Interview with Johnny Valiant

He’s managed WWE champions, worn WWE gold himself, and been inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. But “Luscious” Johnny Valiant’s most interesting connection to wrestling dates back to well before he ever stepped into a ring.

In the early 1960s, Valiant, whose real name is Tom Sullivan, attended Fishburne Military School in Williamsburg, Va. There, he befriended a fellow cadet known on campus as “Flex.”

His real name was Vincent Kennedy McMahon Jr.

“He used to walk around, kind of posing and what not,” Valiant said of the future WWE chairman. “By way of the magazines, I was told his dad was a top wrestling promoter in Washington D.C… that he was this wrestling czar’s son. I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, my dad is a big shot.’”

Valiant, who is coming to the Great Neck Arts Center on September 8, said the teenaged Mr. McMahon was quite the athlete playing basketball and competing on the school’s wrestling team. But, even then, the two future WWE greats liked a little showmanship with their sports. And so, after classes, McMahon and Valiant would often set up wrestling mats and put on a performance.

“He was ‘Ape Man’ McMahon and bleached his hair and we had matches in front of all the cadets,” Valiant said.

Valiant said McMahon’s penchant for toilet humor was apparent even a half-century ago. But the fun times they shared were mostly “above board.”

“He would say, ‘Come on, Tommy. Let’s go down and get a hamburger,” said Valiant, who remembered chowing down on burgers and apple pies with McMahon and talking sports. “He knew I was kind of a funny guy. . . You can’t dislike the guy.”

More?

This Day in Wrestling History

WWE inducts legends Capt. Lou Albano, Killer Kowalski, Baron Mikel Scicluna, Johnny Valiant, Jimmy Valiant, Johnny Rodz, Pat Patterson, Vincent J. McMahon and Jimmy Snuka into the WWE Hall of Fame.
November 16, 1996

Vince McMahon hired Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura as color man for the XFL broadcast team.
November 16, 2000

With Mae Young's win over LayCool on RAW, she becomes the only man or woman in history to wrestle in nine decades - the 1930's, 1940's, 1950's, 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, 1990's, 2000's and the 2010's.
November 16, 2010

partial source: impactwrestling.com

This Day in Wrestling History

WWE inducts legends Capt. Lou Albano, Killer Kowalski, Baron Mikel Scicluna, Johnny Valiant, Jimmy Valiant, Johnny Rodz, Pat Patterson, Vincent J. McMahon and Jimmy Snuka into the WWE Hall of Fame.
November 16, 1996

Vince McMahon hired Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura as color man for the XFL broadcast team.
November 16, 2000