The Story of Handsome Jimmy
If you were a wrestling fan in the early 80’s, chances are that you cannot hear the Manhattan Transfer classic ‘Boy From New York City’ without thinking of Jimmy Valiant. Jimmy, born James Fanning in Tullahoma, Tennessee on August 6, 1942, captured several nicknames during his illustrious career. Gentleman Jimmy, Handsome Jimmy, and of course the Boogie Woogie Man. In my humble opinion, one more nickname should be added. When I think of Jimmy Valiant, I think of the word ‘Beloved’. Webster’s defines beloved as ‘dearly loved’, ‘much loved’, ‘cherished’, and ‘treasured’. Of course, this was not always the case, as Jimmy was a hated heel for much of the early part of his career. However, just as wine improves with age, so does Mr. Valiant.
James Fanning grew up in Hammond, Indiana, and as a teenager had the typical interests of cars, girls, and football. After graduation from Hammond Tech High in 1961, Jimmy pondered the typical future options of the average 18-year-old, which included going to school for another 4 years, or working a blue-collar job like his father. Although Jimmy’s Dad was a hardworking man, young James had dreams and aspirations not typical of the average teenager. He decided to enroll in Molars Barber College in Chicago. The ‘true’ barber of professional wrestling is not Brutus Beefcake; it is Jimmy Valiant! Jimmy graduated from barber school on June 14,1962 and got married 9 days later. Besides cutting hair, Jimmy worked at a health club called The Acres, owned by a gentleman named Frank Zela. Jimmy also worked at the Dorchester Health Club in Dalton, Illinois, where he managed the club, gave massages to the members, and sold supplements. Valiant later moved on to the Calumet City Physical Therapy Center. While there, he obtained his Registered Physical Therapy license from the State of Illinois, while still maintaining a part-time position at The Acres.
When Jimmy was 21, he was summoned to Mr. Zela’s office for a meeting. There, Zela offered Valiant a full-time position to manage his Acres health club. But wait…there’s more! Zela offered to break Jimmy into the world of professional wrestling, which was something he had dreamed about since childhood. You see, Mr. Zela had another identity, that of Boris Volkoff, an evil villain who was one half of the Volkoff Brothers wrestling team. Boris’ partner in crime was Nikolai Volkoff; this was not the gentleman who wrested as part of the legendary Mongols tag team, and later formed a partnership with the Iron Sheik. This gentleman was named Steve Gob, who had been a member of the 1940 Olympic weightlifting team.
After several months of training with Zela and another old school wrestler by the name of Bobby Managoff, James Fanning made his professional wrestling debut on May 5, 1964, at the St. Andrew’s Gymnasium in Chicago. There, he wrestled in a tag team with his high school friend Gary Moldenhour as Jimmy and Gary Valentine, from Hollywood, California. They were on the losing end of the match against Johnny Gilbert and Billy Goelz, known as ‘The G-Men’.
After wrestling at St. Andrew’s for approximately six weeks, the Valentine Brothers were told by their now manager Zela to report to Indianapolis that Thursday to do a TV taping for the World Wrestling Association (WWA) promotion, owned by Richard Afflis (known to all wrestling fans as Dick The Bruiser) and Wilbur Snyder. The WWA ran shows throughout Indiana; additionally, Bruiser and Snyder co-promoted a Chicago show on a monthly basis with American Wrestling Association (AWA) owner and champion Verne Gagne. Television tapings for any promotion in the territory days were typically marathon events, and the WWA was no exception. Jimmy wrestled three times during the six-hour session. Although the WWA was not considered part of the ‘Big Three’, the promotion was certainly not lacking in talent. Hall of Fame wrestlers such as Bruiser, Wilbur Snyder, The Crusher, Moose Cholak, Baron Von Raschke, Bobby Heenan, and Pampero Firpo, amongst many others, were mainstays on WWA cards.
Following the TV tapings, Bruiser started booking young Jimmy on house (non-televised) shows. At first, it was twice a week, eventually ramping up to five and more on a weekly basis. Gary ‘Valentine’ Molenhour was eventually eased out by Bruiser and went on to become a doctor of psychiatry. Tragically, shortly after his graduation, Molenhour was murdered by his lover’s estranged husband.
Before long, Bruiser introduced Jimmy to Edward Farhat, known to most wrestling fans as The Original Sheik. Farhat was the owner and promoter of the Detroit based Big Time Wrestling promotion. In addition to working for Bruiser and Farhat, Jimmy also did shots for Verne Gagne in the AWA, and for Sam Muchnick in the prestigious St. Louis territory. To say young Jimmy was busy is truly an understatement. I sure hope he had a Platinum membership with Firestone Tires 😊.
From there, Jimmy’s career was, to coin a phrase, off to the races. After receiving his wrestling PhD working for arguably four of the greatest promoters of all time, Jimmy packed his family and his belongings and headed to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he would be wrestling for another iconic promoter by the name of Leroy McGuirk. There, Jimmy wrestled as Jimmy ‘The Body’ Valen. The Oklahoma territory was quite large geographically, and Jimmy spent endless hours driving to each booking. Occasionally, he would ride with the legendary Danny Hodge, whose knowledge and expertise of things wrestling was only exceeded by his ability to hustle the ‘boys’ with small wagers. Jimmy’s stay in the Oklahoma territory was brief; only several months after he started, he received a call from Fritz Von Erich to work in his Dallas based promotion, with a substantial pay raise. So once again, the Valiant caravan was on the move.
It was in Dallas that Jimmy received the name ‘Valiant’. He had started in Chicago in 1964 as Jimmy Valentine and had wrestled as Jim ‘The Body’ Valen in Oklahoma. Since one of the star attractions in the Dallas territory was Johnny Valentine, Von Erich made gave Jimmy the last name Valiant, in order to avoid any confusion. If you are shaking your head after reading this, fear not; I did as well 😊. Jimmy’s stay in Dallas was very brief, but at the same time very productive. Not only did he acquire his lifetime wrestling name of Valiant, but he also wrestled as a heel for the very first time. Jimmy’s work in Dallas quickly caught the attention of Vincent J. McMahon (the original, not the current iteration), owner of the Capitol Wrestling Corporation and the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). McMahon’s WWWF was thought by many to be the pinnacle of professional wrestling, with Madison Square Garden as the mecca. Initially, Jimmy balked at the move; he had just uprooted his family for the second time in several months, and really had no interest in testing the ‘three times a charm’ adage. Von Erich asked Jimmy to go to New York for three weeks and give it a try; if, at the end of the three weeks he didn’t want to stay, his job in Dallas would be waiting for him. Jimmy went to New York and took a bite of the Big Apple, and as the saying goes, the rest is history.
Jimmy arrived at the WWWF Headquarters in Washington, D.C., on April 1, 1970, to meet the legendary Vince McMahon Sr. There, McMahon informed Jimmy that he would be wrestling the Black Demon (Tony Nero) every day for the next three weeks. Jimmy expressed his desire to McMahon to wrestle as a heel. Mr. McMahon advised Jimmy that first, he needed to get over with the fans as a babyface; then, his heel turn would be far more impactful. Vince assured Valiant that 6 months later, the heel turn would happen.
A couple of months into his WWWF run, Jimmy was teaming with the pride of Pohuska, Oklahoma (by way of Nutley, New Jersey 😊), Chief Jay Strongbow. Strongbow was the number two babyface in New York during the early seventies, whose popularity was only eclipsed by WWWF Champions Bruno Sammartino and later Pedro Morales. Valiant and Strongbow quickly became the number one contenders for the WWWF Tag Team Titles. On October 1, 1970, Jimmy turned on his partner during a tag team title match against ‘Crazy’ Luke Graham and Tarzan Tyler. ‘Gentleman Jimmy’ was now ‘Handsome Jimmy’, one of the most hated heels in the territory. For those of you who have mad math skills, this was exactly six months after Jimmy made his WWWF debut. Vincent J. McMahon was a man of his word.
On a personal note, this was my first ‘holy crap’ wrestling moment. I was 15 at the time, and watched the debacle unfold on television. I can still feel the emotions I felt when Jimmy turned on the popular Native American. I vividly remember standing up and yelling ‘holy crap!’, much to the consternation of Joe and Betty Scala (my parents). You see, at this time wrestling was very real to me, and this was the first time I saw a good guy turn bad. Ironically, about ten years later, I had a similar reaction watching Larry Zbyszko turn on my hero, Bruno Sammartino…I upgraded ‘crap’ to something a bit stronger; after all, I was 25 😊. But there is nothing quite so impactful as the first time, and Jimmy turning heel evoked huge emotions of both surprise and hate on my part. Which means that he did his job perfectly. Jimmy’s heel turn was money on every level. His weekly salary tripled from five to fifteen hundred dollars. He received several title shots against Pedro Morales for the WWWF Championship. Jimmy had come a long way from the St. Andrew’s Gymnasium!
At this point, I need to steal a scene from the movie ‘Click’. In this epic film, Michael Newman (Adam Sandler) can rewind and fast forward his life with a magical remote control he received from Morty (Christopher Walken) at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I have read Jimmy Valiant’s marvelous book ‘Woo…Mercy Daddy!’ from cover to cover, and I would literally have to replicate it in order to do Jimmy’s life story justice. For the remainder of this story, I will do an extreme fast forward, with a stop or two along the way.
One of Vince McMahon’s promises to Jimmy was that he would bring him back to the WWWF every 4 years, with a run of approximately 15 months each time. True to his word, Jimmy was back with the WWWF in 1974, and again in 1978. On May 8, 1974, Jimmy and his ‘brother’ Johnny captured the WWWF World Tag Team Titles from Dean Ho and Tony Garea. The Valiant Brothers reigned supreme atop the WWWF tag team scene for 370 days, before dropping the straps to the team of Dominic DeNucci and Victor Rivera on May 13, 1975. The Valiant Brothers also won the WWA World Tag Team Titles on four separate occasions, in addition to winning several regional championships. In this author’s humble opinion, The Valiant Brothers belong in any Mount Rushmore discussion of all-time great tag teams. What did The Valiant Brothers have in common with Fort Knox? They were both very proficient at collecting gold.
Besides the aforementioned territories, Jimmy forged legendary statuses in both the Memphis based Continental Wrestling Association (owned by Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler) and Jim Crockett Promotions. One cannot think of Memphis wrestling without thinking of Jimmy Valiant. He was such a hot commodity in the territory that Jarrett and Lawler actually bought Jimmy a house. His alliances and feuds with Lawler and Bill Dundee are textbook Wrestling 101 when it comes to storyline build as well as ring psychology. While matches and feuds are quickly forgotten in today’s environment, these classic feuds can be still viewed with fervor, almost 40 years after they happened. While in Jim Crockett Promotions, Jimmy engaged in a feud with Paul Jones’ Army that lasted nearly five years. Again, fast forward to today when programs are measured in weeks and possibly months. Jimmy, using various special attractions, such as Hair vs. Hair and Loser Leaves Town matches, was able to keep the ticket buying fans in the territory emotionally invested for a half decade.
Although Jimmy had been a heel in several of the territories (most notably WWWF but oftentimes in Memphis), he spent the latter part of his career in the 80’s as a beloved fan favorite. Once again, I hear ‘Boy From New York City’ and my mind’s eye envisions the Boogie Woogie Man dancing to the music, embracing everyone in sight, making quick work of his opponent, and then cutting a promo to Tony ‘Schiavonto’. Folks, it does not get any better than that 😊.
Jimmy was inducted into what was then the WWF (now WWE) Hall of Fame in 1996, along with his ‘brother’ Johnny. They were the very first tag team to be inducted. One can browse the pages of social media and very quickly find a heated argument regarding the relative merits and Hall of Fame worthiness of many wrestlers. I have never seen Jimmy Valiant’s name mentioned in any of these debates and can pretty much state with absolute certainty that I never will.
Two more pieces of business are in order here: first, Angel. One of my favorite words in the English language is ‘serendipity’. Serendipity is defined as ‘the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.’ On April 6, 1991, Jimmy was doing an autograph signing to commemorate the opening of a new Walmart in Pulaski, Virginia. As he was signing, he felt compelled to lift his head up; it was then that he saw his Angel. His heart immediately told him that this woman was someone incredibly special, his forever love. Mr. Valiant, never lacking in temerity and within moments after they met, asked Angel if she was married. Relieved that her answer was no, he quickly came back with ‘Do you want to be married?’ Although Angel did not accept on the spot, she did soon afterward. They were married exactly four months later, on August 6, 1991, Jimmy’s 49th Birthday. In a little over a month from the time I am writing this, Jimmy and Angel Valiant will be celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. If you ever want to see two people who are deeply in love, there is no need to look any further than Jimmy and Angel. One of the greatest things about serendipity is that is not defined by time or location. Perhaps one of the greatest serendipitous moments in history occurred at a Pulaski Walmart. Love is a beautiful thing 😊.
Second, the BWC. Boogie’s Wrestling Camp. Opened on September 6, 1992, Jimmy’s wrestling school is set in the hills of Shawsville, Virginia. For a very modest enrollment fee, you get to learn from one of the best in the business. I might propose to Mr. Valiant that the ‘C’ should stand for Compound, as the facility is huge, beautiful, and very scenic. In addition to his home and wrestling school, you will find the BWC Hall of Fame Museum, a fabulous collection of wrestling treasures on display. Aspiring wrestlers, managers, announcers and referees can get the excellent training ‘they need to succeed’ at BWC. Jimmy recently released a manual entitled ‘Blueprint To Become A Pro Wrestler.’ My copy has been ordered and is in the mail. Although I am old enough to qualify for the Senior Citizens discount at the Golden Corral, I am beyond tempted to enroll in Boogie’s Wrestling Camp, just so I can say that I am a proud alumnus. If that isn’t enough, Angel, Jimmy’s beautiful bride, designs custom ring gear. BWC is open 52 Sundays a year, from 12-4 and is free to the general public. I can tell you with absolute certainty that a road trip is in my immediate future.
And now my fellow Boogie Woogie-ites, it is time to go home. I should probably have gone home a while ago, but this gentleman is such an absolute joy and pleasure to write about, and has led such an amazing and packed life, that a few thousand words are truly a grain of sand on the beach. Jimmy was recently a guest on my podcast (hosted by Dan Sebastiano), Dan & Benny In the Ring. When I started asking him questions, I became a teenager again, one who was so engrossed by professional wrestling that neither friends, nor food (my Mom was a world class Italian cook) nor natural disasters could separate me from the television when it was on. Jimmy answered all my questions as if I were Lance Russell or Gordon Solie. If you want to hear Jimmy tell some great stories, just click right here.
There are some great people in this world, and then there are some great wrestlers in the sport we all love so much. This story is about Gentleman/Handsome/Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant, who checks all the boxes on both 😊.
James Fanning grew up in Hammond, Indiana, and as a teenager had the typical interests of cars, girls, and football. After graduation from Hammond Tech High in 1961, Jimmy pondered the typical future options of the average 18-year-old, which included going to school for another 4 years, or working a blue-collar job like his father. Although Jimmy’s Dad was a hardworking man, young James had dreams and aspirations not typical of the average teenager. He decided to enroll in Molars Barber College in Chicago. The ‘true’ barber of professional wrestling is not Brutus Beefcake; it is Jimmy Valiant! Jimmy graduated from barber school on June 14,1962 and got married 9 days later. Besides cutting hair, Jimmy worked at a health club called The Acres, owned by a gentleman named Frank Zela. Jimmy also worked at the Dorchester Health Club in Dalton, Illinois, where he managed the club, gave massages to the members, and sold supplements. Valiant later moved on to the Calumet City Physical Therapy Center. While there, he obtained his Registered Physical Therapy license from the State of Illinois, while still maintaining a part-time position at The Acres.
When Jimmy was 21, he was summoned to Mr. Zela’s office for a meeting. There, Zela offered Valiant a full-time position to manage his Acres health club. But wait…there’s more! Zela offered to break Jimmy into the world of professional wrestling, which was something he had dreamed about since childhood. You see, Mr. Zela had another identity, that of Boris Volkoff, an evil villain who was one half of the Volkoff Brothers wrestling team. Boris’ partner in crime was Nikolai Volkoff; this was not the gentleman who wrested as part of the legendary Mongols tag team, and later formed a partnership with the Iron Sheik. This gentleman was named Steve Gob, who had been a member of the 1940 Olympic weightlifting team.
After several months of training with Zela and another old school wrestler by the name of Bobby Managoff, James Fanning made his professional wrestling debut on May 5, 1964, at the St. Andrew’s Gymnasium in Chicago. There, he wrestled in a tag team with his high school friend Gary Moldenhour as Jimmy and Gary Valentine, from Hollywood, California. They were on the losing end of the match against Johnny Gilbert and Billy Goelz, known as ‘The G-Men’.
After wrestling at St. Andrew’s for approximately six weeks, the Valentine Brothers were told by their now manager Zela to report to Indianapolis that Thursday to do a TV taping for the World Wrestling Association (WWA) promotion, owned by Richard Afflis (known to all wrestling fans as Dick The Bruiser) and Wilbur Snyder. The WWA ran shows throughout Indiana; additionally, Bruiser and Snyder co-promoted a Chicago show on a monthly basis with American Wrestling Association (AWA) owner and champion Verne Gagne. Television tapings for any promotion in the territory days were typically marathon events, and the WWA was no exception. Jimmy wrestled three times during the six-hour session. Although the WWA was not considered part of the ‘Big Three’, the promotion was certainly not lacking in talent. Hall of Fame wrestlers such as Bruiser, Wilbur Snyder, The Crusher, Moose Cholak, Baron Von Raschke, Bobby Heenan, and Pampero Firpo, amongst many others, were mainstays on WWA cards.
Following the TV tapings, Bruiser started booking young Jimmy on house (non-televised) shows. At first, it was twice a week, eventually ramping up to five and more on a weekly basis. Gary ‘Valentine’ Molenhour was eventually eased out by Bruiser and went on to become a doctor of psychiatry. Tragically, shortly after his graduation, Molenhour was murdered by his lover’s estranged husband.
Before long, Bruiser introduced Jimmy to Edward Farhat, known to most wrestling fans as The Original Sheik. Farhat was the owner and promoter of the Detroit based Big Time Wrestling promotion. In addition to working for Bruiser and Farhat, Jimmy also did shots for Verne Gagne in the AWA, and for Sam Muchnick in the prestigious St. Louis territory. To say young Jimmy was busy is truly an understatement. I sure hope he had a Platinum membership with Firestone Tires 😊.
From there, Jimmy’s career was, to coin a phrase, off to the races. After receiving his wrestling PhD working for arguably four of the greatest promoters of all time, Jimmy packed his family and his belongings and headed to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he would be wrestling for another iconic promoter by the name of Leroy McGuirk. There, Jimmy wrestled as Jimmy ‘The Body’ Valen. The Oklahoma territory was quite large geographically, and Jimmy spent endless hours driving to each booking. Occasionally, he would ride with the legendary Danny Hodge, whose knowledge and expertise of things wrestling was only exceeded by his ability to hustle the ‘boys’ with small wagers. Jimmy’s stay in the Oklahoma territory was brief; only several months after he started, he received a call from Fritz Von Erich to work in his Dallas based promotion, with a substantial pay raise. So once again, the Valiant caravan was on the move.
It was in Dallas that Jimmy received the name ‘Valiant’. He had started in Chicago in 1964 as Jimmy Valentine and had wrestled as Jim ‘The Body’ Valen in Oklahoma. Since one of the star attractions in the Dallas territory was Johnny Valentine, Von Erich made gave Jimmy the last name Valiant, in order to avoid any confusion. If you are shaking your head after reading this, fear not; I did as well 😊. Jimmy’s stay in Dallas was very brief, but at the same time very productive. Not only did he acquire his lifetime wrestling name of Valiant, but he also wrestled as a heel for the very first time. Jimmy’s work in Dallas quickly caught the attention of Vincent J. McMahon (the original, not the current iteration), owner of the Capitol Wrestling Corporation and the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). McMahon’s WWWF was thought by many to be the pinnacle of professional wrestling, with Madison Square Garden as the mecca. Initially, Jimmy balked at the move; he had just uprooted his family for the second time in several months, and really had no interest in testing the ‘three times a charm’ adage. Von Erich asked Jimmy to go to New York for three weeks and give it a try; if, at the end of the three weeks he didn’t want to stay, his job in Dallas would be waiting for him. Jimmy went to New York and took a bite of the Big Apple, and as the saying goes, the rest is history.
Jimmy arrived at the WWWF Headquarters in Washington, D.C., on April 1, 1970, to meet the legendary Vince McMahon Sr. There, McMahon informed Jimmy that he would be wrestling the Black Demon (Tony Nero) every day for the next three weeks. Jimmy expressed his desire to McMahon to wrestle as a heel. Mr. McMahon advised Jimmy that first, he needed to get over with the fans as a babyface; then, his heel turn would be far more impactful. Vince assured Valiant that 6 months later, the heel turn would happen.
A couple of months into his WWWF run, Jimmy was teaming with the pride of Pohuska, Oklahoma (by way of Nutley, New Jersey 😊), Chief Jay Strongbow. Strongbow was the number two babyface in New York during the early seventies, whose popularity was only eclipsed by WWWF Champions Bruno Sammartino and later Pedro Morales. Valiant and Strongbow quickly became the number one contenders for the WWWF Tag Team Titles. On October 1, 1970, Jimmy turned on his partner during a tag team title match against ‘Crazy’ Luke Graham and Tarzan Tyler. ‘Gentleman Jimmy’ was now ‘Handsome Jimmy’, one of the most hated heels in the territory. For those of you who have mad math skills, this was exactly six months after Jimmy made his WWWF debut. Vincent J. McMahon was a man of his word.
On a personal note, this was my first ‘holy crap’ wrestling moment. I was 15 at the time, and watched the debacle unfold on television. I can still feel the emotions I felt when Jimmy turned on the popular Native American. I vividly remember standing up and yelling ‘holy crap!’, much to the consternation of Joe and Betty Scala (my parents). You see, at this time wrestling was very real to me, and this was the first time I saw a good guy turn bad. Ironically, about ten years later, I had a similar reaction watching Larry Zbyszko turn on my hero, Bruno Sammartino…I upgraded ‘crap’ to something a bit stronger; after all, I was 25 😊. But there is nothing quite so impactful as the first time, and Jimmy turning heel evoked huge emotions of both surprise and hate on my part. Which means that he did his job perfectly. Jimmy’s heel turn was money on every level. His weekly salary tripled from five to fifteen hundred dollars. He received several title shots against Pedro Morales for the WWWF Championship. Jimmy had come a long way from the St. Andrew’s Gymnasium!
At this point, I need to steal a scene from the movie ‘Click’. In this epic film, Michael Newman (Adam Sandler) can rewind and fast forward his life with a magical remote control he received from Morty (Christopher Walken) at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I have read Jimmy Valiant’s marvelous book ‘Woo…Mercy Daddy!’ from cover to cover, and I would literally have to replicate it in order to do Jimmy’s life story justice. For the remainder of this story, I will do an extreme fast forward, with a stop or two along the way.
One of Vince McMahon’s promises to Jimmy was that he would bring him back to the WWWF every 4 years, with a run of approximately 15 months each time. True to his word, Jimmy was back with the WWWF in 1974, and again in 1978. On May 8, 1974, Jimmy and his ‘brother’ Johnny captured the WWWF World Tag Team Titles from Dean Ho and Tony Garea. The Valiant Brothers reigned supreme atop the WWWF tag team scene for 370 days, before dropping the straps to the team of Dominic DeNucci and Victor Rivera on May 13, 1975. The Valiant Brothers also won the WWA World Tag Team Titles on four separate occasions, in addition to winning several regional championships. In this author’s humble opinion, The Valiant Brothers belong in any Mount Rushmore discussion of all-time great tag teams. What did The Valiant Brothers have in common with Fort Knox? They were both very proficient at collecting gold.
Besides the aforementioned territories, Jimmy forged legendary statuses in both the Memphis based Continental Wrestling Association (owned by Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler) and Jim Crockett Promotions. One cannot think of Memphis wrestling without thinking of Jimmy Valiant. He was such a hot commodity in the territory that Jarrett and Lawler actually bought Jimmy a house. His alliances and feuds with Lawler and Bill Dundee are textbook Wrestling 101 when it comes to storyline build as well as ring psychology. While matches and feuds are quickly forgotten in today’s environment, these classic feuds can be still viewed with fervor, almost 40 years after they happened. While in Jim Crockett Promotions, Jimmy engaged in a feud with Paul Jones’ Army that lasted nearly five years. Again, fast forward to today when programs are measured in weeks and possibly months. Jimmy, using various special attractions, such as Hair vs. Hair and Loser Leaves Town matches, was able to keep the ticket buying fans in the territory emotionally invested for a half decade.
Although Jimmy had been a heel in several of the territories (most notably WWWF but oftentimes in Memphis), he spent the latter part of his career in the 80’s as a beloved fan favorite. Once again, I hear ‘Boy From New York City’ and my mind’s eye envisions the Boogie Woogie Man dancing to the music, embracing everyone in sight, making quick work of his opponent, and then cutting a promo to Tony ‘Schiavonto’. Folks, it does not get any better than that 😊.
Jimmy was inducted into what was then the WWF (now WWE) Hall of Fame in 1996, along with his ‘brother’ Johnny. They were the very first tag team to be inducted. One can browse the pages of social media and very quickly find a heated argument regarding the relative merits and Hall of Fame worthiness of many wrestlers. I have never seen Jimmy Valiant’s name mentioned in any of these debates and can pretty much state with absolute certainty that I never will.
Two more pieces of business are in order here: first, Angel. One of my favorite words in the English language is ‘serendipity’. Serendipity is defined as ‘the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.’ On April 6, 1991, Jimmy was doing an autograph signing to commemorate the opening of a new Walmart in Pulaski, Virginia. As he was signing, he felt compelled to lift his head up; it was then that he saw his Angel. His heart immediately told him that this woman was someone incredibly special, his forever love. Mr. Valiant, never lacking in temerity and within moments after they met, asked Angel if she was married. Relieved that her answer was no, he quickly came back with ‘Do you want to be married?’ Although Angel did not accept on the spot, she did soon afterward. They were married exactly four months later, on August 6, 1991, Jimmy’s 49th Birthday. In a little over a month from the time I am writing this, Jimmy and Angel Valiant will be celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. If you ever want to see two people who are deeply in love, there is no need to look any further than Jimmy and Angel. One of the greatest things about serendipity is that is not defined by time or location. Perhaps one of the greatest serendipitous moments in history occurred at a Pulaski Walmart. Love is a beautiful thing 😊.
Second, the BWC. Boogie’s Wrestling Camp. Opened on September 6, 1992, Jimmy’s wrestling school is set in the hills of Shawsville, Virginia. For a very modest enrollment fee, you get to learn from one of the best in the business. I might propose to Mr. Valiant that the ‘C’ should stand for Compound, as the facility is huge, beautiful, and very scenic. In addition to his home and wrestling school, you will find the BWC Hall of Fame Museum, a fabulous collection of wrestling treasures on display. Aspiring wrestlers, managers, announcers and referees can get the excellent training ‘they need to succeed’ at BWC. Jimmy recently released a manual entitled ‘Blueprint To Become A Pro Wrestler.’ My copy has been ordered and is in the mail. Although I am old enough to qualify for the Senior Citizens discount at the Golden Corral, I am beyond tempted to enroll in Boogie’s Wrestling Camp, just so I can say that I am a proud alumnus. If that isn’t enough, Angel, Jimmy’s beautiful bride, designs custom ring gear. BWC is open 52 Sundays a year, from 12-4 and is free to the general public. I can tell you with absolute certainty that a road trip is in my immediate future.
And now my fellow Boogie Woogie-ites, it is time to go home. I should probably have gone home a while ago, but this gentleman is such an absolute joy and pleasure to write about, and has led such an amazing and packed life, that a few thousand words are truly a grain of sand on the beach. Jimmy was recently a guest on my podcast (hosted by Dan Sebastiano), Dan & Benny In the Ring. When I started asking him questions, I became a teenager again, one who was so engrossed by professional wrestling that neither friends, nor food (my Mom was a world class Italian cook) nor natural disasters could separate me from the television when it was on. Jimmy answered all my questions as if I were Lance Russell or Gordon Solie. If you want to hear Jimmy tell some great stories, just click right here.
There are some great people in this world, and then there are some great wrestlers in the sport we all love so much. This story is about Gentleman/Handsome/Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant, who checks all the boxes on both 😊.