Mid 20th Century
118-607: James Ray Hart (born January 1, 1944) is an American professional wrestling manager , executive, composer, and musician. He is currently signed to WWE in a Legends deal. He is best known for his work in WWE when it was still known as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; renamed WWE in 2002) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and used the nickname "the Mouth of the South" (one that
236-435: A bona fide athletic contest or competition. Professional wrestling is not a combative sport. Wrestling constituting bona fide athletic contests and competitions, which may be professional or amateur combative sport, shall not be deemed professional wrestling under this Part. Professional wrestling as used in this Part shall not depend on whether the individual wrestlers are paid or have been paid for their performance in
354-579: A heel by helping The Nasty Boys defeat Team 3D in a tag team match. 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. 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
472-415: A performing art evolved from the common practice of match-fixing among American wrestlers in the 19th century, who later sought to make matches shorter, more entertaining, and less physically taxing. As the public gradually realized and accepted that matches were predetermined, wrestlers responded by increasingly adding melodrama, gimmickry, and outlandish stunt work to their performances to further enhance
590-415: A professional wrestling exhibition. All engagements of professional wrestling shall be referred to as exhibitions, and not as matches. In the industry's slang, a fixed match is referred to as a worked match, derived from the slang word for manipulation, as in "working the crowd". A shoot match is a genuine contest where both wrestlers fight to win and are therefore "straight shooters", which comes from
708-413: A background in authentic wrestling no longer mattered. After this time, matches became more outlandish and gimmicky and any semblance professional wrestling had to catch wrestling faded. The personas of the wrestlers likewise grew more outlandish. Gorgeous George , who performed throughout the 1940s and 1950s, was the first wrestler whose entrance into the arena was accompanied by a theme song played over
826-569: A beachfront property in Daytona Beach, Florida, and opened “Jimmy Hart’s Hall of Fame Bar and Tiki Deck“, which is a beach bar featuring an abundance of autographed pictures, wrestling paraphernalia, and at times an intercontinental championship belt. On January 4, 2021, he made an appearance on the RAW Legends Night where he was involved in a segment with Hulk Hogan , Drew McIntyre and Sheamus . On January 23, 2023, Hart appeared on WWE Raw
944-520: A carny term for a shooting gallery gun whose sights were not deliberately misaligned. Wrestling in the United States blossomed in popularity after the Civil War , with catch wrestling eventually becoming the most popular style. At first, professional wrestlers were genuine competitive fighters, but they struggled to draw audiences because Americans did not find real wrestling to be very entertaining, so
1062-513: A central authority. Nor could any of them stomach the idea of leaving the NWA themselves to compete directly with McMahon, for that would mean their territories would become fair game for the other NWA members. McMahon also had a creative flair for TV that his rivals lacked. For instance, the AWA's TV productions during the 1980s were amateurish, low-budget, and out-of-touch with contemporary culture, which lead to
1180-574: A champion that Curley put forth: Dick Shikat . The National Wrestling Association shut down in 1980. In 1948, a number of promoters from across the country came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The NWA recognized one "world champion", voted on by its members, but allowed member promoters to crown their own local champions in their territories. If a member poached wrestlers from another member, or held matches in another member's territory, they risked being ejected from
1298-609: A client. He also does a comedic women's wrestling show called Wrestlicious, which can be viewed at Wrestlicious.com. Hart appeared on the WWE Legends' House . 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". Jimmy Hart is a constant on Life for Sale with real estate investor Ben Mallah—the $ 500,000,000 Real Estate Mogul. In 1967, Hart appeared in
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#17328772306941416-475: 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
1534-678: A degree. Vince Russo, the boss of WCW in 2000, completely disregarded kayfabe by routinely discussing business matters and office politics in public, which alienated fans. I watch championship wrestling from Florida with wrestling commentator Gordon Solie . Is this all "fake"? If so, they deserve an Oscar . Dream Team (professional wrestling) The Dream Team was a World Wrestling Federation tag team from 1985 to March 29, 1987 consisting of Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine managed by "Luscious" Johnny Valiant . The New Dream Team , also managed by Johnny Valiant, saw Dino Bravo replace Brutus Beefcake and competed from March 1987 until
1652-516: A different Dream Team, captained by Dusty Rhodes . Valentine and Bravo would also later team up again up against The Rockers on a WWF VHS tape called WWF Supertape, Volume 2 in 1990. Bravo left the WWF in 1992 after he retired from the sport. Beefcake was released by the company in 1993 and went to WCW. Valentine left the company in 1992 and went to WCW. He returned to WWF in 1993 and left in 1994 and went back to WCW. Valentine and Beefcake reunited for
1770-404: A distinct vernacular . It has achieved mainstream success and influence within popular culture , with many terms, tropes , and concepts being referenced in everyday language as well as in film , music , television , and video games . Likewise, numerous professional wrestlers have become national or international icons with recognition by the broader public. In the United States, wrestling
1888-410: A fee, a visitor could challenge the wrestler to a quick match. If the challenger defeated the champion in a short time frame, usually 15 minutes, he won a prize. To encourage challenges, the carnival operators staged rigged matches in which an accomplice posing as a visitor challenged the champion and won, giving the audience the impression that the champion was easy to beat. This practice taught wrestlers
2006-405: A legitimate sport. Firstly, wrestling was more entertaining when it was faked, whereas fakery did not make boxing any more entertaining. Secondly, in a rigged boxing match, the designated loser must take a real beating for his "defeat" to be convincing, but wrestling holds can be faked convincingly without inflicting injury. This meant that boxers were less willing to "take dives"; they wanted to have
2124-704: A match against Gus Sonnenberg in January 1929. Bowser then broke away from the trust to form his own cartel, the American Wrestling Association (AWA), in September 1930, and he declared Sonnenberg to be the AWA champion. This AWA should not be confused with Wally Kadbo's AWA founded in 1960. Curley reacted to this move by convincing the National Boxing Association to form the National Wrestling Association , which in turn crowned
2242-538: A match at SummerSlam where the loser (in this case The Mountie) had to spend the night in a New York jail. 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 "the Barber" Beefcake . In
2360-460: A million selling record with 1965's " 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", but were never able to match
2478-424: A more literal meaning in those places. A notable example is India's Pro Wrestling League . In numerous American states, professional wrestling is legally defined as a non-sport. For instance, New York defines professional wrestling as: Professional wrestling means an activity in which participants struggle hand-in-hand primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise
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#17328772306942596-440: A new city, attendance was high because there was a waiting fanbase cultivated in advance by the cable TV shows. The NWA's traditional anti-competitive tricks were no match for this. The NWA attempted to centralize and create their own national cable television shows to counter McMahon's rogue promotion, but it failed in part because the members of the NWA, ever protective of their territories, could not stomach submitting themselves to
2714-491: A part of the band The Wrestling Boot Band and helped write and sing many of the album's songs. 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
2832-584: A reference to Colonel Tom Parker , the manager of Elvis Presley . With Hart in his corner, the Honky Tonk Man captured the Intercontinental Heavyweight Title from Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat on June 2, 1987, and held it until August 1988. During that time, the Honky Tonk Man feuded with Randy Savage and his manager Miss Elizabeth . "The Colonel" moniker stuck with him for years, even after
2950-644: A stable known as the First Family of Wrestling to attack Lawler, which among others included Hulk 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 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
3068-556: A team was at the inaugural Survivor Series where they took part in a ten team, tag team elimination match. Valentine was pinned by Paul Roma of the Young Stallions , eliminating the team from the match. After Survivor Series the New Dream Team broke up quietly, they simply stopped teaming up and went their separate ways. One of the main reasons for this split was because Valentine and Bravo legitimately did not get along outside
3186-497: A typical American household only received four national channels by antenna, and ten to twelve local channels via UHF broadcasting . But cable television could carry a much larger selection of channels and therefore had room for niche interests. The WWF started with a show called All-American Wrestling airing on the USA Network in September 1983. McMahon's TV shows made his wrestlers national celebrities, so when he held matches in
3304-575: A victory for all the pain to which they subjected themselves. In the 1910s, promotional cartels for professional wrestling emerged in the East Coast (outside its traditional heartland in the Midwest ). These promoters sought to make long-term plans with their wrestlers, and to ensure their more charismatic and crowd-pleasing wrestlers received championships, further entrenching the desire for worked matches. The primary rationale for shoot matches at this point
3422-787: 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. In 1985, Hart's friend Hillbilly Jim recommended him to WWF owner Vince McMahon , who hired him. He
3540-538: Is Shawn Michaels 's entrance theme, "Sexy Boy." In the late 1980s, Hart released a music album (also available on cassette tape) titled Outrageous 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." Hart, as well as Hogan's wife and Brian Knobbs , were
3658-450: Is XXX , the 30th anniversary edition of Monday Night Raw , accompanying Hulk Hogan to open the show. His book, The Mouth of the South , was released on November 18, 2004. Jimmy has also appeared in "Life: for sale", a YouTube series created by Koncrete Inc., which has Benjamin Mallah as its lead. Before wrestling, Hart, as a teenager, was a vocalist in the 60s band The Gentrys , who had
Jimmy Hart - Misplaced Pages Continue
3776-436: Is a form of athletic theater that combines mock combat with drama , with the premise that the performers are competitive wrestlers. Professional wrestling is distinguished by its scripted outcomes and emphasis on entertainment and showmanship . The staged nature of matches is an open secret , with both wrestlers and spectators nonetheless maintaining the pretense that performances are bona fide competitions, which
3894-410: Is a true sport. Wrestlers would at all times flatly deny allegations that they fixed their matches, and they often remained in-character in public even when not performing. When in public, wrestlers would sometimes say the word kayfabe to each other as a coded signal that there were fans present and they needed to be in character. Professional wrestlers in the past strongly believed that if they admitted
4012-427: Is generally practiced in an amateur context. No professional league for competitive wrestling exists due to a lack of popularity. For example, Real Pro Wrestling , an American professional freestyle wrestling league, dissolved in 2007 after just two seasons. In other countries, such as Iran and India , wrestling enjoys widespread popularity as a genuine sport, and the phrase "professional wrestling" therefore has
4130-470: Is likened to the suspension of disbelief employed when engaging with fiction . Professional wrestlers perform as characters and usually maintain a " gimmick " consisting of a specific persona , stage name , entrance theme , and other distinguishing traits. Matches are the primary vehicle for advancing storylines, which typically center on interpersonal conflicts, or feuds , between heroic " faces " and villainous " heels ". A wrestling ring , akin to
4248-477: The Impact! Zone . 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. 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. On April 10, 2012, Hart made an appearance on SmackDown: Blast from
4366-597: 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 Heavyweight Championship match between Beefcake and the Honky Tonk Man, helping Honky Tonk Man retain
4484-565: The Junkyard Dog , both high ranked contenders for Valentine's Intercontinental title. In Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens on April 21, 1985 the Dream Team lost to Santana and Ricky Steamboat in approximately 15 minutes in what many consider one of the best tag team matches of the 80s . The match appears on the WWF's Coliseum Home Video release "Best of the WWF Vol. 4". On July 6, 1985 Santana regained
4602-826: The Nasty Boys , The Giant , and Hulk Hogan . He was briefly the AWA Southern Heavyweight Champion in 1981. 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 ". Jimmy Hart was born in Jackson, Mississippi. He was brought into wrestling by Jerry "the King" Lawler , who knew of Hart because both 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
4720-609: The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board that professional wrestling is not a real sport because its matches have predetermined outcomes. Shortly thereafter, New Jersey deregulated professional wrestling. The WWF then rebranded itself as a " sports entertainment " company. In the early years of the 20th century, the style of wrestling used in professional wrestling matches was catch wrestling . Promoters wanted their matches to look realistic and so preferred to recruit wrestlers with real grappling skills. In
4838-543: The independent circuit , to internationally broadcast events at major arenas. The largest and most influential promotions are in the United States , Mexico , Japan , and northwest Europe (the United Kingdom , Germany/Austria and France ), which have each developed distinct styles, traditions, and subgenres within professional wrestling. Professional wrestling has developed its own culture and community , including
Jimmy Hart - Misplaced Pages Continue
4956-431: The spectacle . By at least the early 20th century, professional wrestling had diverged from the competitive sport to become an artform and genre of sports entertainment . Professional wrestling is performed around the world through various " promotions ", which are roughly analogous to production companies or sports leagues . Promotions vary considerably in size, scope, and creative approach, ranging from local shows on
5074-577: The 1920s, a group of wrestlers and promoters known as the Gold Dust Trio introduced moves which have since become staples of the mock combat of professional wrestling, such as body slams, suplexes , punches, finishing moves, and out-of-ring count-outs. By the early 1930s, most wrestlers had adopted personas to generate public interest. These personas could broadly be characterized as either faces (likeable) or heels (villainous). Native Americans, cowboys, and English aristocrats were staple characters in
5192-400: The 1930s and 1940s. Before the age of television, some wrestlers played different personas depending on the region they were performing in. This eventually came to an end in the age of national television wrestling shows, which forced wrestlers to stick to one persona. Wrestlers also often used some sort of gimmick, such as a finishing move, eccentric mannerisms, or out-of-control behavior (in
5310-460: The 1990s, WCW became a credible rival to the WWF, but by end it suffered from a series of creative missteps that led to its failure and purchase by the WWF. One of its mistakes was that it diminished the glamor of its World Heavyweight Championship . Between January 2000 and March 2001, the title changed hands eighteen times, which sapped fan enthusiasm, particularly for the climactic pay-per-view matches. In professional wrestling, two factors decide
5428-641: The Atlantic Athletic Corporation (AAC). The AAC shut down in 1960. In 1958, Omaha promoter and NWA member Joe Dusek recognized Verne Gagne as the world champion without the approval of the NWA. Gagne asked for a match against the recognized NWA champion Pat O'Connor. The NWA refused to honor the request, so Gagne and Minneapolis promoter Wally Karbo established the American Wrestling Association in 1960. This AWA should not be confused with Paul Bowser's AWA, which ceased operations just two months prior. Gagne's AWA operated out of Minnesota . Unlike
5546-579: The Beach in 1994, Hart managed Hogan to win his first WCW World Heavyweight 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 at Starrcade '95 . After
5664-465: The Dream Team and the Rougeaus clashed once again with the Dream Team winning due to Dino Bravo's interference. After the match Dino Bravo and Greg Valentine argued with Brutus Beefcake, kicking him off the team. After dumping Beefcake, Valentine and Bravo began wrestling as "The New Dream Team", starting out strong by defeating The Islanders in a series of house show matches after which they continued
5782-508: The Dream Team never mentally got over the loss at WrestleMania 2, likely in acknowledgement of what many consider the best match on the card that night. Gorilla would always make a point to mention it happened in Chicago's Rosemont Horizon, the location Gorilla himself was stationed at for the event. As the summer passed the Dream Team found themselves facing the Killer Bees and the second version of
5900-558: The Dream Team won the tag team titles from the U.S. Express when Beefcake ( storyline ) rubbed Luscious Johnny's lit cigar in Windham's eye. Immediately after their title win, the Dream Team were challenged by The British Bulldogs ( Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid ), often escaping with their titles due to underhanded means. Besides defending against the Bulldogs the Dream Team also put
6018-605: The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, Dusty Rhodes , the Legion of Doom , the Nasty Boys, Ted DiBiase, the Mountie, Hulk Hogan, Sting , 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
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#17328772306946136-601: The Hart Foundation at WrestleMania V . 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 (formerly known as Tugboat), to depose
6254-491: The Hart Foundation. Ax used Hart's megaphone as a foreign object to strike Bret in the head 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. Predictably
6372-405: The Honky Tonk Man departed the company in early 1991. At WrestleMania III , Hart was involved in three matches and took some incredible bumps during the show. His first appearance was with "Adorable" Adrian Adonis who fought Rowdy 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
6490-503: The Intercontinental Heavyweight 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 also managed King Kong Bundy as he defeated S.D. Jones . Hart later traded Bundy's contract to Bobby "the Brain" Heenan for The Missing Link and Adrian Adonis . He helped
6608-572: The Intercontinental Title in a steel cage match and shortly afterwards the Dream Team set their sights on the reigning WWF World Tag Team champions , The U.S. Express ( Barry Windham and Mike Rotunda ). Not long after Johnny Valiant became the sole manager of the Dream Team as the two started to team more and more regularly. Their initial shots at the tag team champions were unsuccessful but on August 24 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia
6726-571: The Love Sponge by disqualification at a house show. On November 15, he wrestled WCW Monday Nitro losing to Norman Smiley in a Hardcore match. Jimmy Hart was also the first Strapmaster for 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
6844-408: The NWA, at which point his territory became fair game for everyone. The NWA would blacklist wrestlers who worked for independent promoters or who publicly criticized an NWA promoter or who did not throw a match on command. If an independent promoter tried to establish himself in a certain area, the NWA would send their star performers to perform for the local NWA promoter to draw the customers away from
6962-408: The NWA, which only allowed faces to be champions, Gagne occasionally allowed heels to win the AWA championship so that they could serve as foils for him. In August 1983, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), a promotion in the north-east , withdrew from the NWA. Vince K. McMahon then took over as its boss. No longer bound by the territorial pact of the NWA, McMahon began expanding his promotion into
7080-657: 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 was 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. In April 2017, Hart purchased
7198-647: 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. He wrestled at Pro Wrestling Guerrilla 's Kurt RussellReunion II: The Reunioning in a battle royal won by Roddy Piper . On January 12, 2012, he wrestled at PWS WrestleReunion VI in battle royal won by The Godfather . Hart currently appears at various professional wrestling conventions and autograph signings around
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#17328772306947316-459: The US Express instead of challenging for the gold. As 1986 turned to 1987 the Dream Team found themselves feuding with The Fabulous Rougeaus ( Jaques and Raymond ). The team was also joined by Johnny Valiant's newest addition Dino Bravo in six-man tag matches. Lack of championship success, not to mention Beefcake feeling muscled out by Bravo, began tension within the team. At WrestleMania III
7434-630: The United States. He is a staple at all 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 for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), hyping a match between Hulk Hogan and Jeff Jarrett , which
7552-589: The XWF, part of the upstart Memphis Wrestling promotion. Hart would wrestle for Memphis Wrestling from 2003 to 2005. He lost to Jimmy Valiant in a Loser Eats Dog Food match on August 2, 2003. In 2007, 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
7670-481: The addition of "Prince of Darkness" Ozzy Osbourne in the Bulldogs’ corner the Dream Team finally ran out of tricks and lost the gold. Finding themselves in the challengers position the Dream Team now chased the Bulldogs in the months following WrestleMania 2 climaxing in a series of steel cage matches during the summer of 1986. A running gag on the WWF's weekly television was Gorilla Monsoon's constant suggestion that
7788-401: The arena's loudspeakers, his being Pomp and Circumstance . He also wore a costume: a robe and hairnet, which he removed after getting in the ring. He also had a pre-match ritual where his "butler" would spray the ring with perfume. In the 1980s, Vince McMahon made entrance songs, costumes, and rituals standard for his star wrestlers. For instance, McMahon's top star Hulk Hogan would delight
7906-418: The art of staging rigged matches and fostered a mentality that spectators were marks to be duped. The term kayfabe comes from carny slang. By the turn of the 20th century, most professional wrestling matches were "worked" and some journalists exposed the practice: American wrestlers are notorious for the amount of faking they do. It is because of this fact that suspicion attaches to so many bouts that
8024-550: The audience by tearing his shirt off before each match. The first major promoter cartel emerged on the East Coast, although up to that point, wrestling's heartland had been in the Midwest. Notable members of this cartel included Jack Curley , Lou Daro, Paul Bowser and Tom and Tony Packs. The promoters colluded to solve a number of problems that hurt their profits. Firstly, they could force their wrestlers to perform for less money. As
8142-756: The belt. Hogan would defeat the 505 lb (229 kg) new champion in a short match. At King 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 to World Championship Wrestling (WCW). At Bash at
8260-424: The cartel grew, there were fewer independent promoters where independent wrestlers could find work, and many were forced to sign a contract with the cartel to receive steady work. The contracts forbade them from performing at independent venues. A wrestler who refused to play by the cartel's rules was barred from performing at its venues. A second goal of the wrestling cartels was to establish an authority to decide who
8378-418: The case of heels). The matches could also be gimmicky sometimes, with wrestlers fighting in mud and piles of tomatoes and so forth. The most successful and enduring gimmick to emerge from the 1930s were tag-team matches. Promoters noticed that matches slowed down as the wrestlers in the ring tired, so they gave them partners to relieve them. It also gave heels another way to misbehave by double-teaming. Towards
8496-423: The character in shows must be considered fictional, wholly separate from the life of the performer. This is similar to other entertainers who perform with a persona that shares their own name. Some wrestlers also incorporate elements of their real-life personalities into their characters, even if they and their in-ring persona have different names. Kayfabe is the practice of pretending that professional wrestling
8614-508: The commission. The Commission did on very rare occasions hand out such authorizations, such as for a championship match between Jim Londos and Jim Browning in June 1934. This decree did not apply to amateur wrestling, which the commission had no authority over. Wrestling fans widely suspected that professional wrestling was fake, but they did not care as long as it entertained. In 1933, a wrestling promoter named Jack Pfefer started talking about
8732-540: The current fashion of wrestling is the universal discussion as to the honesty of the matches. And certainly the most interesting phrase of this discussion is the unanimous agreement: "Who cares if they're fixed or not—the show is good." Newspapers tended to shun professional wrestling, as journalists saw its theatrical pretense to being a legitimate sport as untruthful. Eventually promoters resorted to publishing their own magazines in order to get press coverage and communicate with fans. The first professional wrestling magazine
8850-572: The demise of the Dungeon of Doom in July 1997, Hart was written off television for a few months and then Hart returned in October 1997 to only manage The Faces of Fear , then in 1998, 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. Hart wrestled on April 18, 1999, to defeat Bubba
8968-405: The end of the 1930s, faced with declining revenues, promoters chose to focus on grooming charismatic wrestlers with no regard for their skill because it was charisma that drew the crowds, and wrestlers who were both skilled at grappling and charismatic were hard to come by. Since most of the public by this time knew and accepted that professional wrestling was fake, realism was no longer paramount and
9086-597: The facade of kayfabe as best as they could. In 1989, Vince McMahon testified before the New Jersey government that professional wrestling was not a true sport and therefore should be exempted from sports-related taxes. Many wrestlers and fans resented McMahon for this, but Lou Thesz accepted it as the smart move as it gave the industry more freedom to do as it pleased, and because by that point professional wrestling no longer attempted to appear real. The demise of WCW in 2001 provided some evidence that kayfabe still mattered to
9204-632: The film It's a Bikini World as a member of The Gentrys . In 2010, Hart appeared in the Insane Clown Posse 's film Big Money Rustlas . In 2011, Hart appeared as himself in the Canadian movie Monster Brawl . Hart played the announcer to a wrestling tournament of eight classic monsters who fight to the death. Professional wrestling 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling (often referred to as pro wrestling , or simply, wrestling )
9322-470: The first place. "Double-crosses", where a wrestler agreed to lose a match but nevertheless fought to win, remained a problem in the early cartel days. At times a promoter would even award a victorious double-crosser the title of champion to preserve the facade of sport. But promoters punished such wrestlers by blacklisting them, making it quite challenging to find work. Double-crossers could also be sued for breach of contract, such as Dick Shikat in 1936. In
9440-627: The first time in 16 years on November 1, 2003 defeating The Powers Of Pain at The Road Warrior Hawk Memorial Show. Then they lost to Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Tito Santana at the debut of Power Wrestling Alliance on November 11, 2005 in Dix Hills, New York. On November 9, 2007 they won the BCW Tag Team Championship for Brew City Wrestling defeating Brandon Tatum and Dinn T. Moore. The titles were dropped as they lost to Hardcore Craig and Steve Stone on January 12, 2008. They continued wrestling in
9558-507: 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. Later in the show, Hart for the first time would be the manager of the WWF World Heavyweight Champion when Hogan accepted an impromptu challenge by Mr. Fuji , the manager of the new champion Yokozuna who had just defeated Bret Hart for
9676-610: The game is not popular here. Nine out of ten bouts, it has been said, are pre-arranged affairs, and it would be no surprise if the ratio of fixed matches to honest ones was really so high. The wrestler Lou Thesz recalled that between 1915 and 1920, a series of exposés in the newspapers about the integrity of professional wrestling alienated a lot of fans, sending the industry "into a tailspin". But rather than perform more shoot matches, professional wrestlers instead committed themselves wholesale to fakery. Several reasons explain why professional wrestling became fake whereas boxing endured as
9794-485: The gold on the line against such teams as The Killer Bees as well as the former champions the US Express (both versions). The Bulldogs remained a constant threat to the Dream Team as 1985 turned to 1986, finally the Dream Team agreed to give the Bulldogs one final tag team title shot at WrestleMania 2 . On April 7, 1986 the two teams met in the Chicago section of WrestleMania broadcast from the Rosemont Horizon , with
9912-455: The government. They pledged to stop allocating exclusive territories to its promoters, to stop blacklisting wrestlers who worked for outsider promoters, and to admit any promoter into the Alliance. The NWA would flout many of these promises, but its power was nonetheless weakened by the lawsuit. Paul Bowser's AWA joined the NWA in 1949. The AWA withdrew from the Alliance in 1957 and renamed itself
10030-568: The independent circuit. On July 20, 2013 they won the AWF Tag Team Titles and later that year split up. Bravo was murdered on March 10, 1993 at his home in Laval, Quebec at 44. Valiant died after being hit by a car on April 4, 2018. After 2013, Beefcake retired from wrestling in 2015 and Valentine retired form wrestling in 2019. Valentine was inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004 and Beefcake
10148-513: The independent. By 1956, the NWA controlled 38 promotions within the United States, with more in Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. The NWA's monopolistic practices became so stifling that the independents appealed to the government for help. In October 1956 the US Attorney General's office filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NWA in an Iowa federal district court. The NWA settled with
10266-471: The industry was anything but a competitive sport. The first wrestling promoter to publicly admit to routinely fixing matches was Jack Pfefer . In 1933, he started talking about the industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , resulting in a huge exposé. The exposé neither surprised nor alienated most wrestling fans, although some promoters like Jack Curley were furious and tried to restore
10384-487: The industry's inner workings to the New York Daily Mirror , maintaining no pretense that wrestling was real and passing on planned results just before the matches took place. While fans were neither surprised nor alienated, traditionalists like Jack Curley were furious, and most promoters tried to maintain the facade of kayfabe as best they could. Not the least interesting of all the minor phenomena produced by
10502-476: The large man was 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 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 , though they had teamed previously as themselves when facing
10620-621: The latter to establish his "Adorable Adrian" gimmick. Hart also managed Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart. 1985 also marked the appearance of the legendary 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 to the WWF World Tag Team Title , which they won from the British Bulldogs . Disgraced-referee-turned-wrestler Danny Davis also
10738-495: The long running feud with the Rougeau brothers splitting matches between them over the summer, often in six man matches with Beefcake joining the Rougeaus to take on Valentine, Bravo and Valiant. The Dream Team also had a couple of shots at the world tag team champions The Hart Foundation ( Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart ), but did not manage to repeat the success of the original Dream Team. The New Dream Team's last major appearance as
10856-498: The members of wrestling cartels as the champion drew big crowds wherever he performed, and this would occasionally lead to schisms. By 1925, this cartel had divided the country up into territories which were the exclusive domains of specific promoters. This system of territories endured until Vince McMahon drove the fragmented cartels out of the market in the 1980s. This cartel fractured in 1929 after one of its members, Paul Bowser , bribed Ed "Strangler" Lewis to lose his championship in
10974-579: 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. Their biggest match came at WrestleMania VIII when Money Inc. retained their titles by leaving
11092-437: The platform used in boxing , serves as the main stage ; additional scenes may be recorded for television in backstage areas of the venue, in a format similar to reality television . Performers generally integrate authentic wrestling techniques and fighting styles with choreography , stunts , improvisation , and dramatic conventions designed to maximize entertainment value and audience engagement. Professional wrestling as
11210-714: The promotion's closing in 1991. In the spring of 1984, the WWF purchased Georgia Championship Wrestling (GCW), which had been ailing for some time due to financial mismanagement and internal squabbles. In the deal, the WWF acquired the GCW's timeslot on TBS . McMahon agreed to keep showing Georgia wrestling matches in that timeslot, but he was unable to get his staff to Atlanta every Saturday to fulfill this obligation, so he sold GCW and its TBS timeslot to Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). JCP started informally calling itself World Championship Wrestling (WCW). In 1988, Ted Turner bought JCP and formally renamed it World Championship Wrestling. During
11328-575: The ring and forcing a count-out. In 1991, Hart had also brought in The 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 the Royal Rumble . A few months earlier, The Mountie feuded with the Big Boss Man over who was the "law and order" in the WWF. Their feud culminated in
11446-519: The ring. Johnny Valiant left the WWF, Greg Valentine began working as a singles wrestler reuniting with Jimmy Hart , and Dino Bravo came under the guidance of Frenchy Martin . Valentine and Bravo would later be teammates in Randy Savage 's King's Court team at the Survivor Series (1989) , by which time Bravo had joined Valentine under Hart's management. That same night, Beefcake would appear in
11564-440: The stamina for an hours-long fight. Audiences also preferred short matches. Worked matches also carried less risk of injury, which meant shorter recovery. Altogether, worked matches proved more profitable than shoots. By the end of the 19th century, nearly all professional wrestling matches were worked. A major influence on professional wrestling was carnival culture. Wrestlers in the late 19th century worked in carnival shows. For
11682-454: The storyline, Hart, conscious of Beefcake's extensive facial injuries from a real-life parasailing accident three years prior which required extensive re-constructive 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 friend Hulk Hogan came out
11800-558: The success of "Keep on Dancing." 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,
11918-426: The territories of his former NWA peers, now his rivals. By the end of the 1980s, the WWF would become the sole national wrestling promotion in the U.S. This was in part made possible by the rapid spread of cable television in the 1980s. The national broadcast networks generally regarded professional wrestling as too niche an interest, and had not broadcast any national wrestling shows since the 1950s. Before cable TV,
12036-507: 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 a portion of 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
12154-505: The trial, witnesses testified that most of the "big matches" and all of the championship bouts were fixed. By the 1930s, with the exception of the occasional double-cross or business dispute, shoot matches were essentially nonexistent. In April 1930, the New York State Athletic Commission decreed that all professional wrestling matches held in the state had to be advertised as exhibitions unless certified as contests by
12272-471: The truth, their audiences would desert them. Today's performers don't "protect" the industry like we did, but that's primarily because they've already exposed it by relying on silly or downright ludicrous characters and gimmicks to gain popularity with the fans. It was different in my day, when our product was presented as an authentic, competitive sport. We protected it because we believed it would collapse if we ever so much as implied publicly that it
12390-535: The way of proceedings: the "in-show" happenings, presented through the shows; and real-life happenings outside the work that have implications, such as performer contracts, legitimate injuries, etc. Because actual life events are often co-opted by writers for incorporation into storylines of performers, the lines between real life and fictional life are often blurred and become confused. Special discern must be taken with people who perform under their own name (such as Kurt Angle and his fictional persona ). The actions of
12508-781: The winter of 1988. Prior to creation of the Dream Team, Greg Valentine, managed by Captain Lou Albano , had won the WWF Intercontinental Championship from Tito Santana and was in the middle of a brutal feud with Santana. In the midst of that feud Jimmy Hart took over Albano's managing duties while Valentine was still the champion. Brutus Beefcake had entered the WWF in 1984 under the management of Johnny Valiant. Managers Johnny Valiant and Jimmy Hart first put Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake together in May 1985. Early on Beefcake teamed with Valentine to fight off Tito Santana and
12626-420: The wrestlers quietly began faking their matches so that they could give their audiences a satisfying spectacle. Fixing matches was also convenient for scheduling. A real ("shoot") match could sometimes last hours, whereas a fixed ("worked") match can be made short, which was convenient for wrestlers on tour who needed to keep appointments or share venues. It also suited wrestlers who were aging and therefore lacked
12744-568: The year at Mayhem . 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—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
12862-425: Was Wrestling As You Like It , which printed its first issue in 1946. These magazines were faithful to kayfabe . Before the advent of television, professional wrestling's fanbase largely consisted of children, the elderly, blue-collar workers and minorities. When television arose in the 1940s, professional wrestling got national exposure on prime-time television and gained widespread popularity. Professional wrestling
12980-481: Was also given to Ted Turner ). Regarded by many to be one of the greatest managers in professional wrestling history, Hart has managed the likes of Andy Kaufman , The Honky Tonk Man , Bret Hart (no relation) and Jim Neidhart ( The Hart Foundation ), Greg "the Hammer" Valentine , Jerry "the King" Lawler , "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase , Irwin R. Schyster , The Mountie , The Natural Disasters , Dino Bravo ,
13098-488: Was challenges from independent wrestlers. But a cartelized wrestler, if challenged, could credibly use his contractual obligations to his promoter as an excuse to refuse the challenge. Promotions would sometimes respond to challenges with "policemen": powerful wrestlers who lacked the charisma to become stars, but could defeat and often seriously injure any challenger in a shoot match. As the industry trend continued, there were fewer independent wrestlers to make such challenges in
13216-452: Was eventually scrapped as Hogan decided to return to WWE instead. 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. 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
13334-579: Was managed by Jimmy Hart. In 1985, Hart took the Funk Family under his wing. The Funks included Terry and Hoss Funk , as well as their kayfabe brother Jimmy Jack Funk . Hart wrestled on house shows with the Funks. On July 12, 1986, Hart won a battle royal to receive $ 50,000 at Madison Square Garden . When The Honky Tonk Man turned heel, Hart became his manager. In this position, Hart was nicknamed "the Colonel" in
13452-527: Was nicknamed "the Mouth of the South" due to his loose-lipped style, often augmented by his trademark megaphone, which he used to instruct and encourage his protégés, to discourage and annoy opponents and announcers (especially Gorilla Monsoon ) and also as a weapon. Hart's first acquisition in the WWF was Greg "the Hammer" Valentine , then the Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion , whom Hart managed at WrestleMania . After Valentine lost
13570-636: Was previously considered a niche interest, but the TV networks at the time were short on content and thus were willing to try some wrestling shows. In the 1960s, however, the networks moved on to more mainstream interests such as baseball, and professional wrestling was dropped. The core audience then shrunk back to a profile similar to that of the 1930s. In 1989, Vince McMahon was looking to exempt his promotion (the World Wrestling Federation ) from sports licensing fees. To achieve this, he testified before
13688-415: Was something other than what it appeared to be. I'm not sure now the fear was ever justified given the fact that the industry is still in existence today, but the point is no one questioned the need then. "Protecting the business" in the face of criticism and skepticism was the first and most important rule a pro wrestler learned. No matter how aggressive or informed the questioner, you never admitted
13806-417: Was the "world champion". Before the cartels, there were multiple wrestlers in the U.S. simultaneously calling themselves the "world champion", and this sapped public enthusiasm for professional wrestling. Likewise, the cartel could agree on a common set of match rules that the fans could keep track of. The issue over who got to be the champion and who controlled said champion was a major point of contention among
13924-525: Was when The Honky Tonk Man fought Jake "the Snake" Roberts who had rock legend Alice Cooper in his corner. Following that match, Hart was left alone in the ring where Roberts and Cooper teamed up to terrorise him with Roberts' pet snake Damien. 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
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