The Valiant Brothers

The Valiant Brothers
Tag team
Members Jimmy Valiant[1]
Johnny Valiant[1]
Jerry Valiant[1]
Heights Jimmy:
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Johnny:
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Combined
weight		 492 lb (223 kg) (Jimmy & Johnny)
Debut 5 January 1974
Disbanded 1980
Years active 1974-1980
Promotions NWA
WWWF/WWF
WWA

The Valiant Brothers were a professional wrestling tag team of storyline brothers "Handsome" Jimmy Valiant, "Luscious" Johnny Valiant, and "Gentleman" Jerry Valiant.[1] The team wrestled for National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation (WWWF/WWF) and World Wrestling Association (WWA).[1]

History

Jimmy and Johnny

World Wrestling Association (1974)

Jimmy Valiant and Johnny Valiant formed a tag team in World Wrestling Association as storyline brothers. They began wrestling together as heels. They debuted as a team on 5 January 1974 when they defeated Dick the Bruiser and Bruno Sammartino to win the WWA World Tag Team Championship.[2] 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.[2] They became the most popular heel tag team in WWA 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 (WWWF) in May 1974 and debuted there around that same time. Their biggest success as a tag team came when they defeated Tony Garea and Dean Ho to win the WWWF World Tag Team Championship on 8 May 1974 edition of All Star Wrestling.[3][4] Valiants quickly became a dominant heel tag team as they went on to successfully defend their titles throughout the entire year. They held and defended the titles for over a year before losing them to Dominic DeNucci and Victor Rivera on 13 May 1975.[5] This made Valiant Brothers, the longest reigning champions of their era with a reign of 370 days before the record was broken,[6] fourteen years later by Demolition (Ax and Smash), who reigned as tag team champions for 470 days.[6] After losing the titles, Valiants battled against the likes of Tony Garea, Dean Ho, Chief Jay Strongbow and Haystacks Calhoun.[7]

National Wrestling Alliance (1976–1978)

In 1976, Jimmy and Johnny left WWWF and joined National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) where they toured NWA territories. They debuted in Georgia Championship Wrestling (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.[8] 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 Royal Kangaroos (Jonathan Boyd and Norman Frederick Charles III) on 4 December 1976.[9] They lost the titles to Pat Patterson and Pepper Gomez on 9 February 1977. Later that same year, they joined Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF). In January 1978, they were awarded the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship.[10] On 25 January 1978, they lost the titles to Florida natives Mike Graham and Steve Keirn.

Jerry and Johnny

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

In 1978, Valiant Brothers returned to WWWF but Jimmy retired and was replaced by "brother" Jerry Valiant.[1] Jerry and Johnny began wrestling in the tag team division while Jimmy became their manager. In March 1979, the promotion was renamed World Wrestling Federation, dropping 'Wide' from the name. On 24 March 1979 edition of Championship Wrestling, Jerry and Johnny defeated Larry Zbyzsko and Tony Garea to win the WWF Tag Team Championship.[11] This second version of Valiant Brothers was also successful but Jerry could not achieve the popularity which Jimmy had achieved.

In July 13, 1979 they retained the championship in a match against The Jaguar of Colombia[12] and Tito Santana. Jerry and Johnny lost the titles to Ivan Putski and Tito Santana on 22 October.[13] After unsuccessful attempts in winning back the titles from Putski and Santana, Valiant Brothers broke up in the new year 1980, putting an end to the team.

Aftermath

Jimmy and Johnny were inducted into the 1996 Hall of Fame by Owen Hart and British Bulldog.[14] All the three Valiant Brothers, have reunited one time in the independent circuit during the 2000s.[1]

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments

Jimmy and Johnny Valiant

Jerry and Johnny Valiant

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Valiant Brothers Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 29 June 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 "W.W.A. World Tag Team Title (Indiana)". The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved 29 August 2008.
  3. ↑ "WWWF Show Results 1974". The History of WWE. Retrieved 7 September 2008. Jimmy & Johnny Valiant defeated WWWF Tag Team Champions Dean Ho & Tony Garea to win the titles
  4. 1 2 3 "World Tag Team Championship official title history". WWE. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
  5. ↑ "WWWF Show Results 1975". The History of WWE.com. Retrieved 7 September 2008. Victor Rivera & Dominic DeNucci defeated WWWF Tag Team Champions Jimmy & Johnny Valiant to win the titles
  6. 1 2 "WWE World Tag Team Championship". Complete WWE. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
  7. ↑ "WWWF Show Results 1975". The History of WWE. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  8. 1 2 "NWA Georgia Tag Team Title History". Solie's Title Histories. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
  9. 1 2 "N.W.A. World Tag Team Title (San Francisco)". The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
  10. 1 2 "N.W.A. United States Tag Team Title (Florida)". The Great Hisa's Puroresu Dojo. Retrieved 7 September 2008.
  11. ↑ "WWF Show Results 1979". The History of WWE. Retrieved 28 April 2015. Johnny & Jerry Valiant (w/ Capt. Lou Albano & Jimmy Valiant) defeated WWWF Tag Team Champions Larry Zbyzsko & Tony Garea to win the titles at 10:54 when Johnny pinned Zbyzsko after Jerry and Zbyzsko collided and Jimmy pulled Jerry to the floor, allowing Johnny to take his place in the ring.
  12. ↑ "La Leyenda Viva de la Lucha Libre". El Jaguar de Colombia. 2011-08-09. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  13. ↑ "WWF Show Results 1979". The History of WWE. Retrieved April 28, 2015. Ivan Putski & Tito Santana defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Johnny & Jerry Valiant at 13:39 to win the titles when Santana pinned Johnny, the illegal man, with a crossbody after the champions collided in the ring, with Jerry being knocked to the floor.
  14. ↑ "Valiant Brothers' Bio". WWE. Archived from the original on 31 March 2008. Retrieved 7 September 2008. Johnny & Jimmy Valiant were rewarded with the highest honor: induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996. Fittingly, they were inducted by British Bulldog & Owen Hart, who were the reigning World Tag Team Champions at the time
  15. ↑ "World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 7 September 2008.

Further reading

The Valiant Brothers’ history is covered in a chapter dedicated to the team in the book The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams:

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