The wrestling world is at a loss for words today, as another legend in the business has sadly passed away. 2018 has been an especially rough year as some notable figures such as Vader, Nikolai Volkoff, and Brian Christopher Lawler among others have passed. This morning, we tragically learned that Jim Neidhart tragically passed away after suffering a grand mal seizure as a result of a fall to his head.
Jim Neidhart was a legendary WWE Tag Team performer, highly renowned for his contributions to making The Hart Foundation of the 90s one of the greatest factions in wrestling history, and he had quite the upbringing. He first gained athletic acclaim for his success in track and field events. He even held the Calfornia high school record for shot put from 1973 to 1985. Upon graduating high school, like many other wrestlers who came before and after him, he had pursued football. In practices and preseason games, Neidhart would play for the Dallas Cowboys and Oakland Raiders.
After his football ventures, he started to pursue wrestling as he followed Stu Hart and worked for Stampede Wrestling. It was here where Jim attained his famous nickname, “The Anvil”. He entered the anvil toss at the Calvary Stampede and threw it 11 feet and 2 inches. After working with New Japan Pro Wrestling and Mid-South Wrestling for a brief while, he got acclimated to the WWF, making his debut for the company in January of 1985 at Madison Square Garden. The Hart Foundation as a faction made their debut at WrestleMania 2, and would win the WWF Tag Team Championship from The British Bulldogs in 1987.
Stunned and saddened. I just don’t have the words right now. pic.twitter.com/fcO8Skuuhz
— Bret Hart (@BretHart) August 13, 2018
Jim would be a well-accomplished wrestler as well, winning numerous titles across numerous promotions. He was a 2 time tag team Champion with Bret Hart in the WWF, a Mid-South Tag Team Champion, and won the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship. He has also been inducted into the New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Legends Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2011.
His impact was also felt in the legendary feud in 1997 in regards to the Hart Foundation’s feud with rising star, Stone Cold Steve Austin. Working alongside his cohorts in the Canadian stable, Jim would make an impact by making a return to the WWF in 1997 to team alongside Bret and Owen Hart. He’d play a huge role in the feud against other American competitors such as Ken Shamrock, Goldust, Steve Blackman, and The Legion of Doom. After Bret Hart and Davey Boy Smith left the WWF on bad terms after the Montreal Screwjob incident, DX offered Jim a spot in the faction, only for them to betray him, signaling his move to WCW as well. A short-lived tag team with Davey Boy Smith in 1998 in WCW would prove to be his unofficial end in pro wrestling, but not before making sporadic appearances for WWE as well as a brief encounter with Jay Lethal at TNA in 2009.
This death hurt many, but perhaps no more than those who knew him more than others, primarily his daughter, Natalya and the remaining member of the 1997 Hart Foundation faction, Bret Hart. While Jim wasn’t as big a star as some the other famous wrestlers of the 90s, he served as an important figure as the enforcer of the Hart Foundation.
The Anvil’s legacy lives on through his daughter and has proven to be an important figure over time. We shouldn’t appreciate people more after they’re gone, but rather value them while we still have them. Long live “The Anvil”. What is your favorite memory of Jim?
