Jim held nothing back as he had one incredible story after another and I could have sat with him for hours. Going into the interview, I was nervous because I was not sure if Jim would be open or so old school that he would kayfabe us and hold stuff back but man was I wrong. If you love interviews with locker room stories or behind the scene stories this interview is for you.
Jim talks about his start in the business and how he broke in. He talks about his early runs in Calgary for Stu Hart and what it was like to work in Memphis for Jerry Lawler and Jerry Jarrett. How did he break into the WWE after being inside the WWE locker room at a spot house show in FL and who sized him up.
Jim talks about his amazing angle that lead him to jumping over the guardrail after he was placed at ringside for months that saw him save Hulk Hogan when the Hulkster was triple teamed. Jim was surround by a locker room full of giants at the time of his WWE debut and he talks about what it was like to work with all of them from Big John Studd, Andre the Giant, King Kong Bundy and many others. Jim got to see all of the top names come into the WWF at the time during the wrestling boom and he has stories on all of them. This is when I was hooked as his stories were all so entertaining. I did not want this interview to ever end.
Do you want to know about the time that Uncle Elmer held up Vince and how they had to rent a private jet to fly HillBilly Jim across the country to make his shot on live TV, to only get to the town to find out that Uncle Elmer finally showed up. How much did that jet cost the WWF to rent? How much heat did Elmer have on him and what happened to him that night in the ring with Bundy? Actually wait until you find out what Elmer was doing in the locker room and how he was scamming everyone.
How did Jim break his leg and how crazy was the drug scene in the WWF during the 80’s. Dynamite Kid buried Jim in his book but Jim has some words for the Dynamite Kid during this shoot. Your going to love his stories on the Dynamite Kid as this is stuff that I have never heard before.
What was it like working with Hogan and how was the Hulkster behind the scenes. What about Jesse Venura and Roddy Piper? How crazy were those guys out of the ring? Was Don Muraco as wild as we have heard about?
What about his Wrestlemania 3 match with Bundy? You will hear about his return to the WWF managing the Goodwins and how that all transpired.
What was life like on the road when wrestling was at its peak in the 80’s? Why did he get out of the ring so early and how did he become a spokesperson for WWF home video?
We talk about some very hardcore subjects when it comes to drug use and how Curt Hennings death hit him the hardest. You will hear his thoughts on guys like Ric Flair never letting go of the business and his take on how its not how much you make, its how much you save.
This interview is scores a huge A+ as this country boy had some of the best stories of all time!
Talk about your life growing up
Where were you from
Did you go to college
Were you a fan of wrestling growing up
Who did you like to watch as a kid
How did you break into the business
Who trained you
Did you ever want to quit
Take us thru a typical day of training
What was harder for you to pick up the bumps or psychology
Do you remember your first match
What territory did you break into first
Who came up with the name Harley Davidson
Memories of teaming up with Dirty Rhodes
Memories of working the Memphis territory
Who was the booker at the time
Memories of Jerry Lawler
Memories of Bill Dundee
Memories of Dutch Mantell
Memories of Jerry Jarrett
Take us thru the travel in Memphis thru a weekly loop
What was it like working for Stu Hart
Who was up there at the time you were there name wise
How did you get hooked up with the WWE in 1984
What was Vince like to work for
How did he change over the years as the company grew
Memories of the angle where you would sit in the front row as a fan
Memories of the angle where Hogan trained you and gave you boots
What was Hulk Hogan Like outside the ring did he have a ego or was he one of the
boys
Memories of working War to settle the score with Rene Goulet
You broke in during the wrestling boom did you know it was going to take off
like it did
Memoires of breaking your leg chasing Johnny V around the ring
How long were you out for and did they bring in Uncle Elmer and Coustin Luke
just to keep the gimmick at that time until you fully recovered
Memories of Cousin Luke and Uncle Elmer
Memories of tagging with Andre and what was he like outside the ring
Memories of working with John Studd
Memories of working with Bundy
Memories of working with Don Muraco
Memories of working with Harley Race
Hercules Hernandez
Memories of Jesse Ventura
Memories of TNT and Prime time
Memories of Gorilla Monsoon
Memories of Bobby Heenan
Memories of Ken Patera
Memories of SHeik
Memories Of Jimmy Snuka
Memories of Jake Roberts
Memories of Roddy Piper
Memories of Billy Graham
Memories of Terry Funk
Memories of Barry Whindham and Mike Rotunda
Memories of JYD
Memories of Haku
Memories of Moolah and Mae Young
Thoughts on Shawn Michaels
Curt Henning
Steve Austin
Were you surprised when WWE started to allow smaller workers to get over like
Shawn and Bret
What was the drug scene like in the 80’s
Who did you travel with
Any good road stories
Memories of working Mr Fuji in Tuxedo matches
Memories of working Mania 3 with the midgets against Bundy
Memories of working Earthquake in 1990 and why did that match never air
Did Hogan change as time went on
Did you like managing Henry O and Phineas Godwin
What did you do for WWE and Coliseum video
Talk about working for Sirius radio
Did you like going back to WWE in April for Blast from the Past
Who are you friends with outside the business (Brian Blair)
What death has hit you the hardest in wrestling
How would you compare the WWF today with the WWF as you knew it back in the
early to mid 1980’s?
Do you think Wrestlemania has gone too far and lost sight of the wrestling
aspect of the sport in favor of complex theatrics?
Thoughts on Ric Flair still working on what Jay Strongbow said its not what you
make its what you keep