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 Hart in 2018 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Ray Hart (1944-01-01)January 1, 1944 (age 81)[1] Jackson, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Jimmy Hart[1] The Mouth of the South The Colonel The Memphis Chicken |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Billed weight | 166 lb (75 kg) |
| Billed from | Memphis, Tennessee[1] |
James Ray Hart (born January 1, 1944) is an Americanprofessional wrestlingmanager, executive, composer, and musician. He is signed toWWE in a Legends deal.[1] He is best known for his work in theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF; renamed WWE in 2002) andWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW). He once used the nickname "the Mouth of the South" (also given toTed Turner). He was theAWA Southern Heavyweight Champion for 5 days in 1981.
Hart has managed numerous prominent wrestlers, includingAndy Kaufman,The Honky Tonk Man,Greg "the Hammer" Valentine,Jerry "the King" Lawler,"The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase,Irwin R. Schyster,The Mountie,The Natural Disasters,Dino Bravo,The Nasty Boys,The Giant,Hulk Hogan, andHart Foundation membersBret Hart andJim Neidhart.
Before becoming involved with professional wrestling, Hart was a member of therock bandthe Gentrys. He also composed theme songs for multiple WWE wrestlers and released his own album,Outrageous Conduct, in 1985.[citation needed]
Hart was a vocalist inThe Gentrys, who found success with the release of "Keep on Dancing" in 1965, which sold over a million copies.[2] When Hart took over after the group's former leader left, they had a few minor hits, most notably "Why Should I Cry" and a cover ofNeil Young's "Cinnamon Girl", but they were never able to match the success of "Keep on Dancing". Hart and the band were successful in the Memphis area nightclub circuit. The group was under contract toStax Records at the time of its bankruptcy, and Stax could not properly promote them.[3][additional citation(s) needed]
Jimmy Hart was born inJackson, Mississippi. He was brought into wrestling byJerry "the King" Lawler, who knew of Hart because both had attended Memphis Treadwell High School. Having been asked to be a backup singer for Lawler, Hart later became his manager. After splitting from Lawler, Hart created a stable known as theFirst Family of Wrestling to attack Lawler, which among others includedHulk Hogan,King Kong Bundy,"Ravishing" Rick Rude,"Leaping" Lanny Poffo,Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart,Ox Baker,Kamala,"Macho Man" Randy Savage,"Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert,The Iron Sheik andKevin Sullivan.
In 1982, Hart earned national headlines doing a match with comedian and television starAndy Kaufman. Hart, Lawler, and Kaufman would continue this feud for over a year. 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" byRay Parker Jr. A music video was also made featuring Lawler, announcerLance Russell, and wrestlers such asRandy Savage,Jimmy Valiant,Dutch Mantel,Tommy Rich, andRufus R. Jones, along with footage of Lawler beating Hart and his "First Family". In 1981 through 1984, Hart ledAustin Idol, Masao Ito, and Gilbert to NWA/AWA International titles.
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In 1985, Hart's friend,Hillbilly Jim, recommended him toWWF ownerVince McMahon, who hired him. He was nicknamed "the Mouth of the South" due to his loose-lipped style, often augmented by his trademark megaphone, which he used as a weapon, and to instruct and encourage his protégés to discourage and annoy opponents and announcers, especiallyGorilla Monsoon. Hart's first acquisition in theWWF wasGreg "the Hammer" Valentine, then theIntercontinental Heavyweight Champion, whom Hart managed atWrestleMania. After Valentine lost the Intercontinental Heavyweight Title toTito Santana, Hart briefly co-managed theDream Team (Valentine and Beefcake), until he was phased out and gave full control to"Luscious Johnny" Valiant. At WrestleMania, Hart also managedKing Kong Bundy as he defeatedS. D. Jones. Hart later traded Bundy's contract toBobby "the Brain" Heenan forThe Missing Link andAdrian Adonis. He helped the latter to establish his "Adorable Adrian" gimmick. Hart also managed Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart. 1985 also marked the appearance of the legendaryBret "Hitman" Hart. Jimmy Hart teamed him up with Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart to form theHart Foundation. On January 26, 1987, Hart guided the Hart Foundation to theWWF World Tag Team Title, which they won from theBritish Bulldogs. Disgraced-referee-turned-wrestlerDanny Davis was also managed by Jimmy Hart.
In 1985, Hart took the Funk Family under his wing. The Funks includedTerry Funk andHoss Funk, as well as theirkayfabe brotherJimmy Jack Funk. Hart wrestled on house shows with the Funks. On July 12, 1986, Hart won a battle royal to receive $50,000 atMadison Square Garden. When The Honky Tonk Man turned heel, Hart became his manager. In this position, Hart was nicknamed "the Colonel" in reference toColonel Tom Parker, the manager ofElvis Presley. With Hart in his corner, the Honky Tonk Man captured the Intercontinental Heavyweight Title fromRicky "the Dragon" Steamboat on June 2, 1987, and held it until August 1988. During that time, the Honky Tonk Man feuded withRandy Savage and his managerMiss Elizabeth. "The Colonel" moniker stuck with him for years, even after the Honky Tonk Man departed the company in early 1991. AtWrestleMania III, Hart was involved in three matches and took some incredible bumps during the show. His first appearance was with "Adorable" Adrian Adonis, who foughtRowdy Roddy Piper. Then came the six-man tag match, pitting the Hart Foundation and Danny Davis against the Bulldogs and Tito Santana. Jimmy Hart's third appearance on the show was whenThe Honky Tonk Man foughtJake "the Snake" Roberts, who had rock legendAlice Cooper in his corner. Following that match, Hart was left alone in the ring, where Roberts and Cooper teamed up to terrorize him with Roberts' pet snake Damien. Also in 1987, Hart managed theWWF Women's Tag Team championsJudy Martin andLeilani Kai, known asThe Glamour Girls. Martin and Kai mostly feuded with the Japanese team theJumping Bomb Angels (Noriyo Tateno andItsuki Yamazaki).
Hart was namedPro Wrestling Illustrated'sManager of the Year in 1987, an award he won again in 1994. AtWrestleMania IV, Hart received a haircut fromBrutus "the Barber" Beefcake, after interfering in theIntercontinental Heavyweight Championship match between Beefcake and the Honky Tonk Man, helping Honky Tonk Man retain the title by getting disqualified. When theHart Foundation fired Hart as manager (andturned face) in 1988, Hart managedThe Fabulous Rougeau Brothers to feud with his former team; theangle was that Hart still retained the managerial rights to his former team and gave a portion of it to the Rougeaus, giving them the right to appear at ringside whenever the Hart Foundation wrestled. AtSummerSlam 1988, Hart accompaniedDemolition andMr. Fuji to help retain their WWF Tag Team title against theHart Foundation.Ax used Hart's megaphone as a foreign object to strike Bret in the head and secure the victory. In 1989, Hart broughtDino Bravo into his stable after the departure ofFrenchy Martin. Then, at a push-up contest between theUltimate Warrior and Bravo, Hart and Bravo invited a large 460-pound man from the audience – later known asEarthquake – into the ring to sit on the contestants' backs. Earthquake had been planted in the audience by Hart and Bravo, and they eventually teamed up against the Warrior. In 1990, Hart groomed Earthquake to be the man to beatHulk 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 ofRhythm and Blues, though they had teamed previously as themselves when facing the Hart Foundation atWrestleMania V. In 1991, he managedThe Nasty Boys to defeat the Hart Foundation for the WWF World Tag Team title atWrestleMania VII, this time using a motorbike helmet as a weapon.
When the Nasty Boys lost the title to theLegion of Doom atSummerSlam 1991, Hart sentThe Natural Disasters, a team formed out of Earthquake and his former opponentTyphoon (formerly known as Tugboat), to depose the new champions. The Natural Disasters failed to take the title, which led to Hart forming a new team in early 1992:Money Inc., composed of Hart's protégéI.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, asfaces, feuded with Money Inc. and exchanged the tag team titles twice in 1992. Their biggest match came atWrestleMania VIII when Money Inc. retained their titles by leaving the ring and forcing a count-out. In 1991, Hart had also brought inThe Mountie, who had a short reign as Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion in early 1992 after defeating Bret Hart on January 17, then losing it just two days later to Rowdy Roddy Piper at theRoyal Rumble. A few months earlier, The Mountie feuded with theBig Boss Man over who was the "law and order" in the WWF. Their feud culminated in a match atSummerSlam where the loser (in this case The Mountie) had to spend the night in aNew York jail. Late in 1992, Money Inc. regained the tag team titles from the Natural Disasters, leading 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 attackedBrutus "the Barber" Beefcake. In the storyline, Hart, conscious of Beefcake's extensive facial injuries from areal-life parasailing accident three years prior, which required extensive reconstructive surgery to Beefcake's face and all but ended his full-time career, felt that his team went too far and tried to stop them. Hart even went so far as to cover an unconscious Beefcake with his own body to stop them from doing more harm. Beefcake's long-time friendHulk Hogan came out the following week and expressed gratitude to Hart for his uncharacteristically heroic actions. He managed both Beefcake and Hogan, who atWrestleMania IX lost to Money Inc by disqualification. Later in the show, Hart for the first time would be the manager of theWWF World Heavyweight Champion when Hogan accepted an impromptu challenge byMr. Fuji, the manager of the new championYokozuna, who had just defeated Bret Hart for the belt. Hogan would defeat the 505 lb (229 kg) new champion in a short match. AtKing of the Ring, Hart was in Hogan's corner as he lost the WWF World Heavyweight Title back to Yokozuna. This appearance was Hart's last in the WWF, as he, Beefcake, and Hogan all departed the company.
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 toWorld Championship Wrestling (WCW). AtBash at the Beach in 1994, Hart managed Hogan to win his firstWCW World Heavyweight Title by defeating"the Nature Boy" Ric Flair.
AtHalloween Havoc in 1995, Hart turned on Hogan to helpThe Giant. Hart also became the manager of the evilfaction,the Dungeon of Doom, created byKevin Sullivan. During that era, he managed Ric Flair to a 12th world title victory over Macho Man Randy Savage atStarrcade '95. After the demise of the Dungeon of Doom in July 1997, Hart was written off television for a few months, and then Hart returned in November 1997 to only manageThe Faces of Fear, then in 1998, Hart recreatedThe First Family. After the demise of the First Family, Hart was placed in charge ofbookingTBS'sWCW Saturday Night show prior to the program's cancellation. Hart wrestled on April 18, 1999, to defeatBubba the Love Sponge by disqualification at a house show. On November 15, he wrestledWCW Monday Nitro, losing toNorman Smiley in a Hardcore match. AtSpring Stampede in 2000, Hart faced radio personalityMancow. The two had a rematch later in the year atMayhem. In February 2001, Hart joined WCW's booking committee.
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 called theXcitement Wrestling Federation (XWF), which would replace WCW as well as take wrestling back to the early 1990s style of fun, family-oriented entertainment with minimal story lines and more solid wrestling.[citation needed] In 2002, Hart restarted his feud withJerry Lawler by buying, for the XWF, part of the upstartMemphis Wrestling promotion. Hart would wrestle for Memphis Wrestling from 2003 to 2005. He lost toJimmy Valiant in a Loser Eats Dog Food match on August 2, 2003. In 2007, Hart appeared at thePMG Clash of Legends. On November 7, 2008, Hart appeared at the Jerry "The King" Lawler 35th anniversary event. He also made a few appearances withFlorida Championship Wrestling, WWE's developmental territory, as a color commentator in 2008. He made multiple appearances forWrestleMania Axxess during the week leading up toThe 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania.
In May 2006, Hart traveled to The Funking Conservatory, owned byDory Funk Jr and Marti Funk, to shoot promos with the students. His most notable ones were with Studio Sar Ah, in which he discusses his move fromWorld Wrestling Entertainment toTNA Wrestling, as well asWrestlicious. 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 promotionWrestlicious would be premiering onMavTV andBiteTV on March 1, 2010.[4] He wrestled atPro Wrestling Guerrilla'sKurt RussellReunion II: The Reunioning in a battle royale won byRoddy Piper. On January 12, 2012, he wrestled at PWS WrestleReunion VI in a battle royale won byThe Godfather. Hart currently appears at various professional wrestling conventions and autograph signings around the United States. He has appeared at many of the WrestleReunion shows, and also does various appearances as part of the VOC Nation wrestling radio program in Philadelphia on 1360 WNJC. Hart is a regular guest on the VOC Wrestling Nation radio program on WNJC.
In October 2003 Hart made his debut forTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), hyping a match betweenHulk Hogan andJeff Jarrett, which was eventually scrapped as Hogan decided to return toWWE instead.[1] On June 19, 2005, atSlammiversary pay-per-view,The Naturals were assisted in a title defense againstTeam Canada by Hart, who ran to ringside and threw hismegaphone toChase Stevens, who hitPetey Williams with it and pinned him.[1] Hart acted as the manager of The Naturals until October 3, 2005. On February 14, 2010, atAgainst All Odds, Hart made his return to TNA as aheel by helping The Nasty Boys defeatTeam 3D in a tag team match.[5] 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 withSpike executives present.[6][7] Hart stayed with the company following the incident, but his role was unknown. Hart was seen on the January 20, 2011, edition ofImpact!, whenKurt Angle yelled at him to play his entrance music upon entering theImpact! Zone.[8]
On March 1, 2011, it was reported that Jimmy Hart had leftTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling and re-signed withWWE to work onWrestleMania-related projects.[9] Hart has since hosted varioushouse shows. On August 14, 2011, Hart made an appearance atSummerSlam, teasing a managerial position withR-Truth during a backstage segment.[10] On April 10, 2012, Hart made an appearance on SmackDown: Blast from the Past, where he managed the team ofHeath Slater andTyson Kidd, but ended up getting the mandible claw fromMick 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 was a regular cast member on theWWE Network original reality showLegends' House.
In April 2017, Hart purchased a beachfront property in Daytona Beach, Florida, and opened "Jimmy Hart's Hall of Fame Bar and Tiki Deck", a beach-themed bar.[citation needed]
On January 4, 2021, he made an appearance on the RAW Legends Night, where he was involved in a segment withHulk Hogan,Drew McIntyre, andSheamus.[citation needed]
On January 23, 2023, Hart appeared onWWE Raw is XXX, the 30th anniversary edition ofMonday Night Raw, accompanying Hulk Hogan to open the show.[11] On January 6, 2025, Hart once again accompanied Hogan during theRaw debut on Netflix.[12] On May 24, 2025, he was shown alongsideBushwhacker Luke in the crowd duringSaturday Night's Main Event XXXIX.[13]
On July 25, 2025, Hart made an appearance on SmackDown during the tribute toHulk Hogan.[14] He was also in attendance at the first everReal American Freestyle event which was held on August 30, 2025.[15][16]
His book,The Mouth of the South, was released on November 18, 2004.[citation needed]
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,Sting, thenWo Wolfpac,3 Count andBig Boss Man. He also composed the themes forSummerSlam '88 (which was later reused as the theme for many earlyRoyal Rumble events) andWrestleMania VI (which was later used for theseventh,eighth,ninth, andtenth events).[17]
In the late 1980s, Hart released a music album titledOutrageous Conduct. The release consisted of comical songs done in character, such as "Barbra Streisand's Nose" and "Eat Your Heart Out Rick Springfield" (the latter of which would become Hart's solo theme song in WWE). In 1995,Hulk Hogan released the album "Hulk Rules, on Select Records."[18] Hart, as well as Hogan's wife, were a part of the bandThe Wrestling Boot Band and helped write and sing many of the album's songs.[18]
In September 2007, Hart appeared on an episode ofThe 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'sVH1reality series,Hogan Knows Best. Hart was also a judge onHulk 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 appeared on theWWE Legends' House. Hart has appeared a few times in Hulk Hogan's TV showThunder in Paradise. He also sang the intro music for the episode "Deadly Lessons, Pt. 1".[citation needed]
Album:
Single:
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
,Cagematch,Internet Wrestling Database
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