Athletes - Greg Valentine

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	Athletes - Greg Valentine

John Anthony Wisniski Jr. (born September 10, 1951 in Seattle, Washington) is an American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestling legend Johnny Valentine.

Career

Training

After travelling around Texas in his teens with his father during a summer vacation, John Wisniski, Jr. decided to drop out of college and become a wrestler. His father initially tried to deter him, but eventually acceded to his wishes and sent him to Canada in 1970 to train under the legendary Stu Hart in Calgary. Wisniski remained in Canada for a year, wrestling his debut match in July 1970 against Angelo "King Kong" Mosca (he lost in around five minutes). Six months later, Wisniski relocated to Detroit to complete his training under The Sheik.

The Fargo Brothers

Initially reluctant to take his father's ring name, Wisniski wrestled as Baby Face Nelson before becoming Johnny Fargo, one half of The Fargo Brothers with Don Fargo between 1971 and 1974. The Fargo Brothers initially competed in the Buffalo and Cleveland based National Wrestling Federation before moving on to Texas. In 1974 they split and Wisniski went to Florida, where he began performing as Johnny Valentine, Jr., hopeful that he could live up to his father's legacy. He later changed his ring name to Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, and was billed as Johnny Valentine's brother, not his son, because of fears that the elder Valentine would be thought of as too old to be a legitimate threat. Greg Valentine remained in Florida for a year while also working in Los Angeles and in Japan under Antonio Inoki in 1975 and early 1976.

National Wrestling Alliance

In August 1976, Valentine debuted in George Scott's Mid-Atlantic promotion, an affiliate of the National Wrestling Alliance based in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Valentine was hired to replace his father, who hard been force to retire after he broke his back in a plane crash in 1975. He immediately began feuding with Johnny Weaver, who he "retired" with a top rope elbow drop. Valentine's elbow drop was promoted as a deadly move, with tapes of him breaking wooden boards with his elbow shown to the audiences before his debut.

Valentine then formed a tag team with Ric Flair, with whom he twice won the NWA World Tag Team Championships and held the Mid Atlantic Tag Team Championships (between June 30 and August 22, 1977). They first defeated Flair's "cousins" Gene and Ole Anderson on December 26, 1976 in Greensboro, injuring Gene so badly that he had to be stretchered out. They held the titles until May 8, 1977, when the Andersons defeated them in a steel cage match in the Charlotte Coliseum. Flair and Valentine regained the tag titles from the Andersons on October 30, 1977, this time leaving Ole unable to leave under his own power. The team split after they were stripped of the titles in April 1978 by NWA president Eddie Graham as a result of their "unprofessional conduct". Flair then set his sights on the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, while Valentine held the NWA World Tag Team Championships once more with Baron Von Raschke in 1978.

At the same time, Valentine feuded with Chief Wahoo McDaniel over the NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship. Wahoo had cost Valentine and Flair their first tag team championships (Wahoo, the then-nemesis of Flair, had been the special referee in the steel cage match), so Valentine was eager for revenge. On June 11, 1977 in Raleigh he defeated Wahoo, breaking his leg in the process. Though Wahoo's legs were too thick for Valentine to apply his signature Figure Four leglock, he managed to break Wahoo's ankle using a Leg/Ankle Suplex. The heel Valentine then began wearing a T-Shirt with the slogan "I broke Wahoo's leg" on the front and "No more Wahoo" on the back. Wahoo returned on August 9, 1977 and took back the title. Valentine would hold the title once more, defeating Wahoo again on September 10, 1977 and losing to Ken Patera on April 9, 1978.

World Wide Wrestling Federation

Valentine began working on a casual basis for the World Wide Wrestling Federation, then owned by Vincent J. McMahon, in 1979. Managed by The Grand Wizard, he was given the gimmick of a methodical wrestler who broke the legs of all his opponents, including Chief Jay Strongbow. In his debut match, he faced WWWF World Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund and fought him to a one hour draw.

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