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Greg "the Hammer" Valentine is a highly successful second
generation wrestler. The son of wrestling legend Johnny Valentine, Greg was
originally billed as Johnny’s brother because promoters did
not want Johnny to be viewed by fans as being too
old.
Greg “The Hammer” Valentine enjoyed a lengthy run as
one of wrestling’s most hated heels. He was well known for
two devastating moves- his elbowsmash and his figure four
leglock.
Valentine carried on in his
father’s footsteps by feuding with Wahoo McDaniel in
Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW). The battle for McDaniel's
Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship turned in a bitter feud
after Valentine broke Wahoo McDaniel’s leg (he would
rework the same angle with Chief Jay Strongbow in the
WWWF).
"The Hammer" would
go on to form many successful tag teams, oftentimes winning
tag team championship gold along the way. One of his
most successful partnerships was with "Nature Boy" Ric Flair. Valentine and
Flair went on to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship
twice from the extremely tough team of Gene Anderson and Ole
Anderson. The Anderson brothers were tough but on
two occasions, Flair and Valentine beat them for the titles
and sent both brothers to the hospital.
In addition to teaming with
Flair, Valentine also formed a successful tag team with Baron
Von Rashcke. Valentine and Von Raschke would hold
the tag team belts for six months before losing to Jimmy Snuka
and Paul Orndorff. After the title loss, Valentine
headed to the WWF where he feuded with Chief Jay Strongbow
after breaking Strongbow's leg.
When he returned
to MACW, Valentine found that his old partner Ric Flair had
turned babyface. Valentine then formed a team
with the legendary Ray "The Crippler"
Stevens The two went on to win the NWA World
Tag Team Championship from Jay
Youngblood and Ricky Steamboat in an extremely
controversial match where there was some question as to
whether the legal man had been pinned. When MACW
announcer David Crockett said that he
had footage of the tainted win, Stevens and Valentine
destroyed the tape. Valentine and Stevens would feud
with Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood before losing the
titles to them.
New York was calling again
and so Valentine returned to the WWF where he had a memorable
program against WWF champion Bob
Backlund. At one point, the WWF title was held up
due to confusion over whether Valentine had defeated Backlund
for the title. Valentine continued to maintain his
reputation as a wrestler who liked to hurt people when he
suplexed Pedro Morales outside the ring on the cement floor,
injuring the former WWWF champion.
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The December 1984 issue of
Pro Wrestling Illustrated's cover story was on
the brutality of Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. By
this point in his career, Valentine had earned a
reputation as one of the toughest men in professional
wrestling. Valentine was winding his career down
in the NWA and was getting ready to move to the WWF
where he would continue his destructive ways.
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After his latest stint in the
WWF, Valentine returned to MACW where he kept himself busy
terrorizing the babyfaces. One particularly vicious
incident occured when Valentine pleaded with former partner
Ric Flair to team up with him and take on Jimmy Snuka and the Iron Sheik.
Valentine told Flair that he had changed his ways and played
on their old friendship. Flair agreed only to find
Valentine refusing to tag him during their match against Snuka
and the Sheik. After the match, Valentine broke manager
Gene Anderson's cane over Flair's
nose, breaking the cane as well as the nose.
Flair and Valentine began a
violent feud with the United States Heavyweight Championship
exchanging hands along the way. At one point in the
feud, Valentine appeared on tv in a suit to tell the fans that
Flair was washed up only to be stripped to his underwear by an
irate Flair. Flair then pummelled Valentine in the ring
until Bobby Duncum jumped into the ring and laid Flair out
with a steel chair.
"The Hammer" also battled with
Flair's ally Sweet Ebony Diamond over the Mid-Atlantic
Television Title. Valentine and Diamond ended up
wrestling each other in the tournament final to crown a new tv
champ. While Diamond won the title in the final,
Valentine challenged him in rematches and the two traded the
belt back and forth over the summer of 1981.
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Greg "The Hammer" Valentine wrestled Sweet Ebony Diamond in some
exciting bouts over the Mid-Atlantic Television Title as
seen here in an episode of Mid-Atlantic Championship
Wrestling. |
After losing the U.S. Title to
Flair, Valentine continued to campaign for the U.S.
Title. At one point he renewed his feud with Wahoo
McDaniel, winning the U.S. Title from McDaniel. Around
that time, Valentine became a member of Sir Oliver
Humperdink's "House of Humperdink" heel stable.
Then Valentine entered into one
of his bloodiest feuds ever when he battled Roddy Piper over the U.S. Title.
After dropping the belt to Piper, Valentine regained it in a
bloody affair which saw him use the title belt to
pound Piper's ear into hamburger. The referee
stopped the match after he felt Piper was unable to continue
and Valentine was awarded the belt. The injury nearly
ended Piper's career causing the Rowdy Scot to seek
revenge on Valentine. The feud culminated in a Dog
Collar Match at the first Starcade.
When Piper left MACW, Valentine
was challenged by Dick Slater for the U.S. Championship.
For a brief time, Valentine turned babyface. After he
lost the U.S. Title to Slater, Valentine heard the call of the
WWF. Like many of his MACW colleagues, Valentine was
lured to the WWF by Vince McMahon Jr. who planned on turning
the WWF into a national promotion.
After arriving in the WWF, it
didn't take Valentine long to start wreaking havoc, especially
with Captain Lou Albano as his manager.
Valentine worked his way into the title picture and
soon faced Tito Santana for the
Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship.
Valentine attacked Santana before the match, injuring the
champ's knee. Never one to pass on an opportunity,
Valentine capitalized on Santana's injury and applied the
Figure Four leglock, further injuring Santana and putting him
in the hospital.
While Santana recovered from his
injury, Valentine defended the Intercontinental Championship
including an appearance at the first Wrestlemania where he
lost by countout to the Junkyard
Dog. When Santana was cleared to wrestle, he feuded
with Valentine for several months before he finally got
Valentine in a steel cage match and regained the
title.
After his loss to
Santana, Valentine returned to tag team action,
pairing with the rookie Brutus Beefcake and winning the WWF
Tag Team Titles from Barry Windham
and Mike Rotundo. The two became known as "The Dream Team" and
held on to the WWF Tag Team Championship for several months
before losing the belts to the British Bulldogs at
Wrestlemania III.
Valentine continued to
wrestle in the WWF for many years in the WWF, always
eager to hurt someone or end their career. Valentine
feuded with "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin and beat Garvin in a
retirement match. Later on, he formed a tag team with
the Honkey Tonk Man
known as Rhythm and Blues. Valentine dyed his hair black
and teamed with the Honkey Tonk Man before splitting up with
him. After the split, Valentine turned face, a rare
occasion during his
career.
After leaving
the WWF, Valentine appeared in World Championship Wrestling
(WCW) where he teamed up with Terry Taylor to win the U.S. Tag
Team Championship. Valentine briefly returned to the WWF
in 1993 when he appeared as the masked Blue Knight at Survivor
Series. Valentine then appeared on the independent
circuit and made a few appearances on WCW during the Monday
Night War. In 2004, Valentine was inducted into the WWE
Hall of Fame. | 
