Hayes, who regularly wore a sequined Confederate flag cape to the ring as recently as 2001, and Ric Flair are probably the most visible historically. Southerners also occupy prime space in McMahon’s programming. Such characters regularly see outside criticism, especially as professional wrestling moves in a more inclusive direction. Wrestlers commonly adopted troubling personas that were particularly vicious even during their time -Adrian Adonis (effeminate hairdresser), Cryme Tyme (African American “thugs”), and Saba Simba (a dancing African warrior) all spring to mind. Stereotyping followed a relatively basic pattern of exaggerating basic traits such as nationality, as with the patriotic American “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan or dastardly Soviet Nikolai Volkoff, or class, best exemplified by evil millionaire Ted Dibiase and relatable common man Dusty Rhodes. Since at least the early 1980s, McMahon’s television programming notoriously caricatured and stereotyped virtually every slice of society. This brings us to the man in charge – Vince McMahon. Hillbilly Jim staring down Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart Ringside commentators regularly poked fun at Hillbilly Jim’s antics in the ring, but rarely did such comments, except for those by Heenan, cross any lines into outright hostility or mockery. Others, like Ric Flair or the Fabulous Freebirds, were conniving cheaters and brawlers, natural descendants of a very specific type of professional wrestling culture. In this way, Hillbilly Jim was different than other Southern characters at the time. Jim also had a remarkable degree of charisma that can only be described through watching professional wrestling – or the first season of Legends’ House.ĭepending on who was doing the talking, Jim could be a “slack-jawed yokel,” “dumb hick,” “tough country boy,” or “mountaineer,” but during the 1980s, WWE programming represented Hillbilly Jim in two ways – a tough man from rural Kentucky, as demonstrated by his theme song “Don’t Go Messin’ with a County Boy,” or commentator Bobby Heenan’s favorite descriptor “The Big Dumb Hick from Mud Lick.” The commonality between the two was that Jim was ultimately a fun-loving man more likely to dance his way to the ring and appear in vignettes with his country momma (in her rocking chair) than find himself in a blood feud. He was also a large man among large men, measuring around 6’7″, which made him roughly on par with other giants (except for Andre of course). Often lining up with or against more famous celebrity wrestlers like Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper, and Andre the Giant, Jim’s floppy hat, red bandana, and blue jean bib overalls actually caused him to stand out. It’s like the cherry on top of the ice cream sundae, man, that’s as good as I could ever hope for.” With Hillbilly Jim going into the Hall of Fame in just a few weeks, now is as good a time as any to think about Jim’s hillbilly character, its cultural importance, and how the WWE – an ostensibly Northern company in the 1980s – represented Southern mountain characters.īilled from Mudlick, a real town within south-central Kentucky near Bowling Green, Hillbilly Jim represented a simple, rural Everyman during professional wrestling’s “Rock and Roll” era. He seems excited too: “Really I wasn’t expecting it, it hit me from the clear blue and it’s beyond belief to think that this has happened to me. Needless to say, Jim is deserving of the honor. This past week, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) announced their next inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame – Hillbilly Jim, a 1980s and early 1990s television mainstay that most fans, judging from Reddit and Twitter reactions, thought had been inducted years ago.
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