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 |