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Review of Timeline History of WWE 1985 with Greg Valentine

Posted: May 19th 2011 By: CMBurnham

In another great addition to their Timeline: History of the WWE Series, Sean Oliver and his associates chose 1985 as the next year to be chronicled. 1985 was a great year to be a wrestling fan. The major territories were still running and doing great like World Class in Dallas, the Crockett?s ruled the Carolinas and the Gagne?s still had the AWA. The World Wrestling Federation was one year into the run of Hulkamania and was on the way to taking over the nation in wrestling and popular culture with the initial WrestleMania. During that year Greg ?the Hammer? Valentine was the Intercontinental Heavyweight champion and would eventually hold the WWF World Tag Team championships with Brutus ?the Barber? Beefcake.

Greg Valentine has spoken with the Kayfabe Commentaries crew before (see My Side of the Story on their site for information) and is comfortable talking about his career. With great research by Sean; his colleague Anthony and the History of WWE site operated by Graham Cawthon, Valentine takes us on a great ride that saw the WWF hold the War to Settle the Score that led to WrestleMania I in Madison Square Garden. Valentine lets people into the decision making process of how wrestler?s are assigned managers (in 1985 Valentine went from Captain Lou Albano to Jimmy Hart to ?Luscious? Johnny Valiant), how the arrival of Mr. T was felt by the locker room, what life was like on the road before and after the wrestling matches, how is feud with Tito Santana ended in Baltimore and his partnership with Beefcake began, the arrivals in the promotion of ?Macho Man? Randy Savage with Miss Elizabeth (his neighbor in Tampa Bay), Lanny Poffo, the British Bulldogs, Dan Spivey, Hillbilly Jim, Uncle Elmer, Corporal Kirshner and the returns of legends like Bruno Sammartino & Pedro Morales.

Valentine was on the road during the WWF?s crazy travel days and he doesn?t hold back on stories of the road and the debauchery that ensued with his friends like Bob Orton, Jr., Roddy Piper, Don Muraco, Ken Patera, Haku, Adrian Adonis, how superstars like Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda went insane & how Rick McGraw?s death was viewed in the locker room. The fun comes when Sean gets into the boom of merchandise, the debut of ?Hulk Hogan?s Rock N Wrestling? cartoon on CBS and WWF stars appearing on mainstream TV and media. You must add this to the other editions of the Timeline series. Don?t own them?? Dude where have you been?? Log onto www.kayfabecommentaries.com and score the previous editions. You can also pre-order Guest Booker with Bill Eadie (Demolition Ax), Wrestling?s Most?Controversial Moment and a bunch of YouShoot?s with Perry Saturn, Honky Tonk Man and others.

Tags: WWE, WCCW, NWA, AWA, WWF, Greg Valentine, Tito Santana, Lanny Poffo, Bob Orton, Jr, , Roddy Piper, Ken Patera, Rick McGraw, Honky Tonk Man, Barry Windham