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RIP Jim Neidhart


The Reverend

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1 hour ago, Bukamania said:

Without Anvil, Bret would have never been the success he became so I always thought Anvil was pretty underrated. Hart Foundation were a superb team and will go down to me personally as one of the greatest tag teams of all time. I always rank the match against Demolition SS 1990 as one of the best tag matches you'll ever see!

RIP Anvil!

 

Bret won the I.C and WWF titles when Anvil wasn't around. Sure they were a great team but I don't believe Neidhart created the success for Hart.

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Gutting news. As Arch has said there, the picture posted above by Rick is deeply saddening. Being a wrestling fan compared to most other entertainment or sports industries you get a lot of experience of having childhood heroes die, and often at a young age. You sometimes get a little desensitised to it after a while, and almost expect it. I feel it really hits even more though in two types of case, somethibg similar to Brian Lawler's death a few weeks ago when it feels avoidable, or that it could have been helped and when you look at a picture or a video of something like what Rick has posted there. Because you suddenly start to feel the hit of ALL of their deaths in one go again when you realise how few, if any of these guys and girls, are left still going. That's me feeling that, never mind how the folks that knew and loved these men and women can cope with all the death that seems to constantly surround them.

RIP big man and thank you for the memories. 

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27 minutes ago, Michael_3165 said:

 

Bret won the I.C and WWF titles when Anvil wasn't around. Sure they were a great team but I don't believe Neidhart created the success for Hart.

I can see where he is coming from though. Before The Hart Foundation, Bret was opening match fodder and I think I remember reading/hearing somewhere that the back office was not exactly sold on him being anything but a JTTS. The Foundation showed them he had what it takes to be more of a player in the promotion...

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It was the Hart Foundation v The Bulldogs that really got me into WWF as it was then. They used to show some sort of WWF programming on ITV after WOS was axed, I'm sure Lister will know what it was. Anyway the Hart's and the Bulldogs were on nearly every week. They were the only bit I really like. Without them I doubt my love of wrestling would have continued.

 

Thanks for everything Jim. 

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Sources reporting he died following a fall and subsequent head trauma at home. Totally sucks another one of my childhood stars has gone, and that time was catching up with him. That laugh and the beard stroke are one of my most vivid memories of 90's promos.

Quote

Police confirmed The Anvil died after suffering a "medical emergency" at his Flrodia [sic] home, falling over and then hitting his head.

The Pasco Sheriff's Office told TMZ: "Preliminary information indicates that [Neidhart] fell at home, hit his head, and succumbed to his injury.

"No foul play suspected. No additional information to release at this time."

 

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1 hour ago, Michael_3165 said:

 

Bret won the I.C and WWF titles when Anvil wasn't around. Sure they were a great team but I don't believe Neidhart created the success for Hart.

If Bret's tag partner had been Jim Powers, they'd have been an opening match tag team and there's no way he makes it to 1990 with people thinking "this guy is ready for a singles run". The HF team made him stand out above the pack and Neidhart was a huge part of that.

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2 hours ago, tiger_rick said:

Gutted I haven't got SummerSlam 1997 in Otto's thread. The peak of that summer of Harts vs. USA. Was years before I found out why Anvil never shaved his beard off

He shaved it off when he did the Who gimmick. Someone must have  been taking the piss with their countless attempts at convincing him there was money in a beardless Anvil.

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I loved the Anvil in his best role, which was "tag team wrestler" back when you could make a decent living for years being a tag team wrestler. He was a big factor in Bret becoming not just a star but my first favourite, in that him and Hitman laying waste to the Bolsheviks at Mania VI was the first time I saw either of them wrestle and I instantly thought "I like these lads" on top of knowing from my mate's SummerSlam trading cards they'd been around the title hunt in at least the Augusts of 89 and 90 (watching the tape as I did in 1992). Later on, Anvil would also bear the honour of being my first Hasbro!

On one of the Coliseum tapes Sean Mooney describes the Harts as like "a porsche and a tank" and that's what they were. Jim didn't need to go out and sell for ten minutes, Bret was brilliant at that, but once he hot tagged in, shit was on. I was blown away the first time I saw him do his dropkick or slingshot shoulder tackle and I always thought he was one powerslam away from pinning anyone. The SummerSlam 90 tag title change was a masterpiece and Jim was excellent in numerous matches at looking like he was going insane at heels cheating or the ref missing the tag. Of course, he went on to have several blinders tagging with Owen too, because that pairing also hid his limitations and accentuated his strengths in a manner that Paul Heyman at his peak would have been proud of.

Later on I'd get to discover the Foundation's earlier work as heels of course and what an excellent bastard Jim could be... but not before his 94 run which (don't think me crazy here) might have been his most rewarding work. I was ELATED when he helped my hero retain the big belt at KOTR94 then equally CRUSHED later that night watching him actually side with the evil brother! Was Owen really that better a tag partner, Jimmy?? That summer was the first storyline I remember being full blown invested in as it played out, borrowing tapes from friends as I didn't have Sky and I remember being terrified that Anvil would find a way of cheating the belt onto Owen at SummerSlam, and devastated when my old man said the funds weren't there for us to go to the Hart Attack tour to see Bret and Bulldog v Owen and Anvil live. I understand now, only too well.

I've deliberately not mentioned his run in WCW in between because to be fair, squash matches on Worldwide and "The Anvilizer" aren't worth mentioning. But back in the Fed in 97, Neidhart again demonstrated that he could be entertaining, still, as part of an ensemble. Fair enough, he was limited, and the best fun out of the run was probably how if Austin only got to lamp one Hart before he was dragged off, it was usually Jim. But there's no shame in making up the numbers in the group as long as the group is a threat and you contribute, and he was (obviously) authentically "Hart Foundation" so it was the most perfect of perfect sense to get him in. I waxed lyrical about Canadian Stampede in the "favourite PPV" thread and my vote feels doubly justified today ; just as I felt like that was a monumentally special show for me, the viewer, a fanatical fan of the squad, just as it was a career zenith for Brian (read more in @Liam O'Rourkes excellent book) ..... I'm really glad that the Anvil had his one chance, like many wrestlers don't ever get, to say "I'm in the main event." And he obviously had a great time too. Let's not touch on his second WCW run because..... why would we?

I drew SummerSlam 89 in the review thread and I was going to NOT do one of the three matches I've watched to absolute death, but fuck it, I'm going to have to watch Harts v Tully & Arn, and YEAH BABY I'm going to watch it tonight.

RIP Jimmy.

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For some reason, I thought he'd died aged ago.

It's said but hardly surprising given the way he lived his life and the issues he had with substances. I did actually see Jim Neidhart wrestling live once at, I believe, an NWA Hammerlock show in the early 00s. He was working a tag and was blown up just getting to the ring. Needless to say, his actual performance in the match was horrendous based mainly on his weight and cardio issues.

Having said that, there are a lot of fun Bret and Jim Hart Foundation matches that he was an integral part of and I enjoyed him in the 1997 Hart Foundation stable. If he's not already in the Hall of Fame, I reckon he should be.

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It is really sad news this. When I think back now to all those tag matches he had teaming with Bret and later Owen, I think it's fair to say he often didn't really get enough credit for the part he played. I think the years of internet workrate wankery distorted a lot of it as 'Bret carried him' in a lot of cases but whenever I watch those matches back, Jim is just as big a part of what makes those matches work. 

They were the perfect team in many ways. Back then most of the tag teams seemed to have to match and both men were usually similar to each other in size and style. Dynamite and Davey Boy, Ax and Smash, Shawn and Marty, Arn and Tully, Barbarian and Warlord. But the Hitman and the Anvil couldn't have been much more opposite in every way. From their look to their size to their in ring styles. Even their characters were polar opposite with Bret being the cool, laid back technician and Jim the big daft crazy hardcase. The only thing that matched was their pink and black attire. But it worked. Them being so different meant they could match up with any team in kayfabe terms as well. If they were in with Demolition or Powers of Pain, Jim could hang with them in brute force and Bret could use technique. If they faced the Rockers or the Brain Busters, Bret could match them on the mat or with speed and Jim could overpower them. It was perfect. I don't think it would've came off quite so well if either man was teaming with someone else. The Hart Foundation are probably my favourite WWF tag team ever and I just think it was a case of the right two men with the right look at the right time. 

Looking forward to air_raid's review of the SummerSlam 89 match. Absolutely love that match. 

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