Jimmy Hart

Career Music James Hart was born in Jackson, Mississippi, on January 1, 1944. His mother was also involved in music and wrote under the name Sadie Sallas, and penned "Enclosed, One Broken Heart", for singer Eddy Arnold in the 1950s. His family later located to Memphis, Tennessee, where he graduated from Treadwell High School. thumb Hart, pictured on the left in the middle row, part of the GentrysHart was a vocalist in the Gentrys, who found success with the release of "Keep on Dancing" in 1965, which sold over a million copies and reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100. Hart was still in high school when he got the call to audition for the group after their previous singer left.

Memphis Wrestling (1978–1985)

He was brought into wrestling by Jerry "the King" Lawler, who knew of Hart because both had attended Memphis Treadwell High School. Hart was asked to be a backup singer for Lawler and later became his manager. In the storyline, Hart, conscious of Beefcake's extensive facial injuries from a real-life parasailing accident three years prior, which required extensive reconstructive surgery to Beefcake's face and all but ended his full-time career, felt that his team went too far and tried to stop them. Hart even went so far as to cover an unconscious Beefcake with his own body to stop them from doing more harm. Beefcake's long-time friend Hulk Hogan came out the following week and expressed gratitude to Hart for his uncharacteristically heroic actions, declaring Hart to now be his manager. He managed both Beefcake and Hogan, who at WrestleMania IX lost to Money Inc by disqualification. Later in the show, Hart for the first time would be the manager of the WWF World Heavyweight Champion when Hogan accepted an impromptu challenge by Mr. Fuji, the manager of the new champion Yokozuna, who had just defeated Bret Hart for the belt. Hogan would defeat the new champion in a short match. At King of the Ring, Hart was in Hogan's corner as he lost the WWF World Heavyweight Title back to Yokozuna. This appearance was Hart's last in the WWF, as he, Beefcake, and Hogan all departed the company.

World Championship Wrestling (1994–2001)

After they departed from the WWF, Hogan and Hart briefly toured Mexico. After their return, Hart wrote music and occasionally appeared on Hogan's television show, Thunder in Paradise. Hogan then had Hart manage him when they went to World Championship Wrestling (WCW). At Bash at the Beach in 1994, Hart managed Hogan to win his first WCW World Heavyweight Championship by defeating "Nature Boy" Ric Flair.

At Halloween Havoc in 1995, Hart turned on Hogan to help The Giant. Hart also became the manager of the evil faction, the Dungeon of Doom, created by Kevin Sullivan. During that era, he managed Ric Flair to a 12th world title victory over Macho Man Randy Savage at Starrcade '95: World Cup of Wrestling. After the demise of the Dungeon of Doom in July 1997, Hart was written off television for a few months, and then Hart returned in November 1997 to manage the Faces of Fear and Hugh Morris, but the Dungeon of Doom name was not used. In 1998, Hart recreated First Family. After the demise of the First Family, Hart was placed in charge of booking TBS's WCW Saturday Night show prior to the program's cancellation. Hart wrestled on April 18, 1999, defeating Bubba the Love Sponge by disqualification at a house show. On November 15, he wrestled on WCW Monday Nitro, losing to Norman Smiley in a Hardcore match. At Spring Stampede 2000, Hart faced radio personality Mancow Muller. The two had a rematch later in the year at Mayhem 2000. In February 2001, Hart joined WCW's booking committee.

Independent circuit; Wrestlicious (2002–present)

After the sale of WCW to the then rival WWF, Hart and a close consortium of wrestlers and investors decided to create a wrestling organization called the Xcitement Wrestling Federation (XWF), which would replace WCW as well as take wrestling back to the early 1990s style of fun, family-oriented entertainment with minimal story lines and more solid wrestling. In 2002, Hart restarted his feud with Jerry Lawler by buying, for the XWF, part of the upstart Memphis Wrestling promotion. Hart would wrestle for Memphis Wrestling from 2003 to 2005. He lost to Jimmy Valiant in a Loser Eats Dog Food match on August 2, 2003. In 2007, Hart appeared at the PMG Clash of Legends. On November 7, 2008, Hart appeared at the Jerry "The King" Lawler 35th anniversary event. He also made a few appearances with Florida Championship Wrestling, WWE's developmental territory, as a color commentator in 2008. He made multiple appearances for WrestleMania Axxess during the week leading up to The 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania.

In May 2006, Hart traveled to The Funking Conservatory, owned by Dory Funk Jr and Marti Funk, to shoot promos with the students. His most notable ones were with Studio Sar Ah, in which he discusses his move from World Wrestling Entertainment to TNA Wrestling, as well as Wrestlicious. Both promos can be found on the Studio Sar Ah fan page on Facebook and as well as YouTube. Hart continues to work at the school and shoot promos. On January 19, 2010, Hart announced that his all-female wrestling promotion Wrestlicious would be premiering on MavTV and BiteTV on March 1, 2010. He wrestled at Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's Kurt RussellReunion II: The Reunioning in a battle royale won by Roddy Piper. On January 12, 2012, he wrestled at PWS WrestleReunion VI in a battle royale won by The Godfather. Hart currently appears at various professional wrestling conventions and autograph signings around the United States. He has appeared at many of the WrestleReunion shows, and also does various appearances as part of the VOC Nation wrestling radio program in Philadelphia on 1360 WNJC. Hart is a regular guest on the VOC Wrestling Nation radio program on WNJC.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2003–2011) In October 2003 Hart made his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), hyping a match between Hulk Hogan and Jeff Jarrett, which was eventually scrapped as Hogan decided to return to WWE instead. The alliance, however, was short-lived, as on March 29, 2010, news broke that the Nasty Boys had been released by TNA following an incident at a TNA function with Spike executives present. Hart stayed with the company following the incident, but his role was unknown. Hart was seen on the January 20, 2011, edition of Impact!, when Kurt Angle yelled at him to play his entrance music upon entering the Impact! Zone.

Return to WWE (2011–present)

On March 1, 2011, it was announced that Jimmy Hart had left Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and re-signed with WWE to work on WrestleMania-related projects. Since then he has hosted various house shows. On August 14, 2011, Hart made an appearance at SummerSlam, teasing a managerial position with R-Truth during a backstage segment. On April 10, 2012, Hart made an appearance on SmackDown: Blast from the Past, where he managed the team of Heath Slater and Tyson Kidd, but ended up getting the mandible claw from Mick Foley.

As of April 30, 2014, Hart was part-owner of "Hogan's Beach", a wrestling-themed tiki-bar in Tampa, Florida. As of April 2014, Hart was a regular cast member on the WWE Network original reality show Legends' House. In April 2017, Hart purchased a beachfront property in Daytona Beach, Florida and opened "Jimmy Hart's Hall of Fame Bar and Tiki Deck", a beach-themed bar.

On January 4, 2021, he made an appearance on the RAW Legends Night, where he was involved in a segment with Hulk Hogan, Drew McIntyre, and Sheamus. On January 23, 2023, Hart appeared on WWE Raw is XXX, the 30th anniversary edition of Monday Night Raw, accompanying Hulk Hogan to open the show. On January 6, 2025, Hart once again accompanied Hogan during the Raw debut on Netflix. On May 24, 2025, he was shown alongside Bushwhacker Luke in the crowd during Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIX.

On July 25, 2025, Hart made an appearance on SmackDown during the tribute to Hogan, to whom he remained a very close friend even in his final days. He was also in attendance at the first ever Real American Freestyle event which was held on August 30, 2025. Since Hulk Hogan's death, Hart has also continued to make stops to promote Hogan's Real American Beer brand products, including at the 7 Cuz Beer Store in Lebanon, Pennsylvania and Glenn Miller Beer & Soda in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania on December 15, 2025. In January 2026, Family Brand Tradition referred to Hart as Real American Beer's "ambassador." In April 2026, Hart would induct Hogan's match with Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania III into the WWE Hall of Fame's class of 2026.

Other media His book, The Mouth of the South, was released on November 18, 2004.

Music During his years in the professional wrestling business, Hart composed many theme songs for wrestlers in the WWF and WCW. Some of the wrestlers for whom he composed music were Honky Tonk Man, Jimmy Snuka, Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, The Rockers, The Hart Foundation, Crush, the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers, Dusty Rhodes, the Legion of Doom, the Nasty Boys, Ted DiBiase, the Mountie, Hulk Hogan, Sting, the nWo Wolfpac, 3 Count and Big Boss Man. He also composed the themes for SummerSlam '88 (which was later reused as the theme for many early Royal Rumble events) and WrestleMania VI (which was later used for the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth events).

In the late 1980s, Hart released a music album titled Outrageous Conduct. The release consisted of comical songs done in character, such as "Barbra Streisand's Nose" and "Eat Your Heart Out Rick Springfield" (the latter of which would become Hart's solo theme song in WWE). In 1995, Hulk Hogan released the album "Hulk Rules, on Select Records." Hart, as well as Hogan's wife, were a part of the band The Wrestling Boot Band and helped write and sing many of the album's songs. He made a cameo appearance in the season 6 Baywatch episode "Bash at the Beach."

In September 2007, Hart appeared on an episode of The People's Court as a witness for a defendant. Hart is a close friend of Hulk Hogan and is featured on many episodes of Hogan's VH1 reality series, Hogan Knows Best. Hart was also a judge on Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling. Hart also appears in hair restoration advertisements for Medical Hair Restoration, as a client. He also does a comedic women's wrestling show called Wrestlicious, which can be viewed at Wrestlicious.com. Hart appeared on the WWE Legends' House. Hart has appeared a few times in Hulk Hogan's TV show Thunder in Paradise. He also sang the intro music for the episode "Deadly Lessons, Pt. 1".

Hart played Big Winner in the 2010 revisionist Western comedy film Big Money Rustlas. He played himself in the 2011 comedy horror film Monster Brawl. Hart has also played smaller roles such as the Circus Web Setter in Larger Than Life and Randy in the 2007 film The Bros.

Video games Hart made his video game debut in the 1987 game MicroLeague Wrestling as a manager. He also appears as a manager in WWE 2k15, WWE 2k16, WWE 2k24 (as DLC), WWE 2k25 and WWE 2k26. He appears as a playable character in WCW Nitro, WCW/nWo Thunder, WCW Mayhem, WCW Backstage Assault, Legends of Wrestling, Legends of Wrestling 2, and WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006. He was also added to the mobile game WWE SuperCard.

Discography Album: Outrageous Conduct (1985)

Single: Eat your Heart out Rick Springfield (1983)

Championships and accomplishments

American Wrestling Association AWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (1 time) Cauliflower Alley Club Manager's Award (2015) Memphis Wrestling Hall of Fame Class of 2017 Memphis Music Hall of Fame Class of 2024 (as a member of the Gentrys) Pro Wrestling Illustrated Manager of the Year (1987, 1994) World Wrestling Entertainment WWE Hall of Fame (Class of 2005) Wrestling Observer Newsletter Manager of the Year (1983) Best on Interviews (1984) Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2018)