Over five decades, Valentine held more than 40 championships, including the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, NWA World Tag Team Championship, and WWF World Tag Team Championship.
79 Facts About Greg Valentine
2.
Greg Valentine 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 a legitimate threat.
3.
Greg Valentine remained in Florida for a year while working in Los Angeles and in Japan under Antonio Inoki in 1975 and early 1976.
4.
Greg Valentine was hired to replace his father, who had been forced to retire after he broke his back in a plane crash in 1975.
5.
Greg Valentine immediately began feuding with Johnny Weaver, who he "retired" with a top rope elbow drop.
6.
Greg 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.
7.
Flair then set his sights on the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, while Greg Valentine held the NWA World Tag Team Championships once more with Baron von Raschke in 1978.
8.
The heel Greg Valentine then began wearing a T-shirt with the slogan "I broke Wahoo's leg" on the front and "No more Wahoo" on the back.
9.
Greg Valentine would hold the title once more, defeating Wahoo again on September 10 and losing to Ken Patera on April 9,1978.
10.
Greg Valentine returned to the NWA in late 1979 and asked Flair to reform their tag team.
11.
Greg Valentine held the NWA World Tag Team Championship once more with Ray Stevens in 1980.
12.
When Crockett threatened to send the film to NWA president Bob Geigel who said he would overturn their victory, Stevens and Greg Valentine attacked him and cut the film up with a pocketknife, destroying the evidence.
13.
Greg Valentine later claimed to have "seen the light", and re-formed his team with Flair, who believed that Greg Valentine was now a face.
14.
Flair was beaten, and then Greg Valentine snapped Gene Anderson's hickory cane over Flair's head, legitimately breaking his nose and splitting his lips.
15.
Greg Valentine returned to the WWF, now known as the World Wrestling Federation, for a year in 1981 and continued to pursue the title.
16.
In January 1982, Greg Valentine met Backlund yet again, this time in a steel cage, for the WWF Heavyweight Championship at the Philadelphia Spectrum, which Backlund won.
17.
Greg Valentine feuded with Pedro Morales over the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, who he "injured" by suplexing him on the concrete floor of the arena.
18.
Greg Valentine was not successful in winning this title either, and in mid-1982 left the promotion.
19.
Greg 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.
20.
Greg Valentine went back to the WWF in 1984, predicting that Vince McMahon's plan for national expansion would succeed.
21.
On September 24,1984 in London, Ontario Greg Valentine defeated Tito Santana for the Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, focusing on Santana's injured knee throughout the match.
22.
Greg Valentine pinned the JYD after using the ropes, but Santana came to ringside and informed the referee, who restarted the match.
23.
Greg Valentine then walked out, losing the match by count-out but saving his title.
24.
Greg Valentine 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.
25.
Greg Valentine, incensed over losing the championship belt, destroyed it in the steel cage, forcing the WWF to get a new Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship belt.
26.
Upset because of a missed move by Beefcake during the match, Greg Valentine left with Bravo and abandoned Beefcake, resulting in Brutus turning face later on in the night.
27.
Greg Valentine was unhappy about teaming with Bravo, who he felt he had little chemistry with.
28.
Greg Valentine was brought back soon after, with Jimmy Hart again as his new manager but was used in a much diminished role between 1987 and 1990.
29.
Greg Valentine was entered in 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.
30.
Later in 1988, Greg Valentine feuded with "The Rock" Don Muraco, who had turned face a year earlier.
31.
The feud was triggered when Greg Valentine viciously attacked Muraco's manager, former WWF Heavyweight Champion Superstar Billy Graham.
32.
Graham, walking with a cane, tried to intervene when Greg Valentine held the figure-four leglock on jobber Ricky Ataki, after already winning the match.
33.
Greg Valentine then put the figure-four leglock on Graham, who had a plastic hip.
34.
Greg Valentine knocked Garvin out of the ring before having a further punching match with Hercules while Garvin climbed back in the ring and nailed Greg Valentine.
35.
For some time Greg Valentine had been wearing a shin guard, which he would rotate in order to increase the pressure exerted by the Figure Four Leglock.
36.
Greg Valentine referred to the shin guard as the "Heartbreaker".
37.
Greg Valentine would attach the shin guard to his arm in order to accentuate his elbow drops.
38.
Jimmy Hart managed to remove the "Hammer Jammer" from Garvin's leg, after which Greg Valentine systematically wore down Garvin's leg, but eventually lost after Garvin hit him with the Heartbreaker and applied a sharpshooter, forcing Greg Valentine to submit.
39.
Shortly after, Greg Valentine formed a tag team with The Honky Tonk Man.
40.
Famously during the time of Rhythm and Blues, WWF announcer Gorilla Monsoon would proclaim every time Greg Valentine got on the microphone and sang that "if you hung The Hammer for being a good singer you would hang an innocent person".
41.
However, Greg Valentine abruptly departed the company and along with the Honky Tonk Man's aforementioned departure from the WWF this effectively cancelled the planned feud with Greg Valentine.
42.
On January 19,1991, Greg Valentine participated in the fourth annual Royal Rumble match.
43.
Greg Valentine continued to wrestle face opponents in his first month back.
44.
Greg Valentine 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.
45.
Greg Valentine made his debut that night at a television taping in the Penta Hotel in New York City, defeating Sonny Blaze.
46.
Greg Valentine 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.
47.
Conscious of his diminishing status, Greg Valentine left the WWF and signed with World Championship Wrestling in 1992.
48.
Greg Valentine made his debut on February 4,1992 at a house show in Norfolk, Virginia.
49.
Greg Valentine faced Dustin Rhodes on multiple house shows that summer and was winless.
50.
In September 1992 Greg Valentine engaged in a house show feud with Van Hammer and was undefeated.
51.
Greg Valentine reappeared in the WWF at the 1993 Survivor Series under a mask as The Blue Knight in an elimination match pitting Shawn Michaels and his three "knights" against the Hart Family.
52.
Greg Valentine went on to tour the independent circuit, wrestling in Japan, with the Hamilton based International Championship Wrestling promotion and with the American Wrestling Federation.
53.
Greg Valentine was used on a pay-per-appearance basis, but was rarely utilized and was allowed to continue wrestling on the independent circuit.
54.
On July 1,1996, Greg Valentine faced Randy Savage on WCW Monday Nitro in Landover, Maryland.
55.
Greg Valentine was used primarily on television, facing The Giant, Harlem Heat, and Lex Luger.
56.
Greg Valentine finished his WCW run with a victory over Pat Tanaka on February 17,1998.
57.
Greg Valentine wrestled on the 2000 tour of the United Kingdom in which Yokozuna died.
58.
Greg Valentine was involved with the short-lived X Wrestling Federation as an investor and as an in-ring performer.
59.
On March 13,2004, Greg Valentine was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2004 by his former manager Jimmy Hart.
60.
Shortly after being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, Greg Valentine dedicated the plaque he received to his late father by saying: "This one's for you pop, Johnny Greg Valentine".
61.
On January 29,2005 at WrestleReunion, Greg Valentine won a seventeen-man battle royal to become the IWA Heavyweight Champion.
62.
Greg Valentine wrestled for several independent promotions, including AWA Superstars of Wrestling, which toured New England.
63.
On October 3,2005, Greg Valentine made an appearance at WWE Homecoming, and on October 23 he was defeated by Rob Conway on an episode of WWE Heat after Eugene interfered on his behalf, causing the referee to award a victory via disqualification to Conway.
64.
In May 2007, Greg Valentine defeated Quinson Valentino to win the Canadian Grand-Prix Wrestling Championship in Morrisburg, Ontario.
65.
Greg Valentine was successful in defeating Koko in Cornwall, though the title was vacated due to inactivity.
66.
In late 2007, Greg Valentine made an appearance in JCW or Juggalo Championship Wrestling reforming the Dream Team with Brutus Beefcake.
67.
Greg Valentine was present at the retirement ceremony of his long-time friend, Ric Flair, on the March 31,2008 episode of WWE Raw.
68.
On January 29,2011, Greg 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.
69.
Greg Valentine competed in two matches during 2018, both being tag team matches.
70.
Greg Valentine had two daughters, Vanessa and Romaine, with his first wife, who once appeared on WWF TV in 1984 to give Valentine a back rub, which he claimed was the secret of his success.
71.
Greg Valentine is a born again Christian and occasionally speaks at high schools and colleges with Ted DiBiase.
72.
Greg Valentine is a part of Christian wrestling organization, World Impact Wrestling.
73.
Greg Valentine has appeared on an episode of Hogan Knows Best as one of Hulk's party guests.
74.
Greg Valentine co-starred in Fuse's Insane Clown Posse Theater along with Insane Clown Posse members Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope.
75.
Greg Valentine played an usher who ejected guests from the theater when their time is up on the show.
76.
Greg Valentine 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.
77.
Greg Valentine was downloadable content in WWE 2K17 and appears in WWE 2K18 along with Brutus Beefcake as The Dream Team.
78.
In 2008 Greg Valentine co-starred with George "The Animal" Steele in a short film entitled Somethin Fishy, in which the two former wrestlers purchase a fishing camp.
79.
British wrestler Steve Crabtree was billed as "Greg Valentine" while wrestling for Joint Promotions in the 1980s.