PART THREE

 


PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR


 


Chappell: Do you remember your first appearance in the Mid-Atlantic area as the Boogie Woogie Man?

 

Valiant: My first shot was against Ivan Koloff in Lynchburg, Virginia. They used to run that on Friday nights at the Armory. Ivan had the (NWA Television) belt at the time. After three or four weeks on TV, I did an interview for up there and told the people in Lynchburg that I was born and raised there! (laughs)

 

Chappell: You were Lynchburg’s own, huh? (laughs)

 

Valiant: I said, ‘Grandma Mary still lives there…keep them biscuits and that cornbread hot because your boy is coming home!’ (laughs)

 

But when I came back, things had been pretty slow. At that time, business wasn’t doing that well. I came in…and we just cleaned house. It was great.

 

Chappell: You said that Ivan was your first opponent as the Boogie Man. He was also your first major program with Crockett, wasn’t he?

 

Valiant: Ivan and I went for about nine months…seven days a week. We went back and forth over the TV title. We had all kinds of matches. You remember those crazy Siberian Salt Miner’s Glove matches…or whatever Ivan called them?

 

Chappell: Man, those were rough!

 

Valiant: Ivan was great to work with. And after Ivan they just kept feeding me guys. Then came the One Man Gang with (Sir Oliver) Humperdink. After that it was Kabuki with Gary Hart. Those were big too…and they lasted a long time. But the longest was with Paul Jones’ Army…that went about four years all together. Of course, we did the ‘Boogie Man Jam’ thing during that time. I ended up being with Crockett for six or seven years.

 

Chappell: Boogie, you’re moving faster than a speeding bullet! (laughs) Let’s go back to Ivan Koloff briefly if we can…tell us a little bit more about working with the ‘Russian Bear.’

 

Valiant: Brother…Ivan was in such great condition. He was in terrific shape…he got me in shape, you know. (laughs)

 

When we used to wrestle for the TV title…the belt was up for 20 minutes, I believe. If we went the 20 minutes, he would keep the belt. I mean, I would wear him out for the 20 minutes, but he would always manage to keep the belt somehow! (laughs)

 

And we would do things where I would have him beat right when the 20 minutes ran out…the bell would be ringing and I’d have him in the sleeper. It was great stuff.

 

Chappell: I’ve always heard that Ivan was in great condition during that time period.

 

Valiant: He was in great shape. We were going 20 minutes a night, every night, for seven days a week. It was just terrific.

 

Chappell: You sort of transitioned from the program with Ivan, into taking on all of the guys that Sir Oliver Humperdink brought in later in 1982. Tell us about your battles with the ‘House Of Humperdink.’

 

Valiant: There were a bunch of guys. For awhile I was aligned with Roddy Piper against Humperdink, in what he called ‘Piper’s Palace.’ That was towards the end of 1982.

 

You mentioned Jos Leduc, when he busted up my music box. Man, that built up a lot of heat!

 

And during 1983, dealing with the One Man Gang was something. You remember the ‘Tug Of War’ challenge with him?

 

Chappell: I sure do! The Gang had a bodyslam challenge too…didn’t you get involved with that too?

 

Valiant: Yes I did.

 

Chappell: How were you able to work good matches with someone as big as the Gang?

 

Valiant: He was huge…but he was very agile for a man his size. Now, Ivan, he was a real bear…he just kept coming at you, man. But the Gang…oh my goodness, he was massive. They were all different.

 

Chappell: After the House of Humperdink and the One Man Gang, you had quite a program with Kabuki and Gary Hart in 1983.

 

Valiant: Kabuki…my goodness. I looked like a rainbow…I had the blonde hair and the blonde beard, and every night he’d spray me with a different color mist. You couldn’t shampoo that stuff out, man, it had to wear out! I looked like a hippie anyway, but I REALLY looked like a hippie after I wrestled him! (laughs)

 

Chappell: Kabuki gave you that psychedelic look! (laughs)

 

Valiant: There you go baby! (laughs)

 

Chappell: What did Kabuki spray into your eyes?

 

Valiant: You know Dave…it was mist! (laughs)

 

Chappell: Okay, okay…WHAT exactly comprised this mysterious mist that he kept spraying you with?

 

Valiant: Kool-Aid!  (laughs)

 

Chappell: (laughing) I don’t think I’ll ever quite think of Kool-Aid in the same way again! But a lot of the storyline with Kabuki revolved around him blinding you with that mist, right?

 

Valiant: The thing was, he kept blinding me and I couldn’t get anything done with him. You know, I wore him out until he blinded me. That’s when big Dusty Rhodes came up with the idea to get the goggles. You remember those goggles I had?

 

Chappell: That’s right, I do. That kind of leveled the playing field for you, so to speak.

 

Valiant: Yes! I was able to go in then and start cleaning house, and then I’d put the goggles on and he’d spray me into the goggles rather than in my eyes. Then I’d put the goggles back up, and man I could see, and I just wore him out then! (laughs)

 

Chappell: Kabuki also led you into a situation with the masked character, Charlie Brown. Who came up with the idea for the Charlie Brown from outta town gimmick?

 

Valiant: That was Dusty Rhodes too. That man was a genius. We went with that [angle] for about six months. I lost a match and had to leave town…and in came Charlie Brown.

 

Chappell: Now, FOR THE RECORD, can you once and for all verify that Jimmy Valiant and Charlie Brown were in fact one and the same person?

 

Valiant: (pauses) You know, I was in jail with Charlie Brown. (pauses again)

 

Chappell: You’re sticking to your story, right?  (laughs)

 

Valiant: There you go, man! That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it! (laughs)

 

Charlie Brown (from outta town!)

 

But you know, the people could trust Charlie Brown. The only reason he had to wear the mask, was because he was REAL ugly.

 

Chappell: Oh…so there would be no way that UGLY Charlie Brown could ever be the same guy as HANDSOME Jimmy Valiant?

 

Valiant: You catch on fast Dave! (laughing)

 

It was a great run with the Charlie Brown thing. It went for about six months, but people still talk about it today.

 

Chappell: I remember that Baron Von Raschke even came in briefly, and got involved in the Charlie Brown angle.

 

Valiant: Oh my goodness…the Baron! One time he even pulled Charlie’s mask off on TV…and of course they couldn’t prove Charlie was Jimmy Valiant!

PART FOUR