One of the positives to Bret Hart’s resurgence in the public eye of the wrestling world since 2005 is that through his DVD, books, and interviews you can see that the Jim Neidhart was a tremendously valuable wrestler during his prime. Unfortunately due to “The Anvil having a lackluster run in WCW and even not being the best performer during his Hart Foundation run in 1997, many wrestling fans may not know that he provided The Hart Foundation with so many attributes during their heyday in the 80s and early 90’s.
Tag team wrestlers are primarily guys that are not ready for singles runs for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they can’t wrestle a full one-on-one match, they may not be great talkers or they are too small to be taken seriously by management and/or fans. Jim Neidhart was not the best wrestler in wrestling history, but he could do a ton in the ring that being in a tag team helped highlight. He was a big guy, but was tremendously agile. He would do sling-shot cross body blocks over the top rope, and was quick on his feet. When you’re working with Bret Hart vs. the British Bulldogs, Rockers, and Killer Bess, anyone who wasn’t would be exposed so quickly.
Once again while Neidhart wasn’t a great worker, could have good ring work for a 2 or 3 minute stretch before tagging out to Bret Hart to handle longer stretches. Neidhart knew how to get in the ring, show off some power, let the quicker guys outsmart him for a quick stretch and let Bret do the rest. Neidhart never had to worry about his wind, and never had to go on stretches of prolonged selling. This is where Bret excelled, so it was natural for Neidhart to let him take care of that end of business.
Lastly, Neidhart’s biggest accomplishment as a tag wrestler is that he was a character and a half. He had this long spike-like beard, he had a great laugh for a catchphrase, and he was so comfortable on the microphone. Bret Hart wasn’t comfortable being a character early in his career, so Neidhart’s personality was so important during this stretch. If Jim wasn’t as wild a personality as he was, the team would never have worked, and Bret could have been another good wrestler that slipped through the cracks.
While Jim Neidhart never found any reasonable singles success, and most of his other teams weren’t longstanding, he should be remembered as a man who fit a role perfectly. Neidhart’s personality, agility, and look helped him find a spot during a great time in wrestling history, and he should always be remembered as a catalyst for most of Bret’s singles success.
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