A legendary manager and music producer, Jimmy Hart is also no stranger to taking bumps in and around the ring.
Speaking with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp, The Mouth of the South revealed that over the course of his 30-plus year career, two of the roughest spots he was ever involved with featured Matilda the Bulldog and Rowdy Roddy Piper.
"Matilda the dog. I had the megaphone and one day I was in the ring with the microphone, the siren went off when it did, Matilda attacked me, you know? She was pretty rough in the ring. I got my jaw broken at WrestleMania 3. I was doing that match with—well, I had three matches—but one of the matches was with Adrian Adonis against ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper. When Piper gave me that shot on the outside, it cracked my jaw. Didn’t tell people about it, but I had to chew gum very, very gentle for a while. But, that was a good shot," Hart said.
One of the things that became a key part of Hart's presentation was his signature jackets. The Hall of Famer would sport a new look for each of his clients, sometimes changing his wardrobe three times per night. He told Fightful that he did this so that everyone was treated equally and no one got jealous.
"Well, you know what I had to do? I just had to bring a different jacket," Hart shared. "I had to go out three or four times, so I had to make sure I had a different jacket for everybody. Well, I tried to treat everybody equal ‘cause I didn’t want any of my guys to get jealous. Which they would. So, I would have different jackets made for different events and everything."
Hart continued on, saying that Vince McMahon would love his jackets. He also shared that Vince was the one who first gave him the megaphone, noting that he used to carry a cane. Here are his full remarks:
"I’d let Vince see everything. He goes, ‘I love it, I love it!’ Vince is the one that got me the megaphone, you know? I was carrying a cane when I was in Memphis and I went to New York, one day Vince came in and says, ‘This is gonna be your new gimmick.’ It wasn’t painted, of course. I said, ‘Can I paint it?’ He goes, ‘Do whatever you want to with it.’ So, that really was a great part of my career, the megaphone."
Not in touch as often as they once were, Hart says he saw Vince at WrestleMania briefly but understands that he is very busy. He finished by commending McMahon for always being "first-class."
"When we did the WrestleMania, I got to see him a little bit and everything. But he’s so busy with so many different things, but he’s always been first class all the way," Hart said.
Over the course of his career, Hart managed names such as Hulk Hogan, The Hart Foundation, The Million Dollar Man, The Giant, and many more. He was also a key contributor in the music department, writing and producing Ted DiBiase, Shawn Michaels, and many others' themes. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005.
