Greetings. I recently received a copy of former WWF star Hillbilly Jim’s best-selling new biography – “Hillbilly Jim – the Incredible Story of a Wrestling Superstar”. Since Hillbilly began his career up here in my dad’s Stampede Wrestling promotion back in the early 80’s, I was eager to check it out. I sat down and soon found myself engrossed in all the fascinating stories, insightful perspectives and memories.
I’m not just saying this because he’s a friend, but I found it to be one of the best wrestling books I’ve read in a long time – compelling, refreshingly honest and an illuminating retrospective on a fascinating chapter in wrestling history, dating back to the very first WrestleMania (in 1985), all the way to the present – with his participation in the acclaimed “Legends House”, television series.
I might add that it speaks volumes about how well respected Jim is, that, in the dog eat dog world of the WWE – where most of his contemporaries have long since departed the scene – victims of pervasive politics, runaway egos and other “sanctimonious bullshit” (in the immortal words of my old colleague Rotten Ron Starr), Hillbilly still remains a vibrant part of the WWE family and is one of the rare guys in our business whom you never hear anything bad said about.
Because he’s been around the WWF from Day One, Jim has had the chance to observe, first-hand, the rise of the WWE, from a regional promotion to a global juggernaut and has experienced the highs and lows, trials and tribulations, triumphs and tragedies of the promotion and, in so doing, has also had the opportunity to interact with a veritable who’s who list of wrestling’s most noteworthy performers, including: Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Randy Savage, Ultimate Warrior, my brothers Bret and Owen, the Road Warriors, The British Bulldogs, Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Rock, the Undertaker, John Cena, Daniel Bryan, Mick Foley, Triple H and the chairman of the board himself, Vince McMahon.
As such, he’s in a unique position to render some fascinating insights and perspectives on the wrestling business, at large, as well as the myriad of colorful and unforgettable characters – good, bad and ugly, who have enriched our business and made it so compelling.
I particularly enjoyed Jim’s recollections of the WWF during the formative days of the 1980’s – when the likes of Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan, Rowdy Roddy Piper, the British Bulldogs, Bob Orton, the Road Warriors, Paul Orndorff and the inimitable Macho Man Randy Savage – most of whom I was fortunate to have crossed paths with, myself, dominated the scene, subsequently raised the bar and laid the groundwork for the WWF to become the worldwide phenomenon that it became.
All things considered, one of the things I liked best about Hillbilly’s book was that he was candid and quite forthright in rendering insightful perspectives about the wrestling business and the boys, but, unlike so many of the other wrestling biographies I’ve read, he refrained from engaging in salacious, scandalous exposes of wrestlers’ personal lives and also – to his credit, didn’t engage in the usual back-stabbing or character assassination that so many others choose to do – which was refreshing.
In addition to the many colorful and iconic characters that Hillbilly has interacted with in the wrestling business, I was intrigued to learn that he’s also crossed paths with and befriended an amazing, wide-ranging number of legends, including: President- Elect Donald Trump, the incomparable Muhammad Ali, hockey great Gordie Howe, Liberace, former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson and celebrated New York Yankees manager Billy Martin, as well as rock music and country legends, such as Willie Nelson, John Prine, John Fogerty, George Jones, Glen Campbell, Charlie Daniels, Charlie Pride, Clarence Clemons and one of my all-time favorite bands – ZZ Top. Beyond all that – and to his credit, Hillbilly remains one of the most humble, inherently decent guys in our business.
I unequivocally recommend Hillbilly’s book as a “must read” for wrestling fans – young and old, wrestlers and anyone else who has watched the evolution of our business during the past few, tumultuous decades. To obtain further information on the book, you can go on-line to: www ACCLAIMPRESS.COM
I might add that I’ll be interviewing Hillbilly on my Hart Beat Radio program on PWP Nation in December and will be looking forward to hearing more of his fascinating recollections and perspectives on our business.
On that note, I’ll call this a wrap, but will look forward to catching up with you all next week for my review of Survivor Series and whatever else is making news in the wrestling business.
Bruce Hart
