The Story Behind The Notorious "Who" WWE Gimmick For Jim Neidhart, Explained
Jim Neidhart’s wrestling career saw him for the most part presented in a serious, straightforward fashion. He was a big, bruiser of a man who was immediately credible for his size and strength, and proved himself as a highly competent worker bell to bell, specializing in tag team situations.
Related: 10 Things Fans Should Know About Jim "The Anvil" NeidhartHe did, however, have one major foray into a very different direction. WWE briefly rebranded him as the masked wrestler called Who. The gimmick didn’t land particularly well with the fans, nor did The Anvil himself enjoy his time playing it. But why did WWE take a solid veteran performer and briefly having him play this offbeat character he wasn’t comfortable with?
Jim Neidhart’s Wrestling Legacy
Jim Neidhart’s legacy in mainstream wrestling largely comes down to being a rock solid tag team wrestler. It’s pretty easy nowadays for fans to look back and identify Bret Hart as the breakout star of the brother-in-law Hart Foundation tag team, and Neidhart as the one who floundered without his partner. However, it’s worth remembering that when they started out, The Hitman was a sound technician who hadn’t yet figured out how to cut a promo, not to mention that WWE was around its height of promoting giants and bodybuilders. So, it was Neidhart’s personality that lent The Hart Foundation a personality, and his big body that afforded them a sense of credibility hanging in that tag division while Hart put the pieces together to eventually be able to thrive as an all-time great singles performer.
WWE understandably put Neidhart with Owen Hart, too, as The New Foundation to try to recapture some of that magic, and The Anvil would go on to be a core role player for The Hart Foundation stable, in addition to later teaming with Davey Boy Smith in WCW. His legacy ultimately comes down to being a skilled big man with a big personality who was never destined to main event, but was nonetheless a deceptively talented and important tag team and mid-card role player.
Jim Neidhart Debuted The Who Gimmick In 1996
In 1996, a masked wrestler named Who made his first appearance for WWE. The character never went all that far. While he was on the winning side of squash matches on TV, he also never really got attached to a meaningful feud, leaving him as something of an oddball side attraction. Many fans have speculated that, based on how play-by-play man Vince McMahon and color commentator Jerry Lawler called his matches from the broadcast table, the whole premise of the character was just to set them up to make lazy “Who’s on first”-style jokes and amuse themselves.
In a 2014 interview within Your Head Wrestling Radio (h/t WrestleView), Neidhart expressed his displeasure with the gimmick. He suggested it was a punishment for having been caught with marijuana. He’d never worked with a mask before and complained about having to work with no peripheral vision and having to use “Way, way more body language, which is really different” to communicate with his opponents.
Who Was Rightly Set Aside For In Favor Of The Hart Foundation Faction
Early 1997 saw Bret Hart edge closer and closer to a heel turn, before WWE pulled the trigger on an iconic double-turn between him and Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13. In the months to follow, The Hitman rallied the troops, reconciling with family turned foes Owen Hart, Davey Boy Smith, and Jim Neidhart, besides welcoming Dungeon-bred Brian Pillman into their midsts.
Related: Brian Pillman's Inclusion In The Hart Foundation, ExplainedWhile Neidhart didn’t exactly shine as part of this group, he was a reliable fall guy—someone who could take punishment and absorb losses while Bret and Owen in particular remained better protected. Moreover, he had the veteran credibility for it to still feel like it meant something when babyfaces got over on him. Also, importantly, this felt like the last great run of his career for him having a very real, organic popularity with the Canadian audience that the Hart Foundation remained babyfaces to.
Who was little more than a speed bump in the lengthy career of Jim Neidhart, but it was a memorably low point. The rest of his career in mainstream wrestling saw him portrayed more seriously, more often than not in connection to someone from the Hart family—Bret, Owen, or Davey Boy Smith. It’s fortunate The Anvil had that last Hart Foundation faction run as a last great memory from his in-ring career, before WWE disrespected him in the aftermath of the Montreal Screwjob (having him inducted into, then pummeled by DX) before an utterly forgettable WCW tenure to follow.
