10 Things Fans Should Know About The WWE Hall Of Fame Tag Team The Valiant Brothers

For many wrestling fans, the years before Vince McMahon Jr. took over WWE are a bit of a blind spot. As a result, many legends worthy of discussion end up getting overlooked, including the tag team known as the Valiant Brothers. Consisting of “Handsome” Jimmy Valiant, “Luscious” Johnny Valiant, and later “Gentleman” Jerry Valiant, the Valiants proved to be one of the great heel teams of the ‘70s and had the championships to show for it.

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Modern fans likely don’t know much about The Valiant Brothers, who were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996, so let’s take a look at their entire career, including where each brother ended up after the tag team broke up.

10 Not Actual Brothers

The world of pro wrestling has no shortage of both kayfabe brothers and real-life brothers, but The Valiant Brothers — all three — fall into the former category. Born James Fanning in Tennessee, Jimmy Valiant made his debut in 1964 and originally wrestled in WWE in the early 1970s as a babyface singles star before turning heel.

Before he became Johnny Valiant, John L. Sullivan hailed from Pittsburgh and enjoyed a stint in WWE around the same time, wrestling under his real name. As for Jerry Valiant, John Hill was from Canada, and previously wrestled under names like Guy Mitchell and The Stomper.

9 Jimmy & Johnny Debuted In WWA

In 1973, both Jimmy Valiant and John L. Sullivan found themselves in Dick The Bruiser’s Indianapolis-based promotion World Wrestling Association. It’s in WWA that they officially became The Valiant Brothers, with Sullivan becoming Johnny Valiant.

Together, Jimmy and Johnny won the above-mentioned World Tag Team Championship when they defeated Bruno Sammartino and Dick The Bruiser. During their time in WWA, The Valiant Brothers established themselves as a heel tag team to watch, and held those belts four times.

8 Longest Reigning Tag Team Champions In 1970s WWE

May 1974 saw Jimmy and Johnny return to WWE together, where they kept The Valiant Brothers gimmick going. Still working heel, the brothers won their first title in the promotion when they defeated World Tag Team Champions Dean Ho and Tony Garea, holding the belts for 370 days.

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This year-long inaugural run for The Valiant Brothers was actually a record at the time and remained the longest tag title run in WWE for about 14 years before Demolition broke the record with their 470-day run.

7 Wrestled In The NWA Territories

The Valiant Brothers departed WWE in 1976, opting instead to join up with the National Wrestling Alliance, which meant that they traveled throughout the NWA territories, wrestling at a variety of promotions. Some of the regions Jimmy and Johnny Valiant worked in included the San Francisco, Georgia, Florida, and Minnesota, clashing with teams like Bill Dundee and Jerry Lawler and The High Flyers.

They were successful in the NWA, too, capturing regional titles like the NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship and the NWA Florida United States Tag Team Championship.

6 Jerry & Johnny Also Held The WWE Tag Title

Johnny and Jimmy Valiant returned to WWE in 1978, but this second run in the promotion as The Valiant Brothers came with a notable change. Jimmy had contracted hepatitis, so he was forced to take time off, with a new kayfabe brother introduced in the form of Jerry Valiant.

Much like the original, this new version of The Valiant Brothers proved successful in the ring as well, with Johnny and Jerry capturing the WWE Tag Team Championship by defeating Larry Zbyszko and Tony Garea, kicking off a 230-day reign.

5 Formed A Trio In 1979

Eventually, Jimmy Valiant recovered from his hepatitis and returned to action, but rather than kick off a storyline where there was tension between Jimmy and the newcomer Jerry, The Valiant Brothers simply became a trio instead of a duo.

It wasn’t uncommon for the three Valiants to take part in six-man tag team matches against opponents like Andre The Giant, Larry Zbyszko, and Ted DiBiase during his early WWE run. On top of that, The Valiant Brothers went after the tag team championships on several occasions, teaming up in various configurations.

4 Johnny & Jerry Had Two Runs Outside WWE Before Breaking Up

The Valiant Brothers ended up departing WWE yet again in 1979 but embarked on two additional runs in other promotions before finally calling it quits. The first run saw them traveling to Japan in 1980 to compete in All Japan Pro Wrestling, with Johnny Valiant and Jerry Valiant (billed as Larry Valiant) at one point challenging for the All Asia Tag Team Championship.

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Following that, Johnny and Jerry made their way to Killer Kowalski’s International Wrestling Federation, where they had a handful of bouts against opponents like David Sammartino and former WWE tag team champion Dominic DeNucci.

3 Jerry Valiant Became A WWE Job Guy

After The Valiant Brothers tag team broke up for good, Jerry Valiant found himself back under the WWE umbrella, working under the same ring name from 1984 to 1988, albeit with far less in-ring success. Instead of being a tag team specialist, the former champion was a jobber to the stars, taking losses — mostly at house shows — to opponents like Andre The Giant, Sgt. Slaughter, and Hillbilly Jim’s entire family.

His only televised bout during this period was a six-second loss to Uncle Elmer on the second episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event.

2 Johnny Valiant Became A Manager

In the 1980s, Johnny Valiant began to transition into being a manager, with one of his first major clients being Hulk Hogan during his initial heel run in the American Wrestling Association. Soon enough, Valiant returned to WWE as well, where he managed Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine to tag team gold as The Dream Team as well as Dino Bravo.

Valiant was still able to step into the ring in the ‘80s and even closed out his WWE career as a jobber before resuming being a manager in the AWA, later returning to WWE under the name Johnny V.

1 Jimmy Valiant Became The Boogie Woogie Man

Jimmy Valiant was arguably the most successful of The Valiant Brothers after they went their separate ways. After leaving WWE, Valiant had a strong run in Memphis rivaling Jerry “The King” Lawler but made his biggest impression when he made his way to Jim Crockett

Promotions, the Southern territory which would later become WCW. In JCP, Jimmy Valiant opted to reinvent himself as a new character, “The Boogie Woogie Man,” a hippie-like babyface who couldn’t stop dancing and kissing people.