10 Things You Didn’t Know About Jim Neidhart

8. Neidhart Initially Thought Stu Hart Was A Drunk

Amusingly, Jim Neidhart thought Stu Hart was a shambling drunk when he first met him in the late-'70s.

Looking at the then-63 year old veteran, Jim told RF Video in a 2004 shoot interview that he couldn't wrap his head around how the old b*stard could talk, let along take him down. Then, when Neidhart (who was a sprightly 22 at the time) locked horns with Stu, he began to understand what made him so well-respected.

Still, Jim initially looked at the old-timer as somebody who liked a drink. The reason? Stu's trademark drawl; known for speaking slowly and with a softness that belied his physicality, the Hart family leader probably sounded like a finished old warhorse to Neidhart. He wasn't, not by a long shot.

Jim quickly found out that Stu wasn't the alcoholic he had mistaken him for. Instead, he was somebody who passionately tried to teach him a craft, give him a shot at stardom and was well worth listening to. Neidhart himself probably needed a drink after Stu's endless hours of punishing training.