WWE filed for a ring name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on October 24.
The name, “Hillbilly Jim,” is listed for entertainment services such as wrestling exhibitions and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer. The full description reads as follows:
“Mark For: HILLBILLY JIM™ trademark registration is intended to cover the categories of entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibitions and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer rendered and through broadcast media including television and radio, and via the internet or commercial online service; providing wrestling news and information via a global computer network; providing information in the fields of sports and entertainment via an online community portal; providing a website in the field of sports entertainment information; fan club services, namely, organizing sporting events in the field of wrestling for wrestling fan club members; organizing social entertainment events for entertainment purposes for wrestling fan club members; providing online newsletters in the fields of sports entertainment; online journals, namely blogs, in the field of sports entertainment.”
After breaking into the business in 1975, James Morris, the man behind the gimmick, signed with WWE in 1984, where he worked through 1990.
He came back as a manager in 1995 to be paired with The Godwins before departing in 1997. He was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2018.