Jimmy Hart: The Most Hated Mouth in Wrestling History

He carried a megaphone, wore sequined jackets, and screamed his way into the ears of every wrestling fan alive. But was Jimmy Hart just a loudmouth manager, or was he one of the most calculated heat-magnets in the history of professional wrestling? In this Dark Truth breakdown, we look at the real story behind “The Mouth of the South.” From the Memphis territory with Jerry Lawler and the Fabulous Moolah era of Southern wrestling, to The Hart Foundation with Bret “Hitman” Hart and Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart, Jimmy Hart built a career on making fans hate the men he stood behind. We cover the Fabulous Freebirds and the Gulf Coast days, Hulk Hogan’s heel turn and Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff, Earthquake, Typhoon and The Natural Disasters, Honky Tonk Man, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, Dino Bravo, Ric Flair and Sting in WCW, Kevin Sullivan, Vader, Big Van Vader, Dusty Rhodes and the NWA, Eric Bischoff, Vince McMahon, Mean Gene Okerlund, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, and Rick Rude. We also dig into his early days as a musician with The Gentrys, the Mouth of the South persona, the WWF run with Mr. Fuji, Slick, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, Lex Luger, Sid Vicious, Jim Cornette, and The Nasty Boys, plus The First Family, The Rock ’n’ Roll Express rivalry, and Jerry “The King” Lawler and Andy Kaufman territory angles that shaped wrestling’s heel manager blueprint.