James Ray Hart is an American professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE in a Legends deal. Hart was born on January 1, 1944. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), where he used the nickname "The Mouth of the South" (one that 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 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, 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"
| Name | James Ray Hart |
| D.O.B | January 1, 1944 |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Weight | 166 Ib (75 kg) |
| Occupation | Professional wrestling manager, Composer, Musician |
| Debut | 1985 (WWF) |
| In-ring name | Jimmy Hart, The Strapmaster, The Mouth of the South, The Colonel, The Memphis Chicken |
| Table of contents: |
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 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 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 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 the Intercontinental Heavyweight Title to Tito Santana, Hart briefly co-managed the Dream Team (Valentine and Beefcake). 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. Hart also managed Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart. 1985 also marked the appearance of the legendary Bret “Hitman” Hart. Jimmy Hart teamed 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 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. Hart was named Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Manager of the Year in 1987, an award he won again in 1994. At WrestleMania IV. At SummerSlam 1988, Hart accompanied Demolition and Mr. Fuji to help retain their WWF Tag Team title against the Hart Foundation. 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 both he and Hogan departed the company.
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 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 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 is XXX, the 30th anniversary edition of Monday Night Raw (once again accompanying Hulk Hogan to open the show), having only ever been a prominent presence on Raw (he left WWF a few months after the show’s premiere).
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