Hillbilly Jim - Career

Career

Before appearing in the WWF (now WWE) as Hillbilly Jim, Morris wrestled with the Continental Wrestling Association in the Memphis area under the name Harley Davidson, a biker gimmick. While there, Morris formed a popular tag team with Roger Smith, who went by the ring name "Dirty Rhodes" because of his resemblance to Dusty Rhodes.

In late-1984, Morris first appeared in the WWF as a wrestling fan who routinely sat in the front row of live events and who eventually decided to try his hand at wrestling himself. A series of vignettes were aired on WWF's TV programming in the early weeks of 1985, showing Hulk Hogan training Jim and providing him with his first set of wrestling boots. This introduced the character of Hillbilly Jim; a simple-minded, shaggy-bearded Appalachian hillbilly clad in bib overalls, and hailing from Mudlick, Kentucky. Hillbilly Jim appeared in a few tag team matches with friend Hulk Hogan, and had his first high-profile singles match at The War to Settle the Score event on February 18, 1985 in which he defeated Rene Goulet. Unfortunately, Morris was sidelined by an injury a few days later. At a show in San Diego, he appeared in Hogan's corner in a match between Hogan and Brutus Beefcake. While chasing Beefcake's manager Johnny V around ringside, Morris slipped on a wet spot and (legitimately) broke his leg. To help fill in the seven months during his recovery, similarly-dressed "family" members Uncle Elmer, Cousin Luke, and Cousin Junior were introduced for Morris to accompany to ringside as a manager.

When his in-ring career resumed, Morris often either tag teamed with his family, or fellow big man André the Giant. He was traditionally matched up against the WWF's monster heels of the era, such as Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy. He also had a short feud with Mr. Fuji, and wrestled him in a series of tuxedo matches in late-1986.

Hillbilly Jim was generally kept as a "fun" character, rarely getting involved in any serious storylines. His only WrestleMania appearance outside of battle royals was a novelty match in WrestleMania III involving King Kong Bundy and midget wrestlers. His theme music was a folksy barn dance tune called "Don't Go Messin' With a Country Boy", which Morris danced along to with his partners (or the ring announcer) while the audience clapped along.

In addition to wrestling, Hillbilly Jim is also credited as creating the puppet named "Mine" for fellow WWF Superstar George "The Animal" Steele.

Hillbilly Jim continued to appear regularly in WWF matches until the summer of 1990. His last high profile match with the WWF was during the April 28, 1990 (taped April 23, 1990) edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, in which he lost to Earthquake in a squash match that lasted just under 2 minutes. He returned in December 1995 as a guest referee and a month later became manager of Henry O. and Phineas I. Godwinn, "cousins" who were pig farmers, After the Godwinns turned heel in the spring of 1997, Hillbilly Jim was no longer needed as their manager, Morris later worked as a road agent and participated in the "Gimmick Battle Royal" in 2001 at WrestleMania X-Seven.

He was the official WWE legend host of the highly successful WrestleMania Fan Axxess tour for WrestleMania XX, WrestleMania 21, WrestleMania 22, and WrestleMania 23 in major malls across the US. As part of the WrestleMania 20 Fan Axxess Tour, Jim performed at the "House of Blues" in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New Orleans sponsored by Gibson Guitars.

From 1990 to 2001 Morris traveled worldwide representing WWE for Coliseum Video sales and later with Sony Videos.

In 2005, Sirius Satellite Radio added "Hillbilly Jim's Moonshine Matinee" as a weekly program on its Outlaw Country channel 63. Every Saturday, Morris plays a wide variety of classic country music and Southern rock. Between records, he tells stories of his days with the WWF.

On April 10, 2012, Hillbilly Jim made an appearance on WWE Smackdown: Blast from the Past.

He re-signed with WWE in late 2012 in a Legends deal.