An Interview with Hillbilly Jim

Tuesday, September 9th, 2014.

Interview with Hillbilly Jim.

Hillbilly Jim has so many insights to share, so I just had to allow everyone to be a listener for our interview (despite the fact that I can't stand the sound of my own voice).  Although listening to Hillbilly Jim is better than reading his words, if I had to take out his main points, this is what I would come up with (enjoy!):

Staying in character inside and outside the ring is obviously important for fostering the suspension of disbelief for fans.  How does retirement affect kayfabe, and if it doesn’t affect it, how do you feel about being known as “Hillbilly Jim?”

It wasn’t really a stretch on me to play [Hillbilly Jim]… I didn’t really have any dramatic change to go through… Some guys get gimmicks they have to portray that are pretty extreme, and it’s hard to continue, and a lot of them think that they have to be in character all the time…  With the Hillbilly Jim thing, it was just a happy-kinda-country-kinda-boy…  Now in retirement, most people call me Hillbilly now anyways… and I don’t mind it at all because a lot of the guys in the wrestling business pick up little names and tags, and it follows them throughout their lives, so that’s just part of the business that continues on with you… [People] identify better with the Hillbilly thing than they would “Jim…”  It’s been an easy transition for me into not being in the ring…

How do you imagine retirement would have been if your character had been a heel?

Could have been different, but it’s not as big a deal in 2014 as it would’ve been in the 70s or 60s… [things have changed a lot since then...]  made our guys kinda like celebrities, so a lot of the fans moving forward pretty much think of the people like you would think of an actor… It’s looked upon kinda like Hollywood… it’s easier nowadays being heels than it was back in those days [the 50s, 60s, 70s]…

 Looking back, we can see that the WWE had several eras; there was the Golden Age, the New Generation, and the Attitude Era.  If you could put a name to the current era, what would you call it? 

I’d say this era here is the Transition Era… I’ve noticed that it has a cycle up in peaks and valleys... there are times when it flattens out and becomes a little bit stale, and a little bit stagnant, if you will, then there are times when it just takes off again.  I think now this era now is a transition era because you don’t hear people talking about wrestling as they did.  There was a time when that’s all people talked about…. There are so many things to distract people now, and so many areas that entertainment is provided... right now I think the wrestling business is kinda down now… a little bit of a lull… It’s not nearly as hot as it was when I was there…  We’ve broken it down so that there’s only one or two companies in the entire country that people watch…  A lot of smaller companies folded, and that was great for us... but for future wrestlers, it depleted the business, because there’s no spawning ground… the talent they send up there is not really proven talent that you see at the WWE now because these guys haven’t had years to get better… You don't really learn about the wrestling business until you've wrestled in front of a group of people...  Guys that got over in the 80s were woven into the fabric of society... a lot of these kids coming up now, people don't even remember who they were now...  Right now, it's a little bit down, but eventually, there will be something that will bring the people back in again.

(Tangent) In my day, the interview was a big part of what put butts in the seats... we knew how to handle the mic... kids nowadays, it's disconnected now... they have the unheard of-- writers...  it's changed a lot... That's why the Rock was so good... his wrestling was okay, but his promos is really what people came to see... We laid the foundation for these guys to do what they're doing now, and I'm glad for it...  Back in my day, it was good vs. evil, but now it's all just kinda gray...  There was just something about those guys in the 80s that just got us remembered through all of time... I think wrestling is still good, they put on a good show... it's just very different now.

From what I’ve seen and heard, wrestling storylines tend to be reflections of real world issues.  For example, post-WWII many heels were considered heels simply because they were playing a German character.  Would you agree with that?  If so, what major cultural themes can you see from the years that you wrestled with WWE?

The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkov in my day were very hated because there was always something going on with Iran and Russia.  Obviously, they're going to get heat...  They're always going to try to find somebody that's a part of a controversy.... nowadays they're trying to find people to make a heel of... it's better if there's something that everybody can get behind... Nowadays, you can’t tell who’s who now, and once the match begins, sometimes they all start doing the same thing and moves.  In my day I only had certain moves that Hillbilly Jim would do in the ring, that were my own thing that a country boy would do.  It wouldn’t make sense for a guy named “Hillbilly Jim” to get in there and start flying around like Rey Mysterio…  Now when a match begins, they all start doing the same moves and you can’t tell who’s who…  When you have things that you do, you're able to keep people interested...  People can figure out the storylines so quick now.  Used to be, they would cook it... A WWE show now, they'll start a storyline at the beginning of a show, then by the end 2 hours later, they've already resolved it.  It's too quick.  They need to cook it a little while.  If you cook anything, it will become hotter...

Every week during RAW, some WWE hashtag will trend on Twitter.  Fans utilize social media to voice their opinions in the hopes of influencing the action.  Do you think the WWE shows produced each week have been made more interactive through social media, or is it just an illusion of control— a way for fans to feel heard?

I'm not really the guy to talk to about that, I have a website-- Hillbillyjim.com-- but I don't even have a computer.  If I get an email, I have somebody call and deliver it by phone... I wouldn't even have a cell phone if somebody hadn't given it to me...  I don't really understand what they're doing, but obviously it must not be working if it's supposed to be so much better, but things are so much worse...

I talked to a class at Western Kentucky University a few years ago, and I told them "Listen, friends, we live in the greatest time ever for technology, but you've got to remember this: technology is here to help your life, not be your life..."  If you use this stuff properly, it'll be fantastic.  You have more information available to you than ever in your life.  But it's not here to be your life, it's here to help your life... They have really pulled out all the stops at on this technology thing at the WWE.  I think it's helped in some ways, in other ways it hasn't proven anything...  I can't make it stop, so it's gonna be what it's gonna be...

I've had friends say to me, "Jim if you had email, we could every day."  To which I said to them, "brother, I don’t want to talk to you every day!"  Why would you want to talk to me every day?  It's better when you give me a few days, I might have something to say!... People have abused technology... it's good if you use it right, but you can't just be a vegetable... it's so sad in restaurants when a family, instead of talking to each other, everybody's looking at their hand...  I'm not saying technology is bad, I'm just saying it's abused, and I think the WWE has abused it a little bit...  Going to the WWE now is just a totally different universe...  It was as good as it ever was in my day, and I'm happy to have been there...

I heard that you started a radio show on Sirius Radio...

I've been doing that for about 9 years now.  It's called Hillbilly Jim's Moonshine Matinee, it's an outlaw country show-- they wouldn't let me do nothin' cool, you know a hillbilly would have to do some kind of a country show...  It comes on on Saturday mornings at 9 AM, it's a four hour show, stays on until 1 o'clock central time, it's on Outlaw Country 60.  And then the show comes on again on Sunday from 1 until 5 standard time... I've had a whole lot of great guests to come on over the years... I talk about my world-- wrestling fans and the world from which I come-- but I also play lots of music... it's a real good fit for me, and I can't believe I'm looking down the road at ten years doing it...  it's keeps me from being bored-- not that I'd ever be bored, I always have something to do-- but it's kinda fun...  I have wrestling buddies on from time to time, and we talk... Sirius radio is pretty neat because you can listen to it all across the country.

That's all the formal questions that I have; is there anything else that you'd like to add?

I am very surprised and honored that they would even have a class at WKU about this business that I was in, and it just shows you what an impact that we made, and I feel very honored and fortunate to be one of those guys that they kinda remembered... it just blows my mind that you would be involved in a class about the world of professional wrestling, and the history of it.  It's pretty cool.