Veteran Pro Wrestling Legend Knuckles Nelson recently made an incredible journey all the way from New England on his bike to attend Boogie's Birthday Bash at BWC. More incredible than the trek itself was the positive influence the meeting w/Jimmy Valiant had on Knux's life. Knux was kind enough to write to Boogie & Angel to share his experience & they were so moved by Knux's words they asked me to share them here w/you, the Boogieland Family. Check out Knuckles Nelson's inspiring words:

"Hi Jimmy and Angel Wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the 50th DVD. The book is incredible. You have a way of telling a story and taking the person there. The same holds true in person. So when I was on my visit to Boogieland I asked you a question about knowing what the next right thing to do in life. How to know I'm making the right decision. You looked at me and put your hand on my neck and said to forgive everyone for everything they ever did. You said there was not one person on earth you have a grudge with. You told me do this and everything else will fall into place. I'm happy to report I'm doing it. I'm trying to follow your advice. I made amends to my ex wife today and it felt amazing. We are moving on with our lives but I did what you recommended and I'm writing to thank you for such good advice. You speak to so many folks every week. I'm grateful to you for the time you spent with me at your Birthday party. I may be a veteran wrestler named Knuckles Nelson but I'm also a kid from Rhode Island who is now 54 and can say the best life advice I ever received came out of the mouth of Jimmy Valiant. That is pretty cool and I will continue to not hold grudges or have heat with anyone thanks to you. My ex wife that was not easy brother but I did it.
The weeks leading up to my trip to meet with you I kept telling my girl Betsy that I had this strange feeling I wasn't coming back. She told me I was scaring her and to please stop saying that. I apologized because I was not trying to scare her it was just a gut feeling. The truth is I didn't come back to Rhode Island. A new version of me came back. A new purpose. A new direction. I came back righteously reborn. I have been sober for 14 years. I have read every self help book out there. I practice yoga. I have heard about forgiveness many times in the past. I needed to drive to you and hear it come out of your mouth. I drove through New England New York and half of New Jersey in steady rain. I almost turned back. 4 states in the rain on a bike. I had to keep going. I had to ask you how to do the next right thing in life. You told me to forgive. Today I ran into my brother. We have not spoken in years. I have a new mantra it's called WWBD. What Would Boogie Do. I walked right up to him extended my hand and made a joke to break the ice. He looked pissed off at first and then smiled. Years of not speaking ending in that moment because That's What Boogie Would Do. I'm a better person for knowing you Jim Fanning.

 I will be back to see you again in the future. Best Regards KNUX"

Thanks so much for sharing that Knux! It's an honor to have have you in the BWC family! Hope to see you again soon in Boogieland!

It was a sad day at Boogie's Wrestling Camp yesterday as we held a special ceremony in honor of the memory of our BWC Brother, James 'Megatron' Gregory. We were all saddened by his passing, but the day was also a fond remembrance of the life & wrestling/weightlifting career of our dear friend, James. Boogie told his favorite Megatron story about the time he took James to lift weights at Virginia Tech. Then we had a time of prayer, followed by a ten bell salute. It was a personal honor for me to be able to pray and ring the bell for the ceremony. Megatron was a former BWC Champion & a Special Olympics gold medalist. He had complete confidence that he could beat any of the top wrestling stars in a match. To us, Megatron was a big wrestling star himself. He earned the right to call himself a BWC legend & will always be remembered as just that. A legend & a champion, a brother & a friend. I was personally honored to publish a one-shot mini-comic many years back starring Megatron which I handed out to all who attended the memorial. Megatron JG as he was known, made many. many appearances in my Boogieland comic strip & even had his very own storyline more than once. He also appeared in my Magnet Man Meets Bigfoot short-film. He was there the day I visited BWC for the first time, so from the very beginning he was a big part of my camp experience. I even got the chance to take part in one of Megatron's matches. I managed Bulldozer in a match against Megatron for the BWC belt. Megatron got the big victory & successfully defended his title & I earned the right to say I was a very small part of Megatron's legendary career. We will all miss you Megatron. You will live on in our hearts always! Your BWC Family loves you! 

You know time is flying when you are working on your second issue of the Boogieland Leap Year Annual! As you probably know, Leap Year happens once every four years when Feb. has an extra, 29th day. For years & years I thought it would be a fun idea to do a 'leap year annual', but when the big event rolled around I wasn't ready & missed my chance. Finally, four years ago, I finally got it done w/the Boogieland or Bust Leap Year Annual #1. & now here we are w/#2. Be sure to check out the first Leap Year Annual HERE! I hope we will all be back four years from now for #3! See you then! I highly recommend a visit to the real Boogieland in person this Sunday or any Sunday, from 12 noon to 4pm. Admission is free! Click HERE for more info. Thanks for reading! Take care!

Check out this great collection of pictures featuring superfan Jadon striking the classic Jimmy Valiant pose in various locations! It's awesome!

Jadon strikes the classic Jimmy Valiant pose!

Jimmy pose by the pool!

Jimmy pose in Florida!

Here's Jadon w/a cool-looking dolphin. They are both doing the Jimmy pose! How cool is that?!

Jimmy pose at Epcot! Neat!

Jimmy pose in front of the fancy Hyatt Regency! Jadon is showing he not only has good taste in wrestlers, but also in super heroes too!

Jimmy pose 400 feet up in the air on the Orlando Eye! That has to be a record for sure! Cowabunga!

Jimmy pose w/the other Boogie Woogie Man, Rob McBride! Nice!

Here's Jadon in Shelby. NC, w/pro wrestler Deon Johnson! They are both doing a great Jimmy pose!

Jadon & third generation wrestler Tessa Blanchard do the Jimmy pose in Concord, NC!

Here's Jadon striking the Jimmy pose in a cool hat & one of the awesome new Jimmy Valiant t-shirts!

Jimmy pose by Jadon & Richie Steamboat! 

Richie's son, Richard the 4th, joins the fun for a six-man tag Jimmy pose! 

Super cool Jimmy pose w/former Handsome Jimmy manager, Jimmy Hart! A little blurry, but still way awesome! Nice Elvis glasses, Jadon!

Jimmy pose w/former NWA Women's Champion, Kacee Carlisle!

Jimmy pose w/current Ultra J champion, Ethan Case!

Jadon strikes a Jimmy pose w/Steve Corino!

Jadon couldn't make it to this show, but his dad, Guy, did a great job of standing in for him in this Jimmy pose pic w/Jimmy himself!

We finally have a picture of Jadon & Boogie doing the Jimmy pose at the same time! Jimmy's manager, Nightmare, joins them for an added bonus!

Here is a championship Jimmy pose as Jadon meets current TNA X Division champ & CWF Mid-Atlantic champ, Trevor Lee!

George South strikes a great Jimmy pose w/Jadon while holding his popular 'Dad You Don't Work, You Wrestle' book! 

Here's Jadon doing the Jimmy pose w/Monster Jam Host, Corky Franks!

Jadon & Buff Bagwell are the stuff!

Jadon's Jimmy pose w/Ricky & Robert, the Rock N Roll Express! 

Colt "Boom Boom" Cabana strikes a Jimmy pose w/Jadon!

Jadon w/TNA Wrestling star EC3! 

Jadon strikes a royal Jimmy pose w/King Shane Williams & Queen Taylor!

Jadon vs Survivor legend Johnny Fairplay in a Jimmy Valiant pose off challenge. Jadon won the challenge, but Fairplay cheated him out of the Immunity Idol & wrote his name down at tribal council, voting Jadon off the island! Sorry Jadon! Should have seen that coming!

Another pic w/the originator of the Jimmy pose. This time they are joined by Jimmy's manager Capt. Joe!

Jadon w/former WCW wrestler The Stro, who somehow makes the Jimmy pose look sinister! 

The Force is strong w/Jadon & Modern Day Viking, Gunner. 

Wrestling Legend Man Mountain Rick Link does the Jimmy pose w/Jadon.

Jadon strikes a Boogie pose w/Madi Maxx in Concord, NC!

What a wonderful picture of the great Ivan Koloff & his wife Renae joining Jadon in a Jimmy pose for the ages! 

Jadon demonstrates the art of the Jimmy pose for young Beck Corino. 

Beck's dad, Steve Corino makes a return to the Jimmy pose gallery as he joins Beck & Jadon for a triple threat Jimmy pose! 

Here's Man Scout, Jake Manning, striking a Jimmy pose w/Jadon at the Charlotte Knights' new ball field in Charlotte, NC. 

Here is Jadon w/L.W.O. member, the Purfect Ten, Lince Durado!

Current PWG World Champion from England, Zack Sabre, Jr. joins Jadon for a Jimmy pose while draped in the Union Jack! 

The Force is strong w/Jadon in his Capt. America T-Shirt as he strikes a Boogie pose w/a Stormtrooper at Heroes Con 2016 in Charlotte, NC! 

It's no mystery who the master of Jimmy poses is! It's Jadon, of course! In fact, he's so good at Jimmy Poses, you might even wonder if this isn't really Jimmy Valiant himself hiding under a Jadon mask! Jadon found The Mystery Machine parked at Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC this year, but I'm sure it would also be a welcome edition to the BWC Car Museum! 

BWC Staff webmaster & lifetime Jimmy Valiant fan, Brien Wayne Powell was honored to finally take part in the Jimmy pose craze when he caught up w/Jadon at Heroes Con in Charlotte this year. Thanks for including me, Jadon! 

Of course, if Brien does something then you can be sure that Brien's bodyguard & frequent house guest, Magnet Man, will want to try it too. They are joined by a random Casey Jones cosplayer. 

Oh wait, that Casey Jones is unmasked to be none other than Magnet Man's son, Lil' Magnet Man or Lil' M for short! Great Jimmy pose young ones! 

Here's Jadon striking a Jimmy pose at Harvey's Lake w/a family member who looks amazing like Big Show. Maybe one day Jadon will be able to take a Jimmy pose pic w/the real Big Show & we can compare the two! 

A nice Jimmy pose in front of the Pink Cadillac Diner in Natural Bridge, VA. I know the real Jimmy Valiant loves Cadillacs! I'm pretty sure he has six of them!  

BWC Family represented nicely as Jadon poses w/BWC Staff member Nancy Gail & 2012 BWC Graduate 'Hard Times' Eddie Justice! 

George South Jr. & his son Dallas South pose w/Jadon in Concord, NC! George Jr. won the SWAC Heavyweight title that same night! Way to go! 

Jadon looking cool w/current PWX Champion & NXT star, The Southern Savior, John Skyler!

A very patriotic Jimmy pose featuring a masked Jadon & The Patriot, Del Wilkes! The patriot is even holding his very own DVD release from Ellbow Productions! Pick up your copy today!

The Mayor of Blythewood, SC, J. Michael Ross w/the King of Jimmy Poses, Jadon! 

Jadon strikes a Jimmy pose w/ECW Original, Tommy Dreamer!

& here's Jadon w/Jimmy Valiant himself & the title belt! Jadon is undoubtedly the world champ of Jimmy poses! Keep 'em comin' Jadon!

Check out this video message from Jimmy Valiant to his superfan, Jadon!

It's almost here! Tomorrow is the day! I'm sure you've already saved the date & made your plans to head to Boogie's Wrestling Camp in Shawsville, VA this Sun., Sept. 7th, from 12 noon to 4pm for the 22nd Annual BWC Graduation Ceremony! You won't want to miss it! It will certainly be the place to be this Sunday! You'll want to be there to see the new class of future pro wrestling stars get their diplomas from WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Valiant himself! If you need any more convincing than that, just check out these cool pics from last year's BWC Graduation where a great time was had by all! See you this Sunday!

This past Saturday night in Shepherdsville, KY, Southern Wrestling Entertainment paid tribute to the Boogie Woogie Man, Handsome Jimmy Valiant w/a special wrestling show called, appropriately enough, Boogie Nights! The majority of the card was comprised of a tournament to crown the first ever winner of the Boogie Invitational Cup. This was followed by the main event, featuring the man himself, Jimmy Valiant, teaming w/"Party Animal" Justin Storm to take on Ca$h Flo & Billy The P. In the first round of the tournament 'Iron Demon' Shane Mercer defeated 'Chaos' James Kendrick to be the first to move on to round two. 'Bronzed God' Lennox Norris & 'Designated Driver' Nick Doepp also picked up first round wins over 'The Future' Eddie Young & 'Mayhem' Bob Murdoch respectively. Apollo Garvin completed the final four by way of a first round bye, but being the fresh man didn't keep him from ending up on the losing end of his second round match against Nick Doepp. Lennox Norris got the best of Shane Mercer to earn the right to face Doepp in the finals. It was a hard fought match that spilled out onto the floor, but when the dust settled, it was Nick Doepp who had his hand raised in victory as the first ever Boogie Cup Invitational champion. Now it was Boogie's turn to do his thing in the ring. Despite some dirty tactics & a couple of impressive 'Boogie elbows' by Billy the P, the bad guys were no match for Boogie Woogie & his tag partner Justin Storm. After the big wrestling show, there was fittingly a dance in Boogie's honor featuring DJ Rozay. What a great way to celebrate the 50 years & counting career of Jimmy Valiant. 

The historic career of a true wrestling legend, Jimmy Valiant, will hit another major milestone on May 5th, 2014 as Boogie reaches an astounding 50 years in the wrestling business! I personally haven't even been alive for that long, but ever since first discovering Boogie in the early 80s, I have been a die hard, lifelong Jimmy Valiant fan. The years that I missed, mostly the 'Handsome Jimmy' era, have come alive for me as well through the classic footage on Boogie's many volumes of DVDs & also through the magic of archived footage on the internet. & so it is through the magic of YouTube that I present to you this little look back on Boogie's amazing 50 year career, ten years at a time. Congrats on this major accomplishment Boogie! I know it is hard earned & well deserved. I look forward to celebrating this big event in wrestling history this Sunday, May 4th at Boogie's Wrestling Camp in Shawsville, VA from 12 Noon to 4pm. On behalf of the BWC Staff & Students I welcome everyone reading this to come out & celebrate w/us. You won't want to miss this opportunity to celebrate this legendary moment w/the legend himself! I know I won't miss it! See you then! 

1964 to 1974: Check out this rare example of a very young Jimmy Valiant in the ring in the 60s vs Pampero Firpo!

1974 to 1984: Here's Handsome Jimmy in the late 1970s against eventual street brother Dusty Rhodes in the WWF at Madison Square Garden.

1984 to 1994: Here's the Boogie Woogie man taking it to Thunderfoot II in late 80s WCW. 

1994 to 2004: Boogie Woogie dominates the Independent Circuit in this match against Don Sparton in Indiana. 

2004 to 2014: A historic match for Boogie's career and for wrestling in general. Boogie makes his triumphant return to the ring to Shawsville, VA, teaming w/Ivan Koloff for the first time ever to take on Shawn Christian & Donnie Green.

My son Douglas discovered Shark Boy while playing the TNA Impact video game for the Playstation 2 & instantly had a new favorite wrestler. So I showed him some Shark Boy matches from my wrestling DVDs. He was thrilled by every Jawsbreaker, every flying dropkick & every Dead Sea Drop. He laughed every time Shark Boy bit his opponent on the head or, uh, elsewhere. & there was even more great footage to be found on the internet. Douglas sent Shark Boy a fan e-mail & got a really nice response back. I bought Douglas the Shark Boy action figure & it started to beat all of his other figures & quickly became champion of his toy wrestling league. Douglas was hooked, um, no pun intended. So when I found out that Shark Boy would be appearing at a show in Ashland, KY that I was already going to be driving w/Jimmy Valiant to, I knew Douglas just had to make the trip. Douglas, Boogie, our friend Moviestar & me hit the road on a fun adventure. It was Shark Boy or Bust for my son. Every once in a while Boogie would turn to around & tell Douglas, "Hey Douglas, Shark Boy!" & then he would make the famous fin motion. It was awesome! Douglas was getting very excited. When we arrived at the show in KY we helped Boogie set up his table & then the waiting began. Finally, a familiar blue & red clad, masked figure appeared from the back. Shark Boy was here! Douglas will never forget that special moment of meeting his number one favorite wrestler in person. Shark Boy was amazingly friendly & welcoming to his fans. He took pictures w/us, told us some great wrestling stories & even signed Douglas' copy of the TNA video game that started it all. Douglas was proud when his wrestling hero complimented him on his cool 'Darth Vader Playing Drums' t-shirt. I bought Douglas a personalized autographed Shark Boy picture which is now framed & hanging on his wall. He also got an official Shark Boy mask to add to his growing wrestling mask collection. Probably my favorite memento from the trip is a picture that Moviestar took of Douglas, Shark Boy, Boogie & Me. It's just so cool that Douglas was there w/his favorite wrestler & I was there w/my favorite wrestler all at the same time. It was a very special father & son trip that I will never forget & for Douglas it was an awesome Shark Boy adventure! Thanks Shark Boy!

BWC Instructor Troy 'Sarge' Long recently announced his retirement from wrestling after a successful career that earned him international attention. My favorite Sarge moment was his NY Street Fight vs Jimmy Valiant. The crowd was chanting 'No Mercy Daddy' but Sarge did the seemingly impossible by defeating Boogie in his own specialty match. The above photo by Tom Akers perfectly captures the moment just after Long's retirement announcement, when the locker room emptied to send Sarge off w/a touching show of respect. Tom not only snapped the great pic, he also wrote his own account of that special night in tribute to Sarge's career.  You can read Tom's salute to Sgt. Long below. 

By: Tea Man

As fans filed in to the National Guard Amory, in Elkin N.C., the air was thick with excitement.  Everyone was looking at the memorabilia tables that lined the back wall, chatted with wrestling legends Jimmy “the Boogie Woogie Man” Valiant and Chief Grey Fox, as I looked into the eyes of fans both young and old, I could clearly see the anticipation they possessed in unison.  It was the Valiant Cup.  Everyone knew that a new Battle Royal Champion was to be crowned with something more precious than just a title belt; their name was to be placed on the prestigious Valiant Cup, a true honor that will last a life time.

The fans got their fill of excitement as the wrestlers entered the arena and climbed into the ring, the bell rings and the fight is on!  As bodies started flying over the top rope on all sides of the ring, pure mayhem was the only word that remotely describes the carnage that was rapidly unfolding.  Then, all of a sudden, two wrestlers were left to finish the battle and battle they did.  It seemed as fast as they took to fighting it was over and one wrestler stood victorious.  As Jimmy Valiant entered the ring, we could easily see the face of the victor go from ecstatic to somber.  This wrestler knew that his career just ended,  a feeling in his gut that can only be described as hitting him harder than any wrestler ever has.

 Together, Jimmy Valiant and the Sarge stepped down from the ring and went to the interview area.  As the Sarge gained control of the microphone, I began to capture the pictures and watching the fans.  Without haste, the Sarge looked at awesome legend known as the Boogie Woogie Man and basically stated that it was over.  Due to injuries sustained previously, the Sarge was not going to be able to be a competitor.   As he spoke, something extraordinary happen, all the wrestlers from both BWC and the EWA came out of their locker rooms and surrounded their brother, at this moment in time, there were no good guys, no bad guys, no bullies or rule breakers.  There were only true sportsmen who wanted to pay tribute to a man who epitomizes what professional wrestling is all about.  They wanted to be with the man they call their undisputed friend, they wanted to bid farewell to The Sarge.

It's National Jimmy Valiant Day once again! In fact, it's the 70th Annual National Jimmy Valiant Day! Happy Birthday to a true legend in wrestling & a truly great man in life. Thank you for all of the wonderful memories you have given us & continue to give us in the ring. & thank you for all that you do outside of the ring as well. Happy Birthday Jimmy on behalf of all the family, friends & fans that love you!