Jim Neidhart James Henry " Jim " Neidhart ( February 8 , 1955 ) is an American professional wrestler , best known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim " The Anvil " Neidhart , where he was a two - time WWF Tag Team Champion with Bret Hart as The Hart Foundation . He headlined two pay - per - views for the WWF : Survivor Series 1989 and . Early life . At Newport Harbor High School , Neidhart first gained athletic acclaim for his success in strength - oriented track and field events . He held the California high school record in shot put from 1973 till 1985 . After graduating , Neidhart pursued a career in the National Football League , where he played for the Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys in practices and preseason games . Neidhart then spent some time in the same jail as Charles Manson . Professional wrestling career . Early career . Following his release from the Dallas Cowboys , Neidhart traveled to Calgary to train with Stu Hart and pursue a career in professional wrestling . He worked for Hart ' s Stampede Wrestling from 1978 to 1983 , and again in 1985 , during which time he married Ellie Hart , one of Stu ' s daughters . He thus became the brother - in - law of fellow wrestlers Bret Hart , Owen Hart , Ross Hart and Keith Hart , and later the uncle of wrestlers Teddy Hart and Harry Smith . He was a two - time Stampede International Tag Team Champion , with Hercules Ayala in 1980 and Mr . Hito in 1983 . Stu Hart , seeking publicity for Neidhart , promised him $ 500 to enter and win an anvil toss at the Calgary Stampede . He did , throwing it 11 feet , 2 inches . This earned him the nickname " The Anvil " , replacing his prior , " The Animal " . Stampede had a working relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling , and Neidhart worked on their Big Fight Series tour in 1982 , the New Year Golden Series in 1983 and two shows on March 2 and 3 , 1984 . Neidhart teamed twice with King Kong Bundy for Georgia Championship Wrestling in 1983 , and worked for Mid - South Wrestling from September till February 1984 , where he and Butch Reed held the Mid - South Tag Team Championship for two and a half months . From April to August 1984 , Neidhart worked for the Continental Wrestling Association . He then left for Championship Wrestling from Florida , winning their versions of the NWA Southern Heavweight and NWA United States Tag Team Championship , before leaving for the WWF in January 1985 . World Wrestling Federation ( 1985 – 1992 ) . When Stu Hart sold Stampede Wrestling to Vince McMahon , owner of the World Wrestling Federation , Neidhart and Bret Hart were included in the deal . Initially a singles wrestler , managed by Mr . Fuji , Neidhart debuted on January 21 , 1985 , in Madison Square Garden , defeating Tony Garea . Eight days later , he wrestled Hart , who had a face cowboy gimmick , to a draw , and another the next night . Neidhart finally pinned Hart on February 8 . Fuji soon sold Neidhart ' s contract to Jimmy Hart ( no relation to the Hart family ) . Bret , upset with his gimmick , suggested he tag with Neidhart . Initially a heel team managed by Jimmy Hart , The Hart Foundation made their pay - per - view debut at WrestleMania 2 , where they were the last two eliminated from a 20 - man battle royal featuring wrestlers and NFL players , by André the Giant . The Hart Foundation won their first WWF World Tag Team Championship on the February 7 , 1987 episode of " WWF Superstars " ( taped January 26 ) , from fellow Stapede alumni , The British Bulldogs ( Davey Boy Smith and The Dynamite Kid ) , with the help of heel referee Danny Davis , who was continually " distracted " by checking on Dynamite ( laid out of the match early by a megaphone shot from Jimmy ) , allowing the challengers to double - team Smith . Davis was subsequently fired as referee , and began wrestling , aligned with The Hart Foundation . They lost the belts on the November 7 episode of " Prime Time Wrestling " ( taped October 27 ) , to Strike Force ( Rick Martel and Tito Santana ) when Neidhart submitted to Martel ' s Boston crab . The Hart Foundation wrestled in another 20 - man battle royal at WrestleMania IV , before starting a feud with The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers . In the summer of 1988 , Jimmy Hart began managing the Rougeaus , and got them a pay raise at the expense of a 25 % cut to The Hart Foundation ' s . This led them to fire him and turn face . The Hart Foundation unsuccessfully challenged Demolition ( Ax and Smash ) for the tag title at the 1988 SummerSlam , where Ax hit Hart with Jimmy Hart ' s megaphone for the pin ( Hart accompanied Demolition ' s manager , Mr . Fuji , solely to further his feud with the challengers ) . The Hart Foundation continued feuding with Jimmy Hart ' s wrestlers for the next year , teaming with Jim Duggan to defeat Dino Bravo and The Rougeaus in a 2 / 3 falls match at the 1989 Royal Rumble , then defeating The Honky Tonk Man and Greg Valentine at WrestleMania V . In April 1989 , both Hart Foundation members began wrestling singles matches at house shows , though they often teamed for TV tapings , and at the 1989 SummerSlam , where they lost a non - title match to tag champions The Brain Busters . For the rest of the year , Neidhart most often wrestled Greg Valentine , Dino Bravo , The Warlord , The Barbarian and Haku . He also had a few shots at Rick Rude ' s Intercontinental Championship in August . After Neidhart ' s series against Valentine , Honky Tonk Man and The Genius to start 1990 , The Hart Foundation reformed full - time on March 24 in Las Vegas . At WrestleMania VI in Toronto , they defeated The Bolsheviks ( Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov ) in 19 seconds . They started a second feud with champions Demolition , who by this time had added Crush , to reduce the load on the aging Bill Eadie ( Ax ) . From April 21 , the teams wrestled each other exclusively at house shows , to either double count - outs or disqualifications . This culminated at SummerSlam 90 on August 27 , where The Hart Foundation won the title for a second time in a 2 / 3 falls match . The Hart Foundation mainly defended their title against Power and Glory ( Paul Roma and Hercules ) , but began their reign by reigniting their feud with Jimmy Hart via his team , Rhythm and Blues . Toward the end , they also frequently faced his Earthquake and Dino Bravo . Hart once again cost The Hart Foundation the belts at WrestleMania VII , in a match with his new team , The Nasty Boys ( Brian Knobs and Jerry Sags ) , when he distracted the referee , allowing Sags to knock out Neidhart with a motorcycle helmet . Hart and Neidhart again split up , though they reunited for a title rematch with The Nasty Boys on the July 29 " Prime Time Wrestling " , losing by disqualification when Bret hit both champions with a helmet , again introduced by Jimmy Hart . Neidhart again wrestled Warlord , Barbarian and Haku on house shows , as well as Earthquake and Irwin R . Schyster ( another of Jimmy Hart ' s men ) . During this time , he didn ' t wrestle on TV , but commentated " Wrestling Challenge " alongside Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan . He returned to TV action on the November 9 " Prime Time Wrestling " against Ric Flair , who continued to apply his figure - four leglock after winning the match . While hobbling away to the back , he was attacked and further injured by The Beverly Brothers . He was thus replaced in the 1991 Survivor Series by Sgt . Slaughter ( who became the team captain ) . He returned on the December 1 " Wrestling Challenge " , teamed with Owen Hart ( Bret ' s younger brother ) as The New Foundation , defeating Barry Horowitz and Duane Gill . Clad in bright blue parachute pants , The New Foundation ' s highlight was a win over The Orient Express ( Kato and Tanaka ) at the 1992 Royal Rumble . Aside from one match against The Barbarian and Warlord , they wrestled The Beverly Brothers exclusively at house shows in 1992 . After their last on March 7 , Neidhart left the WWF . New Japan Pro Wrestling ( 1992 ) . After three matches in Eastern Championship Wrestling , Neidhart had three tours with New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1992 : The G1 Climax in August ( losing in the first round to Kensuke Sasaki ) , the Super Grade Tag League II in October ( teaming with Tom Zenk and finishing with 0 points ) and Battle Final in December . World Championship Wrestling ( 1993 ) . Neidhart debuted for World Championship Wrestling on the May 15 episode of " WCW Worldwide " , beating a jobber with the Anvilizer . In a post - match ringside interview , he said he ' d face anyone in WCW . After submitting another jobber on the next episode , Neidhart teamed with The Junkyard Dog for the next , again beating jobbers by Anvilizer . His lone televised win over a star came when he and JYD beat Paul Orndorff and Dick Slater by disqualification on the June 5 " WCW Saturday Night " . Eleven days later , he beat Shanghai Pierce in a dark match before Clash of the Champions XXIII . After losing to Maxx Payne at a house show on October 7 , Neidhart left WCW . Later WWF stints ( 1994 ; 1996 ; 1997 ) . Neidhart returned to the WWF at King of the Ring in June 1994 , as Bret Hart ' s cornerman for his WWF Championship defense against Intercontinental Champion Diesel . After Diesel hit Hart with his Jackknife finisher , Neidhart interfered to prevent the pin , disqualifying Hart but allowing him to retain the title . After the match , Diesel and Shawn Michaels beat down Hart , and Neidhart did not intervene . Later that night , Neidhart reappeared at ringside during Owen Hart ' s King of the Ring tournament final against Razor Ramon . He attacked Razor outside the ring , behind the referee ' s back , before throwing him back for Hart to elbowdrop and pin to become " The King of Harts " . Owen had been feuding with Bret since the 1994 Royal Rumble . Neidhart , believing Bret had held Owen back from his potential , sided with Owen , usually cornering him in matches through the summer . Neidhart claimed he ' d only helped Bret keep the WWF Championship at King of the Ring so Owen could take it from him . This opportunity came in a steel cage match at SummerSlam . Neidhart sat in the third row during the match , behind other Hart family members . After Bret won the match , Neidhart entered the cage , locked it and helped Owen beat him down , while Hart family members tried to climb over it and save him . Neidhart joined Owen on Shawn Michaels ' five - man team , The Teamsters , to face Razor Ramon and The Bad Guys in an elimination match at Survivor Series . After they eliminated every Bad Guy except Razor , Michaels inadvertently hit Diesel with the Sweet Chin Music . This caused an argument and the tag partners split up , before Diesel chased Michaels down the aisle . As the other Teamsters tried to intervene , all were counted out . Because Diesel and Michaels were WWF Tag Team Champions when they split , the title was vacated and a tournament held . Neidhart and Hart lost to The New Headshrinkers ( Fatu and Sionne ) in the first round on the December 31 " Superstars " , by disqualification . By the time it aired , Neidhart had left the WWF . On the July 6 , 1996 " Superstars " , he returned as the masked heel Who , a gimmick designed for commentators Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler to make " Who ' s on First ? " - style jokes during his matches ( all of which he lost ) . Who last appeared in the " Bikini Beach Blast - Off " party on the SummerSlam pre - show . Neidhart then wrestled for New York independent promotion Ultimate Championship Wrestling ( UCW ) , against Tatanka , his brother - in - law Bruce Hart , Falcon Coperis , Louis Velazquez , King Kong Bundy and Marty Jannetty . Neidhart returned to the WWF in 1997 , reuniting with Bret and Owen Hart as part of the new Hart Foundation , a stable of Canadian sympathizers , also including Davey Boy Smith and Brian Pillman . At in Calgary , The Hart Foundation defeated the American team of Stone Cold Steve Austin , Ken Shamrock , Goldust and The Legion of Doom . Neidhart was part of Team Canada at Survivor Series , teaming with The British Bulldog , Doug Furnas and Philip Lafon to defeat Team USA , composed of Vader , Goldust , Marc Mero and Steve Blackman ( Bulldog was the sole survivor , Neidhart was pinned by Vader ) . World Championship Wrestling ; second run ( 1997 – 1998 ) . After Bret left the WWF on bad terms because of the incident in 1997 which would go down in history as the Montreal Screwjob , Neidhart followed him to World Championship Wrestling ( though not immediately , as he would be beaten up and humiliated , on the November 24 and December 1 episodes of Raw , by D - Generation X prior to his departure ) where he formed a tag team with The British Bulldog , who also followed Bret there . Although this was his first true big - money deal , they were rarely utilized by WCW . They achieved little in - ring success , and he was eventually released and returned to the independent circuit . World Wrestling Entertainment ( 2007 ) . On " Raw XV " , the 15th - anniversary " WWE Raw " special on December 10 , 2007 , Neidhart participated in the 15th Anniversary Battle Royal , eventually making it to the final five before being eliminated by Skinner . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( 2009 ) . Neidhart appeared in TNA on the November 12 , 2009 , edition of " Impact ! " winning against Jay Lethal in his initial open challenge thrown out to the legends of professional wrestling . Personal life . Neidhart continues to wrestle all over the world on the independent circuit and is pursuing a career in " micro - asset classes " and real estate . Neidhart and wife Ellie have three daughters – Jennifer , a gourmet chef and caterer , Natalie , and Kristen ( " Muffy " ) , who was married in early June 2007 . Natalie is also a professional wrestler under the ring name " Natalya " and is currently signed to WWE . On February 27 , 2010 Jim " The Anvil " Neidhart was inducted into the Legends Pro Wrestling " Hall of Fame " by Jack Blaze in Wheeling , WV at their " LPW St . Valentine ' s Day Massacre " event . Then on May 28 , 2011 , he was honored again by Jack Blaze who also inducted his brother - in - law Owen Hart earlier that night into the " Hall of Fame " . Media . On April 6 , 2010 , World Wrestling Entertainment released , which is a 3 DVD set featuring a documentary on the Hart wrestling family ( including Jim Neidhart ) as well as 12 matches . It is unique in that it also features previously unseen home movies from the Harts as well as candid interviews from surviving family members . Neidhart was arrested on September 6 , 2010 and charged with two counts of possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute , two counts of trafficking illegal drugs , one count of burglary of an unoccupied dwelling , and one count of third degree grand theft for property stolen between $ 300 and $ 5 , 000 .