10 Things You Didn’t Know About Jim Neidhart
6. His Gruelling WWF Schedule Almost Topped The Iron Sheik
Countless wrestlers who worked it have told of the WWF's brutal touring schedule in the mid-to-late-'80s. Vince McMahon's company were on a mission to expand globally, and that meant his stars had to grit their teeth, pack their bags and travel from town-to-town nightly. On average, that meant approx. 300 nights away from home per year.
During the RF Video shoot in 2004, Neidhart claimed that he once worked an exhausting 90 days straight without any time off. If that sounds impressive, then consider the fact that The Iron Sheik (at least according to Jim) wrestled 108 consecutive dates before finally taking a few days to rest his bones.
That's borderline unbelievable, and it's no surprise some couldn't hack the pace.
Neidhart said that some, including Barry Windham, told him personally that they couldn't stomach the non-stop grind that the WWF schedule demanded. To Jim, it was just how things were, although he could understand where Windham was coming from.