The doors to the Rotten Ink Arena are open, and today’s “R.I.W Wrestling Legend” update is going to be a great one as our main event features a good old country boy who wore a horseshoe on a chain around his neck, would dance around the ring, was great friends with Hulk Hogan and Little Beaver, brought his family into wrestling, would promote the WWF Ice Cream bars, would sing his own iconic theme song and would also become a manager for a pair of hog farmers. And of course, I am talking about the one and only Hillbilly Jim, a true classic wrestler from the 1980’s WWF! So as you can see, they are serving some good old Kentucky Bar-Be-Que sandwiches and coleslaw at the snack bar so go grab yourself some as the matches are about to start.
Hillbilly Jim was trained by Bob Orton and started his pro career in 1975 and would work for Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) as a biker gimmick and went by Harley Davidson and teamed with Dirty Rhodes. He would stay with CWA as well as work for a few other NWA territories until around late 1984 when he would head to WWF and be Big Jim, a fan in the crowd who was a fan of champion Hulk Hogan, and decided that he wanted to be a wrestler and would be “trained” by the Hulkster after he turned down Roddy Piper who offered. And this is when Big Jim would become Hillybilly Jim, a goofy man from Mud Lick, Kentucky who was loved from the start by fans and would even have several tag team matches teaming with Hogan against the companies biggest heels. But Hillbilly Jim would get injured in early 1985 and this would cause him to bring in his family Uncle Elmer, Cousin Luke and Cousin Junior and become their manager while he heeled his messed up knee. Once he returned to in-ring action, he would team with his family members and sometimes Andre The Giant and have matches against the likes of Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy. His big feud at this time was with Mr. Fuji and while a major fan favorite, WWF would keep him out of the title shots as well as would not give him any serious storylines. His Family would seen also disappear from WWF, and he would find himself in a few big matches with one being Wrestlemania II and the other Survivor Series ’88, and while more of a comedy spot wrestler at this time, his fanbase kept growing as young and young at heart loved this dancing Hillbilly. By 1990 Hillbilly Jim’s push in WWF was coming to an end and even he lost a squash match to Earthquake at a Saturday Night’s Main Event, and by mid 1990, he would retire from full time in ring work. During his main WWF run he would have some big matches with names like Iron Sheik, Jesse Ventura, Roddy Piper, Adrian Adonis, Randy Savage and Dino Bravo to name a few. He also was part of the short lived cartoon “Hulk Hogan’s Rock ‘n’ Wrestling” as well as did a ton of commercials for stuff like Chevy trucks.
While no longer wrestling, Hillbilly Jim would stick around and would even be a host on the show “WWF Prime Time Wrestling” until the show was cancelled in 1993. He would be gone for a while and would return in 1995 as a special guest referee and then would also become the manager of The Godwinns (Henry O. and Phineas I.) and that was until 1997 when the teamed turned heel and they fired Hillbilly Jim from being their manager. He would then show up in 2001 at WrestleMania X-Seven as he was in the Gimmick Battle Royal, and he lost. From here he would travel around the WWF Axxess and public appearances. And from here Hillbilly Jim would only show up from time to time and was even a cast member of the reality show “WWE Legend’s House” and was put into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2018.
Growing up I can remember being a fan of Hillbilly Jim as were many of the kids at school as almost every kid I knew had the LJN figure of Hillbilly Jim. Being Hulk Hogan’s good friend, he was just a ready to cheer superstar who also was played off as a good hearted person and this made him a draw who never needed to win a title to become a legend and one of the most loved and remembered WWE Superstars. I can always remember that Hillbilly Jim was never an overly flashy wrestler nor did he have a look that set him apart from all the other Hillbilly gimmicks of the 80’s wrestling world, but what made him stand out from the pack was his massive size and just his over all character and attitude as he was always getting fans invested into his matches no matter how limited they were in spots. I also think its great that clearly Vince McMahon loved Hillbilly themed wrestlers as over the years he has created and booked so many, and I am wondering if that love came from the legend Haystacks Calhoun who his father use to book back in the Golden Age. It’s also clear that Hillbilly Jim would wear the horseshoe to pay respects to Haystacks, and as a kid I can always remember him kissing it for good luck. One thing that is crazy to think is that Hillbilly Jim’s career was not that long and that his WWF main run as a wrestler only lasted around six years and that he never even one a single belt during this time. And let’s be honest, out of the Hillbilly stable that was working in WWF in the 1980’s, Jim was the only one that had the talent and persona to pull it off and be remembered. To sum it up, growing up I liked Hillbilly Jim and even in these modern times and long removed from the ring he is remembered and well loved by fans, as he is generally a great person to his fans when they meet him in person.
We are now at the point of this review where we will be taking a look at the DVD set and review some of the matches on the discs like always between 4 to 8. I want to thank Coliseum Of Wrestling & Boxing for having this set in stock and also want to thank Hillbilly Jim for his hard work in the world of wrestling. I also want to remind you that I will only be breaking down randomly select matches from this set and will be breaking down the match and will be rating the matches on a 5 Star rating system. I also only chose from Single matches, as I want to break down his matches that showcase his style. Here is what the stars mean ½ Means a really terrible match, * Means a bad match, ** Means a below average match, **1/2 Means a good average entertaining match, *** Means a good match, **** Means a great match, ***** Means an epic match. So if you are ready let’s step into the ring with Hillbilly Jim.
Best Of Hillbilly Jim
Match 1: Hillbilly Jim vs. Jim Neidhart
As the bell rings, Hillbilly gets the crowd cheering and even tries to shake Neidhart’s hand, that the he rejects of course. And Neidhart soon learns that Hillbilly is just as strong as he is, and that these two are going to be evenly matched. And it’s a chop to the head that gets the crowd roaring and gets Hillbilly Jim in charge of the match for a second that is until Neidhart takes a cheap shot and the two powerhouses exchange hits and holds. Neidhart shows his power and drops Hillbilly throat first onto the ropes and this takes the breath out of him and allows Neidhart to beat up on him for a bit and even cheats and starts biting him on the face. Hillbilly Jim is able to make a comeback when he is able to big boot the face of Neidhart and then is able to even drop a powerful elbow on him and get a two count from it. Neidhart snaps and starts beating up Hillbilly Jim and also gets rough with the referee that gets him disqualified and gives the win to Hillbilly. After the bell rings Neidhart and Hillbilly keep fighting as the crowd erupts for the action. This is a great hoss fight that has two powerhouses beating the hell out of each other and telling a great story in the ring. Both men do not look weak in the match and both are shown to be super strong and their styles mesh well as both have a brawling mixed with classic style. I also like that both of these guys play off the fans and get them invested into the match and even add a dash of comedy to the match. Big Moves, Big Brawlers make for a fun match that is highly entertaining.
Grade: ***
Match 2: Hillbilly Jim vs. Boris Zhukov
Boris attacks Hillbilly Jim from behind and once for doing so Boris gets mule kicked and rolls out of the ring as Hillbilly gets the fans to cheer USA! The two trade punches and are trying to show that they are not going to go down as both want this win. Throughout the match Hillbilly keeps pulling off classic moves on Boris and the Russian is getting more and more frustrated and even when Boris goes on the attack Hillbilly is able to shrug it off and then starts working on Boris’s leg. And after a big boot to the face Hillbilly Jim is able to get the pin and the win. This match is entertaining and has Hillbilly Jim not only do some power moves but also does so classic movies in order to spice things up, he also adds a touch of comedy to the match and that helps bring the fans alive who really do love him and made him a big Superstar of his time. Boris Zhukov is a pure brawler heel in the match and does a great job off playing off the antics of Jim and while he looses the match and most of the time he is getting thrown around he don’t come off as a complete jobber. Over all the two have pretty good chemistry in the match and while it’s clearly an enhancement match it feels a little bigger then that.
Grade: **1/2
Match 3: Hillbilly Jim vs. One Man Gang
Before the bell rings, Hillbilly Jim has little person wrestler Little Beaver in his corner and they still One Man Gang’s manager Slick’s hat and once the bell rings Gang shows Hillbilly that he is the stronger of the two, but he also comes back to show that he is strong as well! And One Man Gang then goes for a massive headlock and his able to have the hold on for a while as every time Hillbilly is about to escape Gang pulls his hair and back into the lock. Finally Little Beaver has seen enough and comes in and punches Gang and the hold is broken, but this only buys Hillbilly a moment of rest as Gang is back on him with a test of strength that is draining his energy even more. And like before Little Beaver comes in and helps break up the move, Hillbilly makes a small comeback but soon is once more getting beaten up by Gang who is angered over the antics of Little Beaver. As the referee is distracted Slick as well now is cheating and landing cheap shots on the downed Hillbilly Jim. And after a few avalanche splashes and a falling elbow drop Gang goes for the pin, and once more Little Beaver enters the ring and breaks up the pin. Both men find themselves outside the ring fighting and with the help of Little Beaver One Man Gang is counted out and looses the match. After the match Gang beats up Hillbilly and then even big slashes Little Beaver. While this is a fun big man fight it’s also a very slow one as it has many long moments of rest holds and not a lot of even basic wrestling holds. While One Man Gang is shown to be the big threat and has Hillbilly Jim beaten down almost the whole match, it’s the comedy aspect of Little Beaver who keeps entering the ring and cheating right in front of the referee that will annoy almost an wrestling fan, in other words the over use Little Beaver in this already way to long match. While Gang looks good Hillbilly doesn’t, as he needs outside help to stay alive throughout the match. Over all a sluggish match with way to much interference from Little Beaver that brings the star rating down, but I do like in the end when Gang gets his revenge and crushes Little Beaver with a splash.
Grade: **
Match 4: Hillbilly Jim vs. Fuller Stevens
From the start Fuller Stevens tries to tackle Hillbilly Jim and learns that running into him is like hitting a brick wall as he crashes to the mat from the impact. Fuller then tries to body slam Hillbilly and cant, but Hillbilly slams him with ease. And from here on Hillbilly Jim toys with and beats up on Fuller Stevens who is angry that he looks like a total jobber. And after a big boot to the face Fuller falls to the mat and is pinned and this was a easy win for Hillbilly Jim! This is a total squash match as Fuller Stevens can not pull off one move and looks like a total jobber as he is thrown around, booted in the fast and then pinned without Jim even breaking a sweat. Not much to say besides Hillbilly Jim comes off looking great and strong as his opponent Fuller looks like a goof. And yes this match like most of Hillbilly Jim’s matches has a touch of humor.
Grade: **1/2
Hillbilly Jim was a perfect wrestler for the 80’s as he was a great sidekick to Hulk Hogan and was a wrestler that kids loved as he was a jolly mountain of a man who would dance around and do funny spots in his match. And while many of his matches was the same formula and even featured the same spots Hillbilly Jim is a true legend in and out of the sport. But as you can see the Rotten Ink Arena is closing down for the update so it’s our cue to head on out, but before we leave I would like to tell you that our next update will be our big Thanksgiving one and we will be having turkey with that B-Movie icon The Giant Gila Monster! So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a wrestling match or two and as always support your local wrestlers. See you next time for some Hot Rods and Big Creatures!
Rotten Ink 