The Harbinger

By: Iceman2469

This Past Saturday at Orlando Comic Con, I had the pleasure of meeting a legend in the wrestling industry, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine. He’s been in professional wrestling since 1968, where he wrestled many legends, held numerous Titles and been in many Pay per Views including the first Wrestlemania. He worked for both McMahon’s, Vincent J. McMahon and the one we all know now, Mr. Vincent Kennedy McMahon. He was trained by many legends as well, including his Father, Johnny Valentine, the legendary Stu
Hart (Father to people such as Bret & Owen Hart), and the Original Sheik.

When I saw him though, he was sitting behind a table with several stacks of photos of himself layed out with some sharpies to autograph them. You could see how the years of wrestling had worn him down as he looked exhausted. Some people would approach him, say hello and shake his hand and leave. At one point, someone wanted an autographed photo of him and when he found out the cost the guy left thinking it wasn’t worth it.

Ice: Hello sir, how are you today?

Greg: I’m doing ok.

Ice: So do you still wrestle independently or any organization?

Greg: I still make appearances on the independent circuit from time to time.

Ice: Do you still enjoy to wrestle in today’s day and age of wrestling?

Greg: For the most part I do.

Ice: What do you think of today’s “Wrestling” you see on TV?

Greg: It’s sad really. You see people sleeping with dead bodies, (*A reference to a storyline involving Triple H and Kane and an “allegedly” Dead Girlfriend*), and midgets as illegitimate children and people being blown up in cars. It’s pathetic really.
Ice: Do you watch much of the product anymore?

Greg: Occasionally. I Tivo it and end up fast forwarding it thru.

Ice: So what did you think of the letter from Vince McMahon about offering Rehab to all Former and current employees at the cost to the company?

Greg: This is just Vince covering his ass. You know I like to have an occasional beer or two, but does that make me an Alcoholic? I don’t think it does. I told my wife about this letter and said “Maybe I should take them up on it and get a free vacation out of it at the Betty Ford Clinic.” But my wife says that I’d be admitting I had a problem…

Ice: Well if you did take that offer up, you might run into some big name celebrities in there.

Greg(laughing): Maybe I’ll bump into a Paris Hilton or someone. But really, Vince is using this to cover his ass. He knows he has blood on his hands. It’s a shame that it had to come to this for him to even pretend to care about all the people he has used over the years. I wrestled for him for nearly 18 years and if I were to drop dead in front of him this very second, he’d step over me, throw up a little memorial on TV and then forget I ever existed.

Ice: Do you think Vince’s kids will be any better when they take over after Vince leaves?

Greg: Vince’s Kids? Yeah it will be a little better because they have a bit more heart than their Father. But I don’t think they will be able to maintain that stranglehold on the industry like Vince has. They don’t have the smarts to do that.

Ice: What about Triple H? He, like Vince, lives breathes eats and dies for this business. Would he be any better?

Greg: Hunter, yeah he is like Vince in the aspect he lives for the business but once Vince is gone, either retires or dies, he won’t be able to do like Vince and monopolize this business.

Ice:You might be right on that. I know when I was growing up, the first wrestling match I saw was Tony Atlas going by the name Samba Simba.

Greg (laughing again): Yeah I wrestled against him many times, he is a great guy.

Ice: Do you think the wrestling of back in the 80’s, before the Monday Night Wars Era, was any better with the Gimmicks?

Greg: I don’t know really. I know the Monday night wars was really a boom for the business. But the problem at that time was that WCW was just tossing around money, but when we’d show up for a show, they would put together the nights card 6 hours before bell time. It was a real mess at times.

Ice: Do you miss the gimmicks of the 80’s though, because that to me is what was fun to watch, the people who would have these crazy gimmicks and storylines that made you want to see the next week’s show.

Greg: Yeah, those were good times.

Ice: What were your thoughts on the whole Mr. McMahon blown up storyline?

Greg: It was a shame it wasn’t real.

Ice: I would imagine there are a lot of people out there who don’t like him.

Greg: You kidding me?! The New York Media cannot wait for the day he finally falls. There are plenty of people Vince has stepped on and over to build his empire he has today. After he bought WCW, he put many people out of work.

Ice: Yeah, it would seem so. I know that by watching after he brought back ECW he has driven that into the dirt to spite everyone.

Greg: Vince, when it comes to the business side, is a genius. But he has no heart. He might live and breathe this business but he doesn’t care about how many bodies he has to step on to stay there.

Ice: Well Mr. Valentine, it was a pleasure talking to you. I hope to see you wrestle again in the future and wish the best for you.

Greg: Thank you. Have a good day.

md is
Email this author | All posts by md