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Jim
Neidhart's skill at shotput won him the California state
championship in high school, a world record at the 1980
Calgary Stampede, and the nickname "The Anvil". Neidhart
started out wrestling for Stu Hart's Calgary Stampede
promotion where he met and eventually married one of Stu
Hart's daughters.
During the early
1980's, Neidhart competed in several regional
promotions. He teamed up with Butch Reed in the
Mid-South promotion, winning the Mid-South tag team
championship,. Neidhart wrestled in Championship
Wrestling from Florida (CWF) where he teamed with Krusher
Kruschev winning the U.S. Tag Team championship and the fans
hatred for becoming a Communist sympathizer with the hated
Krushchev.
In Memphis,
Neidhart joined Jimmy Hart's "First Family" of heels for a
time before he threw Hart out and took control. Neidhart
renamed the group "Neidhart's Raiders", playing up on his
history with the Oakland Raiders. Neidhart fought against the
area's babyfaces such as Jerry Lawler, Harley Davidson, and Dutch
Mantell.
Neidhart
feuded with Austin Idol after he broke Idol's nose with a
steel chair. Neidhart had previously lost a televised
match to Jerry "The King" Lawler under questionable
circumstances (Lawler had struck Neidhart with a steel chair
when the referee was down) and he was protesting his loss by
sitting in the ring. After Idol called Neidhart a
chronic loser, Neidhart attacked him and left him
laying. The next week, Idol surprised Neidhart and laid
him out with a board.
New heights of success
were reached when "The Anvil" came to the World Wrestling
Federation (WWF) in 1985. He teamed up with Bret
"The Hitman" Hart to form a dynamic tag team known as "The
Hart Foundation". The Hart Foundation chased the British
Bulldogs for the WWF Tag Team Championship for several months
before capturing the belts in a highly controversial match in
January 1987. Prior to the match, the Dynamite Kid was
hit with manager Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart's megaphone
and knocked out, leaving his partner Davey Boy Smith to face
the Hart Foundation at a 2 to 1 disadvantage. 3 to 1
would probably be more realistic as the referee was crooked
referee Danny Davis. Despite a valiant effort by Davey
Boy Smith, Davis made sure that the Hart Foundation won the
match and the titles.
After winning the belts, Neidhart
and Hart defended them against the WWF's top tag teams.
The 1980's was the golden age of tag team wrestling and the
WWF had their share of tag team specialists such as the
British Bulldogs, the Killer B's, the Rougeau Brothers, Strike
Force, and the Rockers.
After ten months as champions, the
Hart Foundation's reign ended when Strike Force defeated them
for the belts. Neidhart continued to team with Bret
against some of the WWF's top teams including Demolition and
the Brainbusters. Eventually, they worked their way back
into contention for a title shot and defeated Demolition for
their second WWF tag team championship.
After turning face, Neidhart and
Hart parted ways with longtime manager Jimmy Hart. Jimmy
Hart then sent his tag teams after the Hart Foundation.
The Mouth of the South achieved a measure of revenge when he
helped the Nasty Boys win the tag team titles from the Hart
Foundation at Wrestlemania VII. Shortly after dropping
the belts, Neidhart and Bret Hart parted ways on good
terms (a rarity for tag teams). Bret focused on singles
competition while Neidhart teamed with Bret's brother Owen to
form "The New Foundation", a far less successful tag team than
his pairing with Bret.
Neidhart left the WWF for a couple
years before resurfacing at the 1994 King of the Ring.
Fans were excited to see Neidhart return and help his old
partner Bret Hart in a match against Diesel. Things got
interesting when it was revealed that Neidhart was actually
working with Owen Hart against his brother Bret. The
feud between Owen and Bret intensified as Neidhart interfered
on Owen's part during a cage match between Owen and
Bret. Although Bret successfully defended the WWF World
Championship against Owen, Neidhart locked Bret in the cage
and helped beat Bret mercilessly in a brutal post-match
attack. "The Anvil" teamed with Owen for a few months
before disapperaring from the WWF again.
Neidhart resurfaced briefly in the
WWF as a masked wrestler known as "Who". Later on, he
joined Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, and Brian
Pillman as members of a new Hart Foundation. The
Hart Foundation wrestled as heels in the United States but
were wildly cheered in Canada.
After the infamous Montreal
screwjob where Bret Hart lost the WWF championship to Shawn
Michaels, Neidhart asked for his release from the WWF.
He later on joined Bret in World Championship Wrestling (WCW)
where he teamed with Davey Boy Smith. Like many wrestlers in
WCW at the time, Neidhart got lost in the shuffle.
Neidhart continues to
wrestle today on the independent circuit. He recently
had a reunion with former partner Bret Hart and manager Jimmy
Hart at the independent show "The Ballpark Brawl III" in
Buffalo, New York. His daughter Nattie Neidhart appeared
on the show as well.
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