal on the 15th Anniversary episode of Monday Night Raw. However, he has been featured semi-regularly on WWE television as part of Total Divas, where his daughter Natalya is a regular cast member. After leaving WWE in 1997, Neidhart wrestled briefly for WCW.

Neidhart is married to Bret Hart’s sister, Ellie, and is part of the legendary Hart wrestling family.