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God of Sound
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Red are the arms of luxuriant chairs and you won't know a thing 'til you get inside
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Greg Valentine says he'll rip out Hogan's fake hip, and more...
GREG "THE HAMMER" VALENTINE INTERVIEW
Interview conducted by James Walsh and Patrick Kelley
Transcript by Chris Furguson
- - - - -
The Hammer's 1991 theme leads into an interview with a WWE Hall of
Famer, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine.
The first question is about Valentine's recent challenge to Hulk
Hogan. Greg says that he heard a rumor that the WWE wanted he and
Hulk Hogan for Wrestlemania, but Hogan that turned it down because
Greg was too small and "not young enough." The challenge, according
to Valentine, is for Hogan to say why he refused the match at
WrestleMania 22.
Greg's answer to critics who say thatt this "challenge" to Hogan is
just a way for Valentine to get attention for himself: "Sure, why
not? I didn't start the rumor." Valentine later clarifies that he
didn't care about the rumor at first, but how fans in New York said
they wanted to see the match. Valentine also mentions how Hogan might
not need the payday for Wrestlemania, but he does!
The WWE has not contacted Greg about attending Wrestlemania 22, only
about WWE.com, which was in January.
Greg remains in pretty much the same ring shape he did in his mid 80's
heyday, even losing 15 lbs. recently. The only problem, according to
Greg, is that he has a problem with his belly because he likes to
drink beer!
Hogan and Valentine have not spoken about the challenge, and they
don't call each other, but they once socialized. Valentine's
brother-in-law, however, hangs out with Hogan all the time.
Valentine is still wrestling every weekend, enjoying himself. He also
challenges Roddy Piper, saying he could take him down in about 3
minutes! Then, after calling Piper his friend, Valentine mentions
another person his fans want to see him wrestle: Ric Flair. Greg
would rather tag with Flair, though, as their best matches together
were as a team.
The conversation segues into a discussion about Road Warrior Hawk,
whom Valentine puts over by saying "No one will ever be the man that
Hawk was." Then, he goes into how he and Hawk went to Phoenix and
became Christians together, and how they actually lived 10 minutes
away from each other.
The next topic is about Valentine's recent TV appearance on Heat in a
match against Rob Conway. Valentine says it was "very exciting" to be
on television again. "I had a taste of the big time. I'm ready. I
want to taste it again."
What does Greg think of the current direction of the WWE? "I wanna
say one thing. Characters draw money and sell tickets. They got a
lot of guys there that are muscle bound. They all kinda look alike to
me." He later goes into rant about not needing a good body to be a
good wrestler, putting over Trevor Murdoch.
Who in the current product is the best? Valentine doesn't answer at
first, putting over how tough the old guys were. He recounts how he
and Beefcake were in a match against the Bulldogs and how they beat on
each other in the ring! Valentine later puts over Kurt Angle and
Shawn Michaels, but says that most of the guys today don't have the
killer instinct they did in the old days.
James brings up some wrestlers talking about driving 100 miles for a
$20 payday and Valentine recalls how he would drive from Regina,
Saskatchewan in Canada to Calgary all night on black ice to wrestle
for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling."
How did Greg become "The Hammer?" Oddly enough, by being stiff
(hitting people hard) in the ring. Greg puts over Tito Santana as his
favorite opponent, simply because Tito isn't afraid to hit back!
Johnny Valentine, Greg's father, is the next topic. How much did Greg
learn from his father? "Oh, everything." Greg then goes into how his
father didn't have much "hands-on" training with him early on, and
later couldn't because of a plane crash. However, Johnny would watch
Greg's matches and spend tell him what he was doing wrong and how to
fix them. Through these discussions, which often lasted hours, Greg
learned psychology, which helped when he got to Charlotte.
Greg then recalls how, in 1979, he went to New York, during a time
where Madison Square Garden wasn't selling out and Vince McMahon Sr
was going crazy. Valentine says he went there, was given the
Figure-Four, and "started breaking people's legs," the Garden began
selling out!
After some confusion concerning "Superstar" Billy Graham and some
comments Bruno Sammartino made afterwards, the question arises: What
did Greg Valentine think of Bob Backlund while wrestling against him
in the late 70s. Valentine says that Backlund, an NCAA amateur
wrestling champion, was a legit tough guy who had to protect the WWWF
belt from NWA shooters like Jack Brisco.
Valentine says the WWWF was really close to putting the title on him,
but when Hogan came around, all the attention was focused on the new
guy.
The next topic is about the NWA days, when Valentine had a "Dog
Collar" match with Rowdy Roddy Piper. Valentine says "we [He and
Piper] were really keen to this match and we really knocked the crap
out of each other."
Why wasn't the Piper/Valentine feud continued in the WWF? Because
they didn't want to wrestle each other anymore!
Valentine was at the first Wrestlemania. Did he think it was going to
explode like it did? Valentine knew what the idea was going to be,
thanks to his friend and WWF booker George Scott, but he had no idea
what it did become. The fact that Valentine was part of Wrestlemania
history is the reason he doesn't have a bad thing to say about WWE.
Valentine prefers tag matches where he's the "ring general" and can
teach wrestlers younger than him, but he likes Singles matches more.
Favorite Tag Partner? Beefcake, then Flair.
How did Greg like being managed by Jimmy Hart (as part of Rhythm and
Blues)? Valentine says he still enjoys being managed by Jimmy, as
they paired up at a recent PPV taping! Jimmy puts over Johnny
Valiant, Captain Lou Albano and The Grand Wizard as well.
__________________
^THIS IS GOSPEL. MEMORIZE IT.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Biggedawgg
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03-29-2006, 03:02 PM
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