The Hollywood Blonds is a name used by several professional wrestling tag teams over the years.
103-493: The original Blonds were Buddy Roberts and Jerry Brown, who used the name in the 1970s. Rip Rogers and Ted Oates wrestled as The Hollywood Blonds in the mid-1980s in the National Wrestling Alliance 's (NWA) Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). The name was also adopted by "Pretty Boy" Larry Sharpe and "Dynamite" Jack Evans, who had a stint in then World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). The most well-known team to use
206-881: 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 title and held the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship (between June 30 and August 22, 1977). They first defeated Gene and Ole Anderson on December 26, 1976 (who nine years later would become in storyline Flair's "cousins" ) in Greensboro , injuring Gene so badly that he had to be stretchered out. They held
309-606: A Hollywood Blonds inspired team known as The Convertible Blondes in Angelo Poffo's International Championship Wrestling (ICW). The arrogant heel team defeated Ron Garvin and Oates' storyline brother, Jerry, to win the NWA National Tag Team Championship on September 20, 1984. Rogers and Oates held on to the titles for a little over a month. They lost the titles to The Lightning Express ( Brad Armstrong and Tim Horner ) on November 1. Not long after losing
412-792: A back rub, which he claimed was the secret of his success. Vanessa began training with the Hart Brothers in the late 1990s. Vanessa died of cancer in 2014. He is a born again Christian and occasionally speaks at high schools and colleges with Ted DiBiase . He is also a part of Christian wrestling organization, World Impact Wrestling. He is the brother-in-law of wrestler Brian Knobbs . Valentine has appeared on an episode of Hogan Knows Best as one of Hulk's party guests. He also co-starred in Fuse 's Insane Clown Posse Theater along with Insane Clown Posse members Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope . The cast
515-450: A cake with a dog collar inside, the two had a series of brutal dog collar matches , most notably at Starrcade 1983 , where Piper pinned Valentine in a non-title match after repeatedly whipping him with the steel chain. The feud was intensified by Valentine's propensity to focus on Piper's ear, which had been injured earlier in his career and would bleed easily. Piper would eventually defeat Valentine on April 16, 1983, but Valentine regained
618-735: A legitimate threat. Valentine remained in Florida for a year while also working in Los Angeles and in Japan under Antonio Inoki in 1975 and early 1976. In August 1976, Valentine debuted in Jim Crockett Jr. 's Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and booked by George Scott , an affiliate of the National Wrestling Alliance based in the Carolinas and Virginias . Valentine was hired to replace his father, who had been forced to retire after he broke his back in
721-500: A long-standing feud with Von Erich ally Chris Adams , which lasted on and off for more than five years. Roberts' most famous singles angle came in WCCW in 1983, and involved the invention of what the Freebirds referred to as "Freebird Hair Removal Cream". The angle culminated in a hair match between Roberts and Iceman Parsons on June 17. Roberts seemingly won the match via tight-pulling, but
824-594: A methodical wrestler who broke the legs of all his opponents, including Chief Jay Strongbow . In February 1979, he wrestled then WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund to a one-hour time-limit draw at Madison Square Garden . Valentine returned to the NWA in late 1979 and asked Flair to reform their tag team. Flair, by then a face , declined. Valentine held the NWA World Tag Team Championship once more with Ray Stevens in 1980. Four days after their victory,
927-400: A new tag team comprising Jack Donovan and veteran journeyman Jerry Brown. After Donovan left the promotion following a dispute with Watts, Watts hired Hey in his place. Hey was renamed "Buddy Roberts" and began teaming with Brown as The Hollywood Blonds . In 1972, Oliver Humperdink began managing The Hollywood Blonds. The team of Brown and Roberts won numerous regional tag team titles across
1030-713: A new tag team partner. Not long after the Clash, Paul Roma was introduced as the fourth Horseman and would team with Anderson in the Horsemen/Blonds feud. On July 18, at Beach Blast , Roma and Anderson were beaten by the Blonds, who cheated to retain their titles. Not long after Beach Blast, Pillman injured his ankle and was unable to compete at a scheduled title match at Clash of the Champions XXIV . However, due to WCW taping policies , Arn Anderson and Paul Roma had already been taped as
1133-401: A ring announcer, and began aggravating Valentine. At SummerSlam 1989 , for his match with Hercules , Garvin announced Valentine as being Hercules' "so-called opponent" and at 249 lbs looking to Garvin like he was "overweight by thirty pounds" as he approached the ring. Other insults by Garvin during the introduction included Valentine not knowing whether he was "coming or going" and being
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#17328691069011236-495: A rotated shin guard of his own, which he dubbed "the Hammer Jammer". The feud culminated in a submission match at the 1990 Royal Rumble . Garvin utilized the "Hammer Jammer" during the match, using it to "counter" Valentine's figure-four leglock when Valentine applied it on Garvin during the match (rather than writhing in pain as normal during the hold, Garvin was smiling and making faces at Valentine). Jimmy Hart managed to remove
1339-520: A seventeen-man battle royal to become the IWA Heavyweight Champion. He lost the title to Tito Santana at WrestleReunion #2 on August 27 of that year. Valentine also wrestled for several independent promotions, including AWA Superstars of Wrestling , which toured New England . In AWA Superstars of Wrestling, Valentine regularly wrestled Tony Atlas . On October 3, 2005, Valentine made an appearance at WWE Homecoming , and on October 23 he
1442-501: A short stay in Florida, the duo began working for Jim Crockett ’s Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW). On January 17, 1977, Roberts and Brown defeated the team of Dino Bravo and Tim Woods for the NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship and held on to it for three months until Bravo and new partner Tiger Conway Jr. beat them for the gold. During the summer of 1977, the Hollywood Blonds moved from Mid-Atlantic to Memphis and
1545-669: A television taping in the Penta Hotel in New York City, defeating Sonny Blaze. He later defeated Mike Durham at the same taping, and was interviewed by Albano, his former WWF manager in the "Captain Lou's Corner" segment on UWF television. However his stay in the UWF was technically only for that TV taping; as with Andre the Giant, Vince McMahon responded to Abram's announcement by luring Greg Valentine back to
1648-514: Is over" to further annoy the fans. Austin and Pillman made their pay-per-view (PPV) debut on February 21, 1993 taking on Buff Bagwell and Erik Watts at SuperBrawl III , which Austin and Pillman won the match. On the March 27, 1993 episode of Power Hour , Austin and Pillman defeated Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas to win their only NWA/WCW World Tag Team Championship. Though Steamboat and Douglas had several rematches, they were unable to recapture
1751-547: The Buffalo and Cleveland based National Wrestling Federation before moving on to Texas. They split in 1974 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
1854-621: The Dynamite Kid ). At WrestleMania III , The Dream Team defeated the Rougeau Brothers as a result of interference by Johnny V and Dino Bravo . Upset because of a missed move by Beefcake during the match, Valentine left with Bravo and abandoned Beefcake, resulting in Brutus turning face later on in the night. Replacing Beefcake with Dino Bravo, Valentine formed the New Dream Team . Valentine
1957-639: The Hamilton based International Championship Wrestling promotion and with the American Wrestling Federation . Starting in the summer of 1996, Valentine made several appearances with WCW over the course of the next two years. He was used on a pay-per-appearance basis, but was rarely utilized and was allowed to continue wrestling on the independent circuit. On July 1, 1996, Valentine faced Randy Savage on WCW Monday Nitro in Landover, Maryland . Valentine
2060-447: The NWA 's Jim Crockett Promotions , before Roberts retired from wrestling. Roberts also had a short feud with World Class referee David Manning, which included several gimmick matches, such as Roberts wrestling with one arm tied behind his back. Manning, who was touted as an accomplished amateur wrestler by the promotion to compensate for the obvious size difference between the two, won most of
2163-537: The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship four times between December 1974 and August 1975, defeating such teams as Victor Rivera and Louie Tillet, Porkchop Cash and S.D. Jones , John Tolos and Louis Tillet, and the promotion's biggest tag-team attraction Black Gorman and Goliath. During their time in Los Angeles, the Hollywood Blonds were also involved in an angle that saw the Los Angeles version of
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#17328691069012266-644: The NWA North American Tag Team Championship shift over to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as their main tag team title of that day. On August 1, 1975, reigning champions Antonio Inoki and Seiji Sakaguchi fought the Hollywood Blonds to a no contest , after which the titles were declared vacant . A rematch in Nagoya, Japan saw the Blonds win the North American Tag Team titles on September 22. On October 2, Inoki and Sakaguchi regained
2369-602: The NWA United States Heavyweight Championship , WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship , WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship , NWA World Tag Team Championship , and WWF World Tag Team Championship . An alumnus of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling , the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling , he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2004 and
2472-633: 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
2575-472: The NWA world title , and told Pillman he should instead team with Austin. However, the real reason for the team's reunion was that the WCW bookers didn't have any other immediate plans for Austin. At first, the two were just billed as "Stunning" Steve and "Flyin'" Brian, but the two (with input from Scotty "Flamingo" Levy ) came up with the idea of The Hollywood Blonds, complete with matching trunks and vests. The duo
2678-493: The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Tri-State territory (NWA Tri State promoted in Oklahoma , Arkansas , Louisiana and Mississippi ). The two quickly became one of the top heel acts in the territory with their "Hollywood superstar" arrogance and cheating ways. On May 8, 1970, the Blonds won their first title when they won a tournament to crown new NWA United States Tag Team Champions (Tri State version). Their first run with
2781-575: The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016. Born in Seattle, Washington , Wisniski traveled around Texas in his teens with his father; Johnny Valentine . During a summer vacation, he decided to drop out of college and become a wrestler. His father initially tried to deter him, but eventually ceded to his wishes and sent him to Canada in 1970 to train under Stu Hart in Calgary . Wisniski
2884-563: The United States throughout the 1970s. They would disband in 1978. After splitting from Brown, Roberts joined with Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy to form The Fabulous Freebirds . Again, Bill Watts played a major role in this decision. Hayes and Gordy had been teaming together in various promotions in the Mid-South and Southeastern regions of the United States for several years, but Watts
2987-499: The WCW United States Heavyweight Championship . After Pillman finally recovered, he and Austin had a few more matches together taking on teams such as Marcus Alexander Bagwell and 2 Cold Scorpio , Scorpio and Ron Simmons , Simmons and Ice Train , and jobber tag team Frankie Rowe and Jimmy Rogers. The Blonds also confronted The Nasty Boys and Missy Hyatt during an interview after The Nasty Boys had won
3090-499: The "Hammer Jammer" from Garvin's leg, after which Valentine systematically wore down Garvin's leg, but eventually lost after Garvin hit him with the Heartbreaker and applied a sharpshooter , forcing Valentine to submit. Shortly after, Valentine formed a tag team with The Honky Tonk Man. For around eight months Valentine resisted dying his hair black (an idea of Jesse "The Body" Ventura ) but eventually relented and since Honky Tonk Man
3193-541: The "Hollywood Blonds" moniker was "Stunning" Steve Austin and "Flyin" Brian Pillman who used the name as a heel tag team in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1992 and 1993 and is often mentioned when talking about great tag teams. Keith Roberson was also a Hollywood Blond The team of Buddy Roberts (billed as "Dale Roberts") and Jerry Brown were the first to adopt the name "The Hollywood Blonds" in wrestling when they began teaming together in 1970 in
Hollywood Blonds - Misplaced Pages Continue
3296-655: The 1980s. He was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015 and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016 as part of The Fabulous Freebirds. Hey was raised in Newton, Surrey and went to Princess Margaret High School, in BC Canada graduating in 1965. After school, he worked in local lumber mills as well as being a bouncer at nightclubs including the Grooveyard in New Westminster. He became an American citizen in 1974. Hey
3399-680: The CGPW Championship against Koko B. Ware in Cornwall, after Koko defeated Valentine in a non-title match, on the previous night, in Ottawa. Valentine was successful in defeating Koko in Cornwall, though the title was vacated due to inactivity. In late 2007, Valentine made an appearance in JCW or Juggalo Championship Wrestling reforming the Dream Team with Brutus Beefcake . in an 8 team elimination match for
3502-538: The Champions XX , Bobby Eaton & Arn Anderson defeated Slater and Valentine in a rare heel vs heel match. In September 1992 Valentine engaged in a house show feud with Van Hammer and was undefeated. In the fall he continued to team with Slater in matches against The Steiner Brothers . On television, Valentine's fortunes continued to wane. On the October 11, 1992 edition of WCW Pro he was defeated by Shane Douglas . On
3605-590: The Freebirds' 5th reign, the reign carried over after the title's name was changed to the WCWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship since they were the champions during the time the name change occurred. Greg Valentine Jonathan Anthony Wisniski (born September 20, 1951) is a retired American professional wrestler , better known as Greg " the Hammer " Valentine . He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine . Over five decades, Valentine held more than 40 championships , including
3708-483: The Harts' tag team title defences against Valentine and Honky were relegated to opening match status. Famously during the time of Rhythm and Blues, WWF announcer Gorilla Monsoon would proclaim every time Valentine got on the microphone and sang (while also attempting to play a guitar) that "if you hung The Hammer for being a good singer you would hang an innocent person". In mid December his partner The Honky Tonk Man departed
3811-505: The Hollywood Blonds. The impersonation drew Ric Flair back in the ring at Clash of the Champions XXIII , where Flair and Anderson challenged the Blonds for the tag team titles. Despite winning the two out of three falls match , they did not win the titles since the Blonds were disqualified after Barry Windham interfered. Windham's attack shifted Flair's focus away from the Hollywood Blonds, which in turn meant that Arn Anderson needed
3914-593: The NWA Mid-America promotion (later Continental Wrestling Association , CWA). In Memphis, the Blonds shot up the tag team ranks right off the bat defeating Bob Ellis and Jim Garvin for the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship on July 25. The Blonds lost the titles to Norvell Austin and Pat Barrett on August 15. After holding the titles two more times, the team lost them for good to Austin and Barrett on September 25, 1977. Shortly after losing
4017-533: The October 19, 1992 taping of WCW Saturday Night he arrived to learn that he was to lose to Sting on that night's taping. In addition he was not scheduled to be booked at any upcoming events, and Valentine resigned from the promotion. He reappeared in the WWF at the 1993 Survivor Series under a mask as The Blue Knight in an elimination match pitting Shawn Michaels (who was substituting for Jerry Lawler ) and his three "knights" (who also included Barry Horowitz as
4120-577: The Red Knight and Jeff Gaylord as the Black Knight) against the Hart Family. He would return again, as Greg Valentine, at the 1994 Royal Rumble , lasting over twenty minutes before being eliminated by Rick Martel . That summer Valentine would wrestle three times on a July house show tour, facing Bob Backlund on each occasion. Valentine went on to tour the independent circuit , wrestling in Japan, with
4223-521: The Southern Tag Team titles, Brown and Roberts split up, with Roberts going on to form The Fabulous Freebirds with Terry Gordy and Michael Hayes while Brown kept working as a singles wrestler mainly in the south. In 1984, Rip Rogers and Ted Oates adopted the Hollywood Blonds moniker and "Superstar" gimmick for a run in the NWA's Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling territory. Rogers had previously teamed up with Gary Royal and Pez Whatley in
Hollywood Blonds - Misplaced Pages Continue
4326-612: The Von Erichs. Gordy eventually left Roberts to rejoin Hayes, turning on Roberts and cutting his hair instead of Hayes' after winning a loser-lose-hair cage match over Hayes at the 5th Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions . Roberts, declaring his former partners to be traitors for befriending the Von Erichs and himself the last true Freebird, acted as a manager to the Samoan Swat Team . The feud ended in late 1988 when Hayes and Gordy left for
4429-545: The WWF World Heavyweight Championship tournament at WrestleMania IV , where he defeated Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat in the first round before losing to "Macho Man" Randy Savage , the eventual winner of the tournament, in the quarter-finals. In May 1988, Jimmy Hart fitted Valentine's left shin with a shin guard, citing a mysterious injury to his wrestler, and proclaiming the shin guard as Valentine's "road to
4532-454: The WWF in 1996, but not as the Blonds. Austin by then was using his new "Stone Cold" persona, and an injured Pillman was "The Loose Cannon" and acted primarily as his sidekick, until Austin turned on Pillman for showing his admiration for Austin's nemesis, Bret Hart . According to WrestlingData.com, a compiler of available win–loss records, The Hollywood Blonds are perfectly balanced at 52-52, with 8 draws. In 1999, Lenny Lane and Lodi used
4635-524: The WWF not to dismiss Valentine). In April 1989 he began feuding with "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin . Two weeks after WrestleMania V (where he teamed with the Jimmy Hart managed Honky Tonk Man in a loss to the now babyface Hart Foundation), he defeated Garvin in a retirement match on Superstars of Wrestling by reversing a small package and holding on to the ropes. Garvin became a referee until Valentine and Hart managed to have him fired. Garvin then became
4738-509: The WWF. In an interview in 2000, Valentine stated that Abrams retaliated by withholding payment for his appearances in the UWF. During this period, Valentine also visited Egypt where he challenged local champion Mamdouh Farag . Conscious of his diminishing status, Valentine left the WWF and signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1992. He made his debut on February 4, 1992, at a house show in Norfolk, Virginia. Teaming with Terry Taylor ,
4841-531: The World Tag Team Champions so the title change had to happen despite Pillman being injured. Austin teamed with "Lord" Steven Regal at the Clash where they dropped the titles to Roma and Anderson. As soon as the Blonds dropped the titles, the team was again temporarily split up. Austin and Pillman both claimed that it was for political reasons. Austin was given a singles push challenging Dustin Rhodes for
4944-598: The World Wrestling Federation. An angle was recorded on December 28, 1990, at Madison Square Garden where he was defeated by Saba Simba after accidentally being hit by Jimmy Hart's guitar; afterwards he almost attacked his manager and began to be cheered by the fans. On January 7, 1991, the angle was furthered. In a match that saw Davey Boy Smith defeat Dino Bravo, Valentine was again accidentally hit by Jimmy Hart's megaphone. This time Valentine attacked Jimmy Hart and turned face. However, Valentine abruptly departed
5047-526: 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 and losing to Ken Patera on April 9, 1978. Valentine began working on a casual basis for the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), then owned by Vincent J. McMahon , in November 1978. Managed by The Grand Wizard , he was given the gimmick of
5150-516: The company and along with the Honky Tonk Man's aforementioned departure from the WWF this effectively cancelled the planned feud with Valentine. On January 19, 1991, Valentine participated in the fourth annual Royal Rumble match. He lasted forty four minutes. On the February 17, 1991 edition of Wrestling Challenge , the WWF aired footage from the incident with Jimmy Hart at Madison Square Garden at
5253-458: The company, defeating Skinner at a house show on January 25, 1992, in Chicago, Illinois. Herb Abrams had aggressive plans for his Universal Wrestling Federation , announcing the signings of name wrestlers such as Andre the Giant , Steve Williams , The Killer Bees , and Bob Orton . Added to this list was Greg Valentine, who joined the company on January 9, 1991. He made his debut that night at
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#17328691069015356-480: The concrete floor of the arena. Valentine was not successful in winning this title either, and in mid-1982 left the promotion. Valentine would hold the United States Championship twice more, renewing his feud with Wahoo in 1982 and defeating him for the title on November 4 with the assistance of his manager , Sir Oliver Humperdink . Roddy Piper began pursuing the title, and, after Piper gave Valentine
5459-414: The dazed referee. The title was held up, and Backlund defeated Valentine cleanly in the November 23 rematch. In January 1982, Valentine met Backlund yet again, this time in a steel cage, for the WWF Heavyweight Championship at the Philadelphia Spectrum , which Backlund won. He also feuded with Pedro Morales over the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship , who he "injured" by suplexing him on
5562-404: The decision was reversed and the match restarted. In the fracas, Roberts' head was lathered in the hair removal cream. At subsequent events, Roberts wore a wig, kept in place by boxing headgear. In 1984, Roberts and the Freebirds had a short stint in the World Wrestling Federation , mainly competing in six-man tag matches. Here, they were managed by Cyndi Lauper 's manager, David Wolff. They left
5665-415: The duo defeated Marcus Alexander Bagwell and Tom Zenk . On February 15, 1992, he made his debut on television. Two weeks later, he teamed again with Terry Taylor to defeat Ron Simmons and Big Josh to win the WCW United States Tag Team Championship . Throughout the spring the duo successfully defended the belts against Zenk and Bagwell on various house shows. On May 17, 1992, at WrestleWar 92 they lost
5768-416: The end of 1990. This began the televised process of his face turn. Valentine lost to the Jimmy Hart managed Earthquake at WrestleMania VII , and was defeated again at SummerSlam 1991 by Irwin R. Schyster . He participated in the 1992 Royal Rumble for the vacated WWF Championship, where he attacked his old rival Ric Flair before being eliminated by the Repo Man . Later that month he finished his run with
5871-465: The feud with Steamboat and Douglas ended, the Blonds were programmed with the recently reformed Four Horsemen , who at the time consisted of Ric Flair , Paul Roma , and Ole and Arn Anderson . Flair had recently returned from a run with then World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and been given a talk show segment called " A Flair for the Gold " to give Flair television time before his WWF release allowed him to wrestle for WCW. Pillman and Austin appeared on
5974-407: The figure-four leglock on Graham, who had a plastic hip. The feud was abruptly halted when Muraco was dismissed by the WWF, despite Valentine's pleas for Muraco not to be fired so that the promising program could be allowed to run. ( Kayfabe magazine Inside Wrestling had run a story on the feud, conversely claiming that it was Muraco, yearning to personally avenge Graham's injuries, who had begged
6077-470: The first time on October 17, 1992 and battled to a draw with Shane Douglas and Brad Armstrong . Austin and Pillman also teamed against Scott Steiner and Marcus Alexander Bagwell , jobber tag team Chris Sullivan and Tommy Angel, Dustin Rhodes and Brad Armstrong (who was filling in for Barry Windham ), Armstrong and Bagwell, Ricky Steamboat and Nikita Koloff , and Steamboat and Douglas. Austin and Pillman temporarily stopped teaming when in late 1992,
6180-410: The gold." Later in 1988, Valentine feuded with "The Rock" Don Muraco , who had turned face a year earlier. The feud was triggered when Valentine viciously attacked Muraco's manager, former WWF Heavyweight Champion Superstar Billy Graham . Graham, walking with a cane, tried to intervene when Valentine held the figure-four leglock on jobber Ricky Ataki, after already winning the match. Valentine then put
6283-446: The infamous Heroes of Wrestling pay-per-view, pinning George "The Animal" Steele with the assistance of Sherri Martel . He wrestled on the 2000 tour of the United Kingdom in which Yokozuna died. He was also involved with the short-lived X Wrestling Federation as an investor and as an in-ring performer. In the 2000s, he began reducing his independent dates in order to pursue a career in real estate . On March 13, 2004, Valentine
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#17328691069016386-485: The light", and re-formed his team with Flair, who believed that Valentine was now a face. In a tag match against Jimmy Snuka and the Iron Sheik , Valentine abandoned Flair, leaving him outnumbered. Flair was beaten, and then Valentine snapped Gene Anderson's hickory cane over Flair's head, legitimately breaking his nose and splitting his lips. The former partners began feuding over Flair's NWA United States Heavyweight Championship , with Valentine finally defeating Flair for
6489-531: The matches on a fluke. Roberts managed Hayes and Jimmy Garvin in one match against Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) on September 5, 1990. He came out of retirement on April 2, 1993, for the Global Wrestling Federation 's Kerry Von Erich Memorial Show, and teamed with Michael Hayes (with Skandor Akbar in their corner), losing to Kevin Von Erich and Chris Adams (with Fritz Von Erich in their corner). Roberts later developed throat cancer , and had surgery to treat it. He
6592-405: The name The West Hollywood Blondes as a play off the old name. Buddy Roberts Dale Hey (June 16, 1947 – November 26, 2012) was a Canadian-American professional wrestler , better known by his ring name , Buddy "Jack" Roberts . Primarily a tag team wrestler, Roberts is known for his appearances as one of The Hollywood Blonds in the 1970s and as one of The Fabulous Freebirds in
6695-513: The only wrestler Garvin knew who had "two left feet" and that he had a "pipsqueak, poor excuse for a manager". Following the match, Garvin then announced Hercules as the winner when Valentine cheated to win, despite the referee declaring Valentine the winner. Valentine knocked Garvin out of the ring before having a further punching match with Hercules while Garvin climbed back in the ring and nailed Valentine. Valentine and Jimmy Hart eventually demanded that Garvin be reinstated so that they could fight in
6798-426: The pin and the title. Following the win, Valentine put Santana in the figure four leglock, reinjuring him. While Santana was sidelined having leg surgery, Valentine feuded with the Junkyard Dog , who he faced in an Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship Title match at the very first WrestleMania held in Madison Square Garden . Valentine pinned the JYD after using the ropes, but Santana came to ringside and informed
6901-422: The promoter, David Crockett told Valentine and Stevens that he possessed film which proved that the illegal man had been pinned in the tag match, nullifying the win. When Crockett threatened to send the film to NWA president Bob Geigel who said he would overturn their victory, Stevens and Valentine attacked him and cut the film up with a pocketknife, destroying the evidence. Valentine later claimed to have "seen
7004-578: The promotion when WWF officials stated their intention to split the team up. At the AWA's SuperClash in 1985, Roberts helped Hayes and Gordy defeat The Road Warriors for the AWA World Tag Team Championship , but the decision was later reversed. In early 1986, The Freebirds went to the Universal Wrestling Federation , where Roberts won the UWF Television Championship on September 28. He lost it to Savannah Jack on November 9. In 1987, The Freebirds split up and reformed. Roberts and Gordy turned on Hayes and teamed with Iceman Parsons to feud with Hayes and
7107-506: The promotion, the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship , from the team of Dick Slater and Stan Vachon in March 1974. The Blonds ruled the tag team division over the summer of 1974 until dropping the gold to Dick Slater and Toru Tanaka in the fall (either September or October). After their run with the titles ended, the Blonds moved on to another territory, the most natural territory for the team – NWA Hollywood Wrestling in Los Angeles . The Gene and Mike LeBell territory saw Roberts and Brown win
7210-414: The recently heel turned Brian Pillman started teaming with Barry Windham, but when Windham was groomed for a singles push and a run with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship , and after one last unsuccessful attempt at winning the WCW / NWA World Tag Team Championship from Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas at Starrcade 1992 , Pillman and Windham stopped teaming. Windham declared his intention to pursue
7313-430: The referee, who restarted the match. Valentine then walked out, losing the match by count-out but saving his title. Santana eventually healed and fought Valentine in many matches. He went on to win the title back on July 6, 1985, in a steel cage match in Baltimore , ending Valentine's 285-day reign, the fifth-longest in Intercontinental title history . Valentine, incensed over losing the championship belt, destroyed it in
7416-469: The ring. For some time Valentine had been wearing a shin guard, which he would rotate (so it covered his calf, not his shin) in order to increase the pressure exerted by the Figure Four Leglock. He referred to the shin guard as the "Heartbreaker". Valentine would also (illegally) attach the shin guard to his arm in order to accentuate his elbow drops . In the course of the feud, Garvin countered with
7519-515: The show and mocked Flair and Anderson's age. Several weeks later, the Blonds continued their antagonism of Flair and Anderson by mocking them through their own segment called " A Flare for the Old ". Austin would stand in the background with a pillow under his shirt for a gut while slowly stroking his chin imitating Arn Anderson. Pillman dressed up in an old bathrobe, put on reading glasses and a grey wig and then cut into Flair for being too old and too scared of
7622-473: 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
7725-443: The steel cage, forcing the WWF to get a new Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship belt (in reality, this was pre-planned as the WWF already had a newer, more modern Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship belt made and destroying the old title belt was seen as the perfect way to introduce the new one). Valentine would then form a tag team with Brutus Beefcake known as The Dream Team , managed by "Luscious" Johnny V . Initially
7828-512: The tag team title to Buck Robley and Bob Slaughter only eleven days after they won them. The Blonds next appeared in CWF once more, winning the Florida Tag Team titles from Steve Keirn and Bob Backlund not long after arriving in the territory. Just like with Tri State, their stay in Florida was short, as they dropped the titles to Mike Graham and Ken Lucas only a few months later and left. After
7931-582: The team until they joined Georgia Championship Wrestling in late 1980. He later became known as Buddy "Jack" Roberts, due to his penchant for drinking Jack Daniel's whiskey. The Fabulous Freebirds won several titles and moved on to World Class Championship Wrestling in late 1982 and began a high-profile feud with the Von Erich family . They wrestled David Von Erich , Kerry Von Erich , Mike Von Erich and Kevin Von Erich numerous times in 1986. Roberts also had
8034-729: The team was managed by both Jimmy Hart and Johnny V, but the WWF dropped Hart from the group and he went on to manage the Hart Foundation . On August 24, 1985, at The Spectrum in Philadelphia , the Dream Team defeated the U.S. Express for the WWF Tag Team Championship when Beefcake rubbed Johnny V's lit cigar in Windham's eyes allowing him to be pinned. They held the titles until April 7, 1986, when they were defeated at WrestleMania 2 by The British Bulldogs ( Davey Boy Smith and
8137-810: The then vacant JCW Tag-Team Titles . Where they were the first team to be eliminated after a slightly botched sunset flip from Necro Butcher . Valentine was present at the retirement ceremony of his long-time friend, Ric Flair , on the March 31, 2008 episode of WWE Raw . On January 29, 2011, Valentine was inducted into the Legends Pro Wrestling "Hall of Fame" by Jack Blaze in Wheeling, West Virginia, at their annual "LPW Over The Edge" event. Valentine competed in two matches during 2018, both being tag team matches. Greg married Julie on February 14, 1995. He had two daughters, Vanessa and Romaine, with his first wife, who once appeared on WWF TV in 1984 to give Valentine
8240-509: The title on April 30 in Greensboro, NC; after the match, where he regained the US Title from Piper, Valentine hit Piper in the ear with US Title. He dropped the title to Dick Slater on December 14, just before leaving them for the World Wrestling Federation . Valentine went back to the WWF in 1984, predicting that Vince McMahon 's plan for national expansion would succeed. His first manager
8343-519: The title on July 26 in Flair's adopted hometown of Charlotte . He held the title until November 24, when he was beaten by Flair; Flair became one of Valentine's main opponents in the Mid-Atlantic territory. Valentine returned to the WWF, now known as the World Wrestling Federation, for a year in 1981 and continued to pursue the title. On October 19, he was pinned by Backlund, but then handed the title belt by
8446-542: The title was short as Luke Brown and Danny Hodge defeated them three weeks later, but the Blonds managed to regain the gold days after being defeated by them. For the rest of 1970, Roberts and Brown dominated the Tri State tag team scene until losing to Bill Watts and Billy Red Lyons in January 1971. In early 1973, the Blonds became three-time NWA United States Tag Team Champions by defeating Dennis Stamp and Bull Bullinski for
8549-545: The titles and they became more or less exclusive to NJPW after that date. When the Blonds' time in Los Angeles ended near the end of 1975, they returned to the Tri State promotion and immediately targeted the United States Tag Team championship. On March 18, 1976, the duo defeated Greg Valentine and Gorgeous George, Jr. Due to disputes over pay and billing the Blonds’ time in Tri State was short lived, they quickly dropped
8652-418: The titles at Slamboree . However, by the time Slamboree came about, Douglas had been fired by WCW and Steamboat was without a partner. Instead of canceling the already announced steel cage match , Tom Zenk was made to wear the mask of "Hombre Uno" and work the match without anyone realizing it wasn't Douglas under the red and green hood. The Blonds won at Slamboree, thus ending the "Dos Hombres" angle. After
8755-421: The titles from Anderson and Roma. The Blonds' last match as a team took place on the October 30, 1993 episode of Saturday Night . After the Blonds had defeated a jobber tag team, Col. Rob Parker (who had just become Austin's new manager) came to ringside to congratulate Austin (and not Pillman) on winning the match. Pillman took exception to Parker snubbing him. Parker brought up Pillman's bad leg and said if he
8858-569: The titles to The Freebirds . At Beach Blast , Valentine pinned Marcus Bagwell. In July, he became involved in an angle with Dusty Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes where he confronted the father/son duo on WCW Worldwide . Both Rhodes attacked Valentine, only to then be retaliated upon by Dick Slater and The Barbarian . Valentine faced Dustin Rhodes on multiple house shows that summer and was winless. While in this series, Valentine also began to regularly team with Dick Slater. The duo wrestled The Freebirds and Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes. On Clash of
8961-536: The titles until May 8, 1977, when the Andersons defeated them in a steel cage match in the old Charlotte Coliseum . Flair and Valentine regained the tag titles from the Andersons on October 30, 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
9064-482: The titles, Rogers and Oates split up when Rip Rogers left the area to pursue a singles career. From August till October 1984, Dusty Wolfe and Ken Timbs formed The Hollywood Blondes in Florida . The version of The Hollywood Blonds with the greatest exposure worldwide was the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) incarnation consisting of "Stunning" Steve Austin and "Flyin'" Brian Pillman . Austin and Pillman teamed for
9167-400: The titles. On one night, Austin and Pillman faced an unknown masked team known as "Dos Hombres" (literally "two guys") who they assumed were a couple of luchadores from Mexico . The match started out rather inconspicuously, until the two masked men started showing moves more consistent with Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas than two luchadores. Dos Hombres won the match, earning them a shot at
9270-416: The titles. The Blonds held on to the titles until sometime in April, when they lost the gold to Rip Tyler and Eddie Sullivan before leaving the promotion by mid-1973. After leaving the Tri State area, Roberts and Brown next popped up in Florida working for Eddie Graham ’s Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF). After working their way up the ranks, the duo challenged for and won the top tag team title in
9373-588: Was Captain Lou Albano , and he was later managed by Jimmy Hart . On September 24, 1984, in London, Ontario Valentine defeated Tito Santana for the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship , focusing on Santana's injured knee throughout the match. Santana initially thought he had the match won, but had in fact only achieved a two-count. As Santana was celebrating, Valentine rolled him up for
9476-469: Was a race horse , he would put him down. Pillman attacked Parker, which in turn led to Austin attacking and turning on Pillman, turning Pillman face and breaking up the Hollywood Blonds for the third and final time. The Austin/Pillman feud was never pushed intensely and at times played more for comedy than emotion, a fact underscored by Pillman being more interested in putting Parker in a chicken suit than getting back at Austin. They would briefly reunite in
9579-595: Was an Elvis Presley look alike, Valentine became a Roy Orbison look alike and the team became known as Rhythm and Blues and were managed by Jimmy Hart. Rhythm and Blues feuded with The Bushwhackers ( Butch and Luke ) and The Hart Foundation against whom they received title shots, but were overshadowed by the Legion Of Doom ( Animal and Hawk ), who were by then dominating the tag division, feuding with former champions Demolition in six man tag main events also featuring WWF World champion The Ultimate Warrior while
9682-588: Was defeated by Rob Conway (then using a gimmick similar to that of Randy Orton 's gimmick of "the legend killer") on an episode of WWE Heat after Eugene interfered on his behalf, causing the referee to award a victory via disqualification to Conway. In May 2007, Valentine defeated Quinson Valentino to win the Canadian Grand-Prix Wrestling Championship in Morrisburg, Ontario. On August 24, 2007, Valentine returned to Ontario to defend
9785-446: Was immediately thrust into a feud with Shane Douglas and Ricky Steamboat over the NWA and WCW World Tag Team titles, which gave the duo a chance to show off their teamwork and their trademark "mock filming" pose that they invented. After a successful move, one of the Blonds would move his hands like he was turning the handle on an old film camera. After winning a match, Austin or Pillman would arrogantly state that "Your brush with greatness
9888-519: Was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004 by his former manager Jimmy Hart. The following night, at WrestleMania XX at Madison Square Garden , Valentine received loud applause when the class of 2004 was introduced. Shortly after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, Valentine dedicated the plaque he received to his late father by saying: "This one's for you pop, Johnny Valentine ". On January 29, 2005, at WrestleReunion , Valentine won
9991-468: Was not as impressed with Hayes's in-ring work as he was with his skills on the microphone. His original plan was to have Gordy and Roberts as the actual tag team, with Hayes as their manager. Except for a high-profile stint in 1980 in Mid-South Wrestling (formed by Watts the previous year after breaking away from NWA Tri-State) with Hayes and Gordy as the Freebirds, Roberts did not work full-time with
10094-483: Was quoted as saying "Don't smoke. I think the reason this happened to me is because I was smoking too much. I recommend to anyone who smokes to quit now. It is hard, but it is worth it." Roberts died on November 26, 2012, at the age of 65, of pneumonia. On April 2, 2016, Roberts was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame by his son, Buddy "Jack" Roberts Jr. as part of The Fabulous Freebirds . During
10197-687: Was rounded out with Michelle "Sugar Slam" Rapp, Kevin Gill, and Vampiro . Valentine played an usher who ejected guests from the theater when their time is up on the show. He appeared as a playable character on Legends of Wrestling , Legends of Wrestling II , WWE Day of Reckoning , Showdown: Legends of Wrestling and WWE Legends of WrestleMania . He was also downloadable content in WWE 2K17 and also appears in WWE 2K18 along with Brutus Beefcake as The Dream Team. He also appears in WWE 2K19 . In 2008 Valentine co-starred with George "The Animal" Steele in
10300-568: Was trained as a professional wrestler by Ivan Koloff . He debuted in 1965 under the ring name "Dale Valentine", billed as being the younger brother of Johnny Valentine . At the tail end of the 1960s, he was working as a preliminary wrestler in the American Wrestling Association (AWA). In 1970, Hey was brought into the Oklahoma-based NWA Tri-State promotion by booker Bill Watts . Watts had intended to create
10403-626: Was trained to wrestle by Stu Hart , 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 . 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
10506-413: Was unhappy about teaming with Bravo, who he felt he had little chemistry with. After the WWF asked him to "kidnap" Matilda, the bulldog mascot of The British Bulldogs, Valentine resigned. He was brought back soon after, with Jimmy Hart again as his new manager (while the "kidnap" angle was reassigned to The Islanders ) but was used in a much diminished role between 1987 and 1990. Valentine was entered in
10609-423: Was used primarily on television, facing The Giant , Harlem Heat , and Lex Luger . The following year he was used sparingly as well, again on television but had a 6–2 record, defeating Mike Enos , Bobby Eaton , and Billy Kidman . Valentine wrestled four times for the promotion in 1998 and was 3–1. He finished his WCW run with a victory over Pat Tanaka on February 17, 1998. On October 10, 1999, he appeared on
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