The Valiant Brothers were a

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

of storyline brothers "Handsome"

Jimmy Valiant James Harold Fanning (born August 6, 1942) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Jimmy Valiant. Early life Fanning was born in Tullahoma as the youngest of five children of James and Effie Fanning. He later incorpo ...

, "Luscious"

Johnny Valiant John L. Sullivan (born Thomas Sullivan; November 25, 1946 – April 4, 2018) was an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by his ring name, Johnny Valiant. He competed in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which be ...

, and "Gentleman"

Jerry Valiant John Steele Hill (July 8, 1941 – March 10, 2010) was a Canadian professional wrestler best known under the ring names Guy Mitchell, The Stomper and "Gentleman" Jerry Valiant. During his career, he held the top singles titles in Australia and Va ...

. The team wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation (WWWF/WWF) and the

World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish) is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora Jr.. It featured some of Mexico's best ''luchadores'' a ...

(WWA).

History

Jimmy and Johnny (1973–1978)

World Wrestling Association (1973-1974)

and

formed a

as storyline brothers. They began wrestling together as heels. They debuted as a team on 5 January 1974 when they defeated

Dick the Bruiser William Fritz Afflis (June 27, 1929 – November 10, 1991) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and former NFL player, better known by his ring name, Dick the Bruiser. During his NFL days he played four seasons with the Green Bay Pac ...

and

Bruno Sammartino Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held the WWWF World Heavywe ...

to win the

WWA World Tag Team Championship The WWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title in the Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. A ...

. The titles were held up after a match against Bruiser and Sammartino on 25 January. On 7 February, they defeated Bruiser and Sammartino in a rematch to win the titles a second time. Despite being heels, who usually are hated by the crowd, the Valiant Brothers were cheered by the audience during their second reign. Their tenure with WWA ended after they lost the tag titles to Wilbur Snyder and Pepper Gomez on 4 May.

World Wide Wrestling Federation (1974–1975)

Jimmy and Johnny signed with Vincent J. McMahon's

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing ...

(WWWF) in May 1974 and debuted there around soon after. Their biggest success as a tag team came when they defeated

Tony Garea Anthony Gareljich (born 20 September 1946) is a New Zealand retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tony Garea. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestl ...

and Dean Ho to win the WWWF World Tag Team Championship on the 8 May 1974 edition of ''All Star Wrestling''. The Valiants quickly became a dominant heel tag team as they went on to successfully defend their titles for over a year before losing them to

Dominic DeNucci Domenico A. Nucciarone (January 23, 1932 – August 12, 2021) was an Italian-American professional wrestler and trainer better known under his ring name of Dominic DeNucci. He held over a dozen championships around the world in the 1960s and 197 ...

and Victor Rivera on 13 May 1975. This made the Valiant Brothers the longest reigning champions of their era with a reign of 370 days. The record was broken fourteen years later by Demolition ( Ax and Smash), who reigned as tag team champions for 470 days. After losing the titles, the Valiants battled against the likes of Tony Garea, Dean Ho, Chief Jay Strongbow and

Haystacks Calhoun William Dee Calhoun (August 3, 1934 – December 7, 1989) was an American professional wrestler, who used the professional name "Haystack" or "Haystacks" Calhoun. Early life Born on August 3, 1934, William Dee Calhoun grew up on a farm i ...

National Wrestling Alliance (1976–1978)

In 1976, Jimmy and Johnny left WWWF and joined the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) where they toured various NWA territories. They debuted in

Georgia Championship Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades before, the National W ...

(GCW) in the summer of 1976. On 16 July 1976, they defeated Dean Ho and Ken Mantell to win the

NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship The NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship was the top tag team championship in Georgia Championship Wrestling from 1968 to 1980, when it was replaced with the NWA National Tag Team Championship. The title was revived in 1998 by Music City Wrestling ...

. On 10 September, they lost the titles to Porkchop Cash and Tom Jones. They joined San Francisco, California-based NWA San Francisco where they defeated the Royal Kangaroos ( Jonathan Boyd and Norman Frederick Charles III) on 4 December 1976. They lost the titles to Pat Patterson and Pepper Gomez on 9 February 1977. Later that same year, they joined

Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to as ...

(CWF). In January 1978, they were awarded the

NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship The Florida version of the NWA United States Tag Team Championship was a major professional wrestling tag team championship. The title was defended sporadically in the National Wrestling Alliance affiliated Championship Wrestling from Florida fr ...

. On 25 January 1978, they lost the titles to Florida natives Mike Graham and Steve Keirn.

Jerry and Johnny (1978–1980)

World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation (1978–1979)

In 1978, the Valiant Brothers returned to WWWF but Jimmy retired and was replaced by "brother"

. Jerry and Johnny began wrestling in the

division while Jimmy became their manager. In March 1979, the promotion was renamed the World Wrestling Federation, dropping 'Wide' from the name. On the 24 March 1979 edition of ''

Championship Wrestling ''WWF Championship Wrestling'' is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It aired from 1971 to August 30, 1986 and was the original television show of the WWF. Originally produced u ...

'', Jerry and Johnny defeated Larry Zbyzsko and

to win the

WWF Tag Team Championship The World Tag Team Championship was the original professional wrestling world tag team championship in the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) promotion, and the promotion's third tag team championship overall. Originally established by the then- ...

. This second version of the Valiant Brothers was also successful, but Jerry could not achieve the popularity which Jimmy had achieved. On 13 July 1979, they retained the championship in a match against The Jaguar of Colombia and Tito Santana. Jerry and Johnny lost the titles to

Ivan Putski Józef Bednarski (born January 21, 1941) is a Polish former professional wrestler and bodybuilder, best known by the ring name Ivan Putski. He was given the nicknames "The Polish Hammer" and "Polish Power". Putski is a former WWF World Tag Team ...

and

Tito Santana Merced Solis (born May 10, 1953), better known by the ring name Tito Santana, is a retired American professional wrestler and middle school teacher. Santana has stayed a babyface his entire career and he is best known for his appearances with ...

on 22 October. After unsuccessful attempts in winning back the titles from Putski and Santana, the Valiant Brothers broke up in 1980, putting an end to the team.

Aftermath

Jimmy and Johnny were inducted into the

WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously i ...

class of 1996 by

Owen Hart Owen James Hart (May 7, 1965 – May 23, 1999) was a Canadian-American professional wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and the World Wres ...

and "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith. All three Valiant Brothers have reunited on the independent circuit during the 2000s. Jerry died on 10 March 2010 in Indianapolis after a battle with advanced Alzheimer's on set by post-concussion syndrome, while Johnny died on 4 April 2018 after being involved in a pickup truck crash in Ross Township, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, thereby ending any possibility of a reunion. Jimmy still wrestles for independent shows.

Championships and accomplishments

Jimmy and Johnny Valiant

** NWA United States Tag Team Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 1 time) *

( 1 time) * NWA San Francisco ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(San Francisco version)'' ( 1 time) *

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

** PWI Tag Team of the Year award in 1974 *

World Wrestling Association (Indianapolis) The World Wrestling Association was an Indianapolis-based professional wrestling promotion which was operated by Dick the Bruiser and his business partner Wilbur Snyder. It was affiliated with the larger American Wrestling Association and recogni ...

(

4 times "4 Times" (stylized as "4 TIMES") is the 50th single by pop/ R&B singer Koda Kumi. It was released on August 17, 2011 and debuted at No. 6, remaining on the Oricon charts for nine consecutive weeks. In commemoration of it being the fiftieth singl ...

) * World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation ** WWWF World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) ** WWF Hall of Fame ( Class of 1996)

Jerry and Johnny Valiant

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

( 1 time)

References

External links

Valiant Brothers' WWE Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valiant Brothers, The American Wrestling Association teams and stables WWE teams and stables WWE Hall of Fame inductees WWE Hall of Fame team inductees WWE World Tag Team Champions The Heenan Family members