Boogie Woogie Man speaks
Having a combination of rugged looks, in-ring skills and the ability to have the crowd either eating out of his hand or wanting to tear him apart, the Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant had the total package which made him a hall-of-famer and one of the most memorable wrestlers of all time.
‘If you have both the in-ring skills and know how to reach your audience, man, you’re going to be box office,’ said Valiant during an interview with the Southern Standard this week. ‘Some wrestlers take most of their careers to get the psychology, and some never get it at all. If you’re good, you have a real power to bring the fans out of their seats.’
Valiant, who was born near Tullahoma and still has family roots around this area, now resides in Shawsville, Va., where he operates a wrestling camp/museum which is free to the public on Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.
He has also recently written his autobiography ‘Welcome to My World, The Jimmy Valiant Story’ which he co-wrote with his wife Angel detailing his career which ran from 1964-2004. It is only available through his Web site at www.Jimmyvaliant.com or by going up to his place in Shawsville. The book is 566 pages and during my interview Monday, Jimmy advised his fans to buy two so they could work out with them seeing they are so thick.
During our 40-minute conversation Monday, Jimmy spoke about his incredibly successful career, a career which saw him feud with the legends of the business like Bruno Sanmartino, Jack Brisco, Harley Race, Dorey Funk Jr., Nick Bachwinkle and of course, Jerry (the King) Lawler, just to name a few. While the entire conversation was fascinating, getting to talk to an original wrestling legend who I watched growing up, one of the subjects which caught my attention was his description of how, as a ‘bad guy’ in the business during the first 20 years of his career, he was literally hated by fans, a hate fueled by his ability to use psychology to send fans into a rage.
‘I was really blessed with a gift to be able to talk, to connect with the fans whether it was in person or on television,’ Valiant said. ‘I could make them want to try to jump in the ring with me or stand up and hit their television sets.’
Valiant said he learned the craft ‘on the job’ just as he did his in-ring wrestling skills seeing there were no real training facilities back in the 1960s like the one he operates today.
‘It just came natural,’ Valiant said of turning professional weeks after being recruited into the business shortly after high school. ‘Here I am this young kid selling out Madison Square Garden. It was really unbelievable.’
Valiant pointed out that fans often did not separate ‘the show’ from reality as he sometimes found himself in peril after whipping the crowd into a frenzy, often by beating down their favorite good guy or insulting their pride.
‘I was always sure to hide my vehicle when I was playing an arena,’ Valiant said. ‘There were many times I’d come out and have cut tires or smashed windows. People took it very seriously. I’ve been scalded with hot coffee, spit on, had beer dumped on me, I’ve even been cut.’
Valiant pointed out he would rarely be able to attend school functions or be seen publicly with his family out of fear people would recognize him and hold his wrestling character against his family. Unlike the gray line today where both good guys and bad guys are cheered, Valiant said in his day, there was no in between.
‘They either loved you or they hated your guts,’ Valiant said. ‘And, for about the first 20 years, they hated my guts until I became the Boogie Woogie Man. When I became Boogie Woogie, it all changed.’
Valiant said his years of learning human psychology from inside the squared circle is what made his transition from hated heel to beloved face easy, seeing it was all about understanding what makes people tick.
The second part of my interview with Jimmy, dealing with how tough the road was for wrestlers back in the formative days of the sport, will be coming in a future episode.