There’s a new episode of “Legends with JBL” up in the on-demand section of the WWE Network. The recent episode features an interview with WWE Hall Of Famer and manager of champions “The Mouth Of The South” Jimmy Hart. The interview covered most of his adult life starting with his musical career with the 1960’s band The Gentrys. They showed some very rare footage of Hart meeting Jerry Lawler for the first time in the early 1970’s. Hart said that Jerry Jarrett wanted his band to help make a wrestling album. He would later be asked to do some ring announcing and the rest is history.
Hart began managing Hulk Hogan in 1993 as Hogan was on his way out of the World Wrestling Federation. After a 9 year run with the company, Hart left with Hogan and eventually joined WCW. Hart said that Vince McMahon was very gracious when he left the company and said that he would be welcomed back at any time. Hart created a lot of the WWE theme songs from the 80’s and early 90’s and he would do the same when he moved to WCW.
As most of us know by now, Hulk Hogan defeated Gawker in court last year and received a huge sum of money that he can probably live off of for the rest of his life. The victory in court didn’t come without a price because his legacy is tainted in the eyes of some fans in regards to the racist comments said on a tape several years ago. Hogan lost his WWE contract because of the tape and he eventually apologized for the comments and said that he was not in the right frame of mind with so many negative things going on in his life around that time.
Regarding Hogan’s comments from the tape, Hart said, “See, that’s what’s so crazy. I’ve been with him more than anybody and I could sit here and go, ‘oh, naw, naw, naw’. But I’m just going to tell it like it is. From Memphis on down with Hulk back then till my early days [in WWE], WCW, all of that stuff, not one time did we ever sit in the car and him sit with me and go, ‘look at this blah, blah, blah. Look over here on this.’ I think what happened on the deal, and like anything else, having a pity party, drinking, wife left him, ‘poor is me’, ‘oh whoa is me’.”
Hart believes that alcohol was an influence on his comments but that is not an excuse for what he said. A week after the scandal broke, Hulk took photos with Scottie Pippen and Mike Tyson. Hart said that he was devastated that he lost his affiliation with WWE and Hogan still watches Raw every Monday night. Hart said “never say never” when JBL asked if he thinks the WWE-Hogan relationship is over. Obviously, he is not going to rail on his friend but Hart’s comments about Hogan echo what many people in wrestling have said regarding the racist comments. I have yet to hear one former wrestler (friend or foe of Hogan in real-life) call him a racist. Even Roddy Piper, who had an on-and-off-again friendship with Hogan, echoed Hart’s comments about Hogan in one of Piper’s final interviews before his passing.
The entire interview is great. Hart has seen and heard everything in the wrestling business and has a lot of stories to tell. The interview is up now on the WWE Network. I believe this was the final episode of “Legends With JBL.”
