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Jimmy Hart

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Jimmy Hart
Birth nameJames Ray Hart
Born (1944-01-01) January 1, 1944 (age 80)[1]
Jackson, Mississippi
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Jimmy Hart[1]
The Strapmaster[2]
Billed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Billed fromMemphis, Tennessee[1]

James Ray "Jimmy" Hart[3] (born January 1, 1944) is an American professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE in a Legends deal.[1] He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling under his nickname "The Mouth of the South."

He has managed many professional wrestlers, including Hulk Hogan, Bret Hart (no relation) and Jim Neidhart (The Hart Foundation), Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, Jerry "The King" Lawler, "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, King Kong Bundy, Earthquake, Dino Bravo, the Nasty Boys, The Giant, and The Honky Tonk Man. He is a one-time AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion.

Before becoming involved with professional wrestling, Hart was a member of rock band The Gentrys, best known for their 1965 top five Billboard Hot 100 hit, "Keep on Dancing".

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Jimmy Hart was born in Jackson, Mississippi. He was brought into wrestling by Jerry "The King" Lawler , with whom he had attended Memphis Treadwell High School. Having been asked to sing back-up with Lawler, Hart later became Lawler's manager.

After splitting from Lawler, Hart created a stable known as Hart's First Family of Wrestling to attack Lawler, which among others included King Kong Bundy, "Ravishing" Rick Rude, Lanny Poffo, Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, Ox Baker, Kamala, Randy Savage, "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, The Iron Sheik and Kevin Sullivan.

In 1982, Hart earned national headlines doing a program with comedian and television star Andy Kaufman. Hart, Lawler and Kaufman would continue this feud for over a year. Around this time, Hart became known as "The Wimp", a nickname given to him by Lawler and chanted by fans, and was the subject of the song "Wimpbusters," which was sung by Lawler to the tune of "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker, Jr.; a music video was also made featuring Lawler, announcer Lance Russell, and wrestlers such as Randy Savage, Jimmy Valiant, Dutch Mantel, Tommy Rich, and Rufus R. Jones, along with footage of Lawler beating Hart and his "First Family".

In 1981 through 1984, Hart led Austin Idol, Masao Ito, and Gilbert to NWA/AWA International titles.

World Wrestling Federation (1985–1993)

Hart during his time as manager of Greg "The Hammer" Valentine.

In 1985, Hart's friend Hillbilly Jim recommended him to WWF owner Vince McMahon, who hired him. He was termed "The Mouth of the South" after his trademark megaphone. Throughout the years, Hart used the megaphone to instruct and encourage his protégés, to discourage and annoy opponents as well as announcers (especially Gorilla Monsoon) and also as a weapon.

Hart's first acquisition in the WWF was Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, then the Intercontinental Champion. After Valentine lost the Intercontinental title to Tito Santana, Hart briefly co-managed the Dream Team (Valentine and Beefcake), until he was phased out and gave full control to "Luscious" Johnny Valiant.

At WrestleMania, Hart managed King Kong Bundy as he defeated S.D. "Special Delivery" Jones. Hart later traded Bundy's contract to Bobby "The Brain" Heenan for The Missing Link and Adrian Adonis. He helped the latter to establish his "Adorable Adrian" gimmick. Also in 1985, Hart managed Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart.

In 1985, Hart took the Funk Family under his wing. The Funks included Terry, Hoss, and kayfabe brother Jimmy Jack Funk.

1985 also marked the appearance of Bret "Hitman" Hart. Jimmy Hart teamed him up with Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart to form The Hart Foundation. On January 26, 1987, Hart guided the Hart Foundation past the British Bulldogs for the WWF World Tag Team Title. Disgraced-referee-turned-wrestler Danny Davis also was managed by Jimmy Hart. Davis and the Hart Foundation wrestled the Bulldogs and Tito Santana at WrestleMania III.

When The Honky Tonk Man turned heel, Hart became his manager. In this position, Hart was nicknamed "The Colonel" in a reference to Tom Parker, the manager of Elvis Presley. With Hart in his corner, The Honky Tonk Man captured the Intercontinental title from Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat on June 2, 1987 and held it until August 1988. "The Colonel" moniker stuck with him for years, even after the Honky Tonk Man departed the company in early 1991.

Also in 1987, Hart managed the WWF Women's Tag Team champions Judy Martin and Leilani Kai, known as The Glamour Girls. Martin and Kai mostly feuded with Japanese team the Jumping Bomb Angels (Noriyo Tateno and Itsuki Yamazaki).

Hart was named Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Manager of the Year in 1987, an award he won again in 1994.

At WrestleMania IV, Hart received a haircut from Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, after interfering in the Intercontinental Championship match between Beefcake and the Honky Tonk Man, helping Honky Tonk Man retain the title by getting disqualified.

When the Hart Foundation fired Hart as manager (and turned face) in 1988, Hart managed The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers to feud with his former team; the angle was that Hart still retained the managerial rights to his former team and gave it to the Rougeaus, giving them the right to appear at ringside whenever the Hart Foundation wrestled. At SummerSlam 1988, Hart accompanied Demolition and Mr. Fuji to help retain their WWF Tag Team title against the Hart Foundation. Ax used Hart's megaphone as a foreign object to strike Bret and secure the victory.

In 1989, Hart brought Dino Bravo into his stable after the departure of Frenchy Martin. Then at a push-up contest between the Ultimate Warrior and Bravo, Hart and Bravo invited a large 460 pound man from the audience – later known as Earthquake – into the ring to sit on the contestants' backs. In 1990, Hart groomed Earthquake to be the man to beat Hulk Hogan.

Hart continued his war with his former tag team, the Hart Foundation. In 1990, he combined his protégés Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine into the short-lived team of Rhythm and Blues. In 1991, he managed The Nasty Boys to defeat the Hart Foundation for the WWF World Tag Team title at WrestleMania VII, this time using a motorbike helmet as a weapon.

When the Nasty Boys lost the title to the Legion of Doom at SummerSlam 1991, Hart sent The Natural Disasters, a team formed out of Earthquake and his former opponent Typhoon, to disposses the new champions. When the Disasters failed, Hart formed a new team in early 1992: Money Inc., composed of Hart's protégé I.R.S. and "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. Money, Inc. defeated the L.O.D. Their title win led to the split between Hart and the Natural Disasters, who as faces feuded with Money Inc. and exchanged the tag team titles twice in 1992.

In 1991, Hart had also brought in The Mountie, who had a short reign as Intercontinental champion in early 1992.

Late in 1992, Money Inc. regaining the tag team titles from the Natural Disasters led to the Nasty Boys turning on their manager, as he had repeatedly substituted them for Money Inc. in title matches.

Hart broke with Money Inc. early in 1993 and turned face when the team attacked Brutus Beefcake. In the storyline, Hart, conscious of Beefcake's extensive facial injuries from a real-life parasailing accident three years prior, felt that his team went too far, and tried to stop them. Hart even went so far as to cover an unconscious Beefcake to stop them from doing more harm. Beefcake's friend Hulk Hogan came out the following week and expressed gratitude to Hart for his uncharacteristically heroic actions. He managed both Beefcake and Hogan who at WrestleMania IX lost to Money Inc. by disqualification. At King of the Ring, Hart was in Hogan's corner as he lost the WWF title back to Yokozuna. This appearance was Hart's last in the WWF, as both he and Hogan departed the company.

World Championship Wrestling (1994–2001)

Following their departure from the WWF, Hogan and Hart briefly toured Mexico. After their return, Hart wrote music and occasionally appeared on Hogan's television show, Thunder in Paradise. Hogan then had Hart manage him when they went to World Championship Wrestling (WCW). At Bash at the Beach in 1994, Hart managed Hogan to win his first WCW World title by defeating "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair.

At Halloween Havoc in 1995, Hart turned on Hogan to help The Giant. Hart also became the manager of the evil faction, The Dungeon of Doom, created by Kevin Sullivan. During that era, he managed Ric Flair to a 12th world title victory over Macho Man Randy Savage. After the demise of the Dungeon of Doom, Hart recreated The First Family. After the demise of the First Family, Hart was placed in charge of booking TBS's WCW Saturday Night show prior to the program's cancellation. Jimmy Hart was also the first Strapmaster for the The Yapapi Indian strap match in which Hulk Hogan defeated Ric Flair on March 19, 2000 at the Uncensored PPV. At Spring Stampede in 2000, Hart faced radio personality Mancow. The two had a rematch later in the year at Mayhem. In February 2001, Hart joined WCW's booking committee.

Independent circuit; Wrestlicious (2002–present)

Hart posing with Lance Hoyt

After the sale of WCW to the then rival WWF, Hart and a close consortium of wrestlers and investors decided to create a wrestling organization—the Xcitement Wrestling Federation (XWF)—that would replace WCW as well as take wrestling back to early 1990s style of fun, family-oriented entertainment with minimal story lines and more solid wrestling. In 2002, Hart restarted his feud with Jerry Lawler by buying, for the XWF, part of the upstart Memphis Wrestling promotion.

In 2005, Hart appeared at the PMG Clash of Legends. On November 7, 2008, Hart appeared at the Jerry "The King" Lawler 35th anniversary event. He also made a few appearances with Florida Championship Wrestling, WWE's developmental territory, as a color commentator in 2008. He made multiple appearances for WrestleMania Axxess during the week leading up to The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania.

In May 2006, Hart traveled to The Funking Conservatory, owned by Dory Funk Jr and Marti Funk, to shoot promos with the students. His most notable ones being with Studio Sar Ah when he discusses his move from World Wrestling Entertainment to TNA Wrestling and as well as Wrestlicious. Both promos can be found on the Studio Sar Ah fan page on Facebook and as well as YouTube. Hart continues to work at the school and shoot promos.

On January 19, 2010, Hart announced that his all-female wrestling promotion Wrestlicious would be premiering on MavTV and BiteTV on March 1, 2010.[4]

Hart currently appears at various professional wrestling conventions and autograph signings around the United States. He is a staple at all of the Wrestlereunion shows[5] http://wrestlereunion.com, and also does various appearances as part of the VOC Nation[6] wrestling radio program in Philadelphia on 1360 WNJC. Hart is a regular guest on the VOC Wrestling Nation radio program on WNJC.

Hart is known for being dedicated to his fans and is meticulous about being prompt for bookings. He famously drove through Hurricane Irene in August 2011 following a convention in Philadelphia. With the airport being closed, Hart was driven over 300 miles from Philadelphia to Ohio by VOC Nation Host "The Voice of Choice" Bruce Wirt and Albert Carraballo so he would not miss his booking with MCW (Main-Event Championship Wrestling) the following day. During media appearances, Hart frequently brings up this trip and compares it to the way wrestlers traveled from town to town in the 1970s.[7]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003, 2005, 2010–2011)

In October 2003 Hart made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), hyping a match between Hulk Hogan and Jeff Jarrett, which was eventually scrapped as Hogan decided to return to WWE instead.[1] On June 19, 2005 at Slammiversary pay-per-view, The Naturals were assisted in a title defense against Team Canada by Hart, who ran to ringside and threw his megaphone to Chase Stevens, who hit Petey Williams with it and pinned him.[1] Hart acted as the manager of The Naturals until October 3, 2005.

On February 14, 2010, at Against All Odds, Hart made his return to TNA as a heel by helping The Nasty Boys defeat Team 3D in a tag team match.[8] The alliance, however, was short lived as on March 29, 2010, news broke that the Nasty Boys had been released by TNA following an incident at a TNA function with Spike executives present.[9][10] Hart stayed with the company following the incident, but his role was unknown. Hart was seen on the January 20, 2011, edition of Impact!, when Kurt Angle yelled at him to play his entrance music upon entering the Impact! Zone.[11]

Return to WWE (2011–present)

On March 1, 2011, it was reported that Jimmy Hart had left Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and re-signed with WWE to work on WrestleMania-related projects.[12] Hart has since hosted various house shows. On August 14, 2011 Hart made an appearance at SummerSlam, teasing a managerial position with R-Truth during a backstage segment.[13]

On April 10, 2012, Hart made an appearance on SmackDown: Blast from the Past, where he managed the team of Heath Slater and Tyson Kidd, but ended up getting the mandible claw from Mick Foley.

As of April 30, 2014, Hart was part-owner of "Hogan's Beach", a wrestling-themed tiki-bar in Tampa, Florida. As of April 2014, Hart is a regular cast member on the WWE Network original reality show Legends' House. Hart appeared on the August 11 edition of Raw for Hogan's birthday celebration.

Other media

Music

Before wrestling, as a teenager Hart was a vocalist in the 60s band The Gentrys who had a million selling record "Keep on Dancing". Before becoming The Gentrys, they were known as just "The Gents." Their production manager told them that if they did not change their name, then they would not succeed in the music industry. Later, after the leader of the group Larry Raspberry left, Hart took over and they had a few minor hits most notably "Why Should I Cry" and a cover of Neil Young's "Cinnamon Girl". Hart and the band were successful in the Memphis area nightclub circuit. The group was under contract to Stax Records at the time of its bankruptcy, and Stax could not properly promote them.

During his years in the professional wrestling business, Hart composed many theme songs for wrestlers in the WWF and WCW. Some of the wrestlers for whom he composed music were Honky Tonk Man, Jimmy Snuka, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, The Rockers, The Hart Foundation, Crush, the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, Dusty Rhodes, the Legion of Doom, the Nasty Boys, Ted DiBiase, the Mountie, Hulk Hogan, the nWo Wolfpac, and 3 Count. He also composed the themes for SummerSlam '88 (which was later reused as the theme for many early Royal Rumble events) and WrestleMania VI (which was later used for the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth events). One of Hart's most notable compositions is Shawn Michaels's entrance theme, "Sexy Boy."[14]

In the late 1980s, Hart released a music album (also available on cassette tape) entitled Outrageous Conduct. The release consisted of comical songs done in character; such as "Barbra Streisand's Nose" and "Eat Your Heart Out Rick Springfield." In 1995, Hulk Hogan released the album "Hulk Rules."[15] Hart, as well as Hogan's then wife Linda, were a part of the band The Wrestling Boot Band and helped write and sing many of the album's songs.[15]

Television appearances

In September 2007, Hart appeared on an episode of The People's Court as a witness for a defendant.

Hart is a close friend of Hulk Hogan and is featured on many episodes of Hogan's VH1 reality series, Hogan Knows Best. Hart was also a judge on Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling.

Hart also appears in hair restoration advertisements for Medical Hair Restoration, as a client. He also does a comedic women's wrestling show called Wrestlicious, which can be viewed at Wrestlicious.com.

Hart has appeared a few times in Hulk Hogan's TV-show Thunder in Paradise. He also sang the intro music for the episode "Deadly Lessons, Pt. 1".

Movie appearances

In 1967, Hart appeared in his 1st movie It's a Bikini World as a member of The Gentrys.[16]

In 2010, Hart appeared in a movie produced by the Insane Clown Posse "Big Money Rustlas".[17]

In 2011, Hart appeared as himself in the Canadian movie Monster Brawl. Hart played the announcer to a wrestling tournament of eight classic monsters that fight to the death.[18]

In wrestling

Wrestlers managed

Teams and stables managed

Nicknames

  • "The Mouth of the South"[1]
  • "The Colonel"[1]

Championships and accomplishments

Hart at a signing in Toronto in December 2009

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as "Jimmy Hart profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
  2. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling_match_types#Strap_match_2
  3. ^ a b "Jimmy Ray Hart on USSearch". USSearch.com. Retrieved April 26, 2008.
  4. ^ Johnson, Mike (January 19, 2010). "Wrestlicious issues official press release touting TV clearances". PWInsider. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
  5. ^ <WrestleReunion>
  6. ^ <VOC Wrestling Nation>
  7. ^ <VOC Wrestling Nation>
  8. ^ Caldwell, James (February 14, 2010). "CALDWELL'S TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS PPV REPORT 2/14: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of A.J. Styles vs. Samoa Joe, Nastys vs. 3D". PWTorch. Retrieved February 14, 2010.
  9. ^ Caldwell, James (March 29, 2010). "TNA News: Nasty Boys reportedly released by TNA". PWTorch. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  10. ^ Martin, Adam (March 29, 2010). "Report: The Nasty Boys gone from TNA". WrestleView. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
  11. ^ Caldwell, James (January 21, 2011). "Caldwell's TNA Impact report 1/20: Complete review of Impact on Spike – RVD & Anderson vs. Beer Money, The Angle and Jarrett Show, X Title match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved March 2, 2011.
  12. ^ Martin, Adam. "Report: Jimmy Hart headed back to WWE". WrestleView.
  13. ^ "5/27 WWE results in Winnipeg, Canada: Cena vs. Miz vs. Truth main event, Hart hosts, Rey vs. Del Rio". Pro Wrestling Torch.
  14. ^ "Amazing But True.". WWE Magazine (13): 23. July 2007.
  15. ^ a b Hulk Hogan. "Hollywood Hulk Hogan" (p.256)
  16. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061827/
  17. ^ Big Money Rustlas
  18. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1716753/
  19. ^ "Hart Foundation Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
  20. ^ "Bret Hart". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved January 3, 2009.
  21. ^ "The Naturals profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved September 4, 2009.
  22. ^ http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/cwa/awa-s-h.html

References

  • Hogan, Hulk (2002). Hollywood Hulk Hogan. World Wrestling Entertainment. p. 352. ISBN 0-7434-5690-4.
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