Hillbilly Jim to enter WWE Hall of Fame as part of 2018 class
By Jefferson Lake, WWE Editor
Last Updated: 06/03/18 8:41am
Hillbilly Jim has been confirmed as the latest entrant in WWE's Hall of Fame class of 2018.
Hillbilly Jim joins Goldberg, The Dudley Boyz, Ivory, Jeff Jarrett and Warrior Award recipient Jarrius "JJ" Robertson on the list of those who will be inducted on April 6 in New Orleans during WrestleMania 34 week.
Dressed in dungarees and billed as hailing from "Mudlick, Kentucky", he was a prominent member of the WWE roster during their national expansion era.
The country boy first popped up in WWE in late 1984, as a big, smiling bearded face towering above WWE fans around the country.
However, Jim decided to get a little closer to the action when Hulk Hogan was attacked by Ken Patera, Big John Studd and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan. Leaping over the barricade, Hillbilly Jim jumped in the ring and helped The Hulkster run off the villains. Hogan saw something in the rugged man standing beside him and trained Jim for the ring.
Opting to compete in his overalls and entering the ring with a lucky horseshoe around his neck, Hillbilly Jim proved to be a prodigy inside the squared circle, using his incredible power to squeeze opponents into submission with his trademark bear hug.
He appeared at both WrestleMania II and WrestleMania III and in 1989 consigned Andre the Giant to a rare defeat with a disqualification win at the Nassau Coliseum.
Though an injury sidelined him early in his WWE career, that did not stop Jim from introducing the WWE Universe to his extended family - Uncle Elmer, Cousin Junior and Cousin Luke - a trio of happy-go-lucky hillbillies that put smiles on the faces of fans around the world with their antics in the ring.
Following his WWE retirement in 1990, he continued to work with the company, co-hosting Prime Time Wrestling and managing his cousins, Henry and Phineas Godwinn, to the World Tag Team titles.
Jim returned to the ring for the Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X-Seven and showed a different side of himself on the hit WWE Network reality show, "Legends House," in 2014.
