John L. Sullivan (wrestler)
| Johnny Valiant | |
|---|---|
| Born |
November 25, 1946 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Residence | Queens, New York |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Johnny Valiant Luscious Johnny V John L. Sullivan |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Billed weight | 245 lb (111 kg) |
| Billed from | New York, New York |
| Trained by | Al Costello |
| Debut | 1967 |
John L. Sullivan (Thomas Sullivan) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Johnny Valiant. He competed in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which became the World Wrestling Federation during his time with the promotion. He won the World Tag Team Championship two times. The first run (which lasted over a year) was with his first and most famous storyline brother Jimmy Valiant over Tony Garea and Dean Ho on May 8, 1974; his second title run was with his second storyline brother Jerry Valiant over Tony Garea and Larry Zbyszko on March 6, 1979.
Sullivan grew up in Pittsburgh's North Hills suburb, not far from wrestling champion Bruno Sammartino. After asking for advice on how to become a professional wrestler, Sullivan became close friends with Sammartino and began his career in the Detroit territory wrestling, refereeing and working the ring crew for the notorious wrestling villain The Sheik. Kangaroo Al Costello trained Sullivan in the mat wars and soon he began traveling the twenty-five regional territories throughout the U.S, Puerto Rico and Canada. From 1969 through 1973, he enjoyed a protracted stint in the WWWF as a mid-card babyface, losing to top-tier heels like Killer Kowalski and Toru Tanaka, but repeatedly holding the notorious Baron Mikel Scicluna to a draw, and regularly defeating jobbers like Angelo Savoldi and Johnny Rodz. On one of his visits to Ontario working for "Bearman" Dave McKigney, Sullivan met "Handsome Jimmy Valiant". Jimmy took a shine to the young, enthusiastic Sullivan and shortly thereafter, brought him to the World Wrestling Association, where Dick the Bruiser teamed up Sullivan with Jimmy Valiant as the Valiant Brothers. A victory for the WWA tag team titles over Dick the Bruiser and Bruno Sammartino put the name of the Valiant Brothers on the marquee and the Valiants proceeded to have a five-year run which fans still talk about to this day.
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