James Fanning

Also Known As: Jimmy Valiant, Charlie Brown, James Harold Fanning, The Boogie Woogie Man, Handsome Jimmy, The Boy from New York City

Biography: James Harold Fanning is a former professional wrestler and author better known as "The Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant. Fanning started wrestling in 1964 as "Big Jim Vallen". He went to the WWWF in the 1970s as "Handsome Jimmy Valiant" and formed a team with Johnny Valiant that would dominate the tag team scene for a while as WWWF Tag Team champions. In the later 1960s in the WWA, they were managed by Bobby Heenan. Valiant had entered the WWWF in 1971 as a babyface, originally known as "Gentleman Jim Valiant," but quickly switched to heel.[4] He had title matches against champion Pedro Morales in secondary arenas, such as Philadelphia, and feuded with short-term tag partner Chief Jay Strongbow. Jimmy and his kayfabe brother Johnny held the tag belts from 1974 to 1975 and main evented Madison Square Garden against Chief Jay Strongbow and Bruno Sammartino. During the late 1970s – early 1980s, Valiant was a central player in the Memphis, Tennessee wrestling scene. He feuded regularly with Jerry Lawler and teamed with Bill Dundee to dominate the tag team matches of that time. Despite the Memphis promotion desperately wanting to keep him in Memphis full-time, even offering to buy him a house in Memphis according to Jerry Lawler's biography, Valiant decided to move on after holding the AWA Southern Heavyweight title for roughly a year. In the early 1980s, Valiant returned as a babyface to NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions. January 1984, Valiant was attacked by Paul Jones and The Assassins. They tied him to the wrestling ring ropes so that Jones could cut his beard off. This led to a grudge match with hyped supershow called 'Boogie Man Jam '84' in Greensboro, North Carolina. For this match, Dusty Rhodes was in Valiant's corner and tied by a rope to Paul Jones. Valiant defeated Assassin II, who was unmasked and revealed as Hercules Hernandez. Due to the beard cutting attack, he feuded heavily with Paul Jones and his army of wrestlers, from 1984 through to late 1986. This army of wrestlers included The Barbarian, Baron von Raschke, Teijo Khan, and The Assassins. During this three-year feud, Valiant received help from Héctor Guerrero and Manny Fernandez. Although Jimmy Valiant would lose a Loser Leaves Town Tuxedo Street Fight to Paul Jones at Starrcade 1984 in Greensboro, North Carolina the feud with many from the Paul Jones stable continued, which would come to include Abdullah The Butcher. In 1985, Valiant and Ragin' Bull Manny Fernandez formed a team called B and B Connection. During The Great American Bash 1986 summer shows, Paul Jones adopted a military style look in his long feud with Valiant and labeled his stable of wrestlers The Army. Valiant would beat Shaska Whatley in a hair vs hair match, but with outside interference lost a hair vs hair match to Paul Jones only weeks later. In the fall of 1986, The Ragin Bull Manny Fernandez, Valiant's best friend accepted Jones' money and turned on Valiant, starting a feud between the two. Paul Jones at this point shortened his army to his newly acquired tag team of Ragin Bull and Rick Rude. The war between Valiant and Paul Jones climaxed at Starrcade 1986 with Valiant putting up the hair of his valet Big Mama against the hair of Paul Jones in a No DQ Match which Valiant won.

Department: Acting

Place of Birth: Hammond, Indiana, USA

Adult: No

Birthday: August 06, 1942

Age: 82 years old

Gender: Male

Popularity:

1.00%

Known For:

I Never Quit: The Magnum T.A. Story
WrestleCade 2016 - The Final 3 Count
Memphis Heat: The True Story of Memphis Wrasslin'
NWA Starrcade '84: The Million Dollar Challenge
NWA Starrcade 1983
NWA Starrcade '85: The Gathering
NWA The Great American Bash 1985
NWA Starrcade '86: The Night of The Sky-Walkers
NWA The Great American Bash '86: Livin' in the Promise Land
NWA The Great American Bash '87: War Games
PWUSA Star Wars
WWE: Falls Count Anywhere: The Greatest Street Fights and Other Out of Control Matches
Big Time Wrestling - Return of The Dragon
The Absolute Truth About Pro Wrestling
Toxic Tutu
WrestleMassacre
Tag Team Champions
The Super Bowl of Wrestling
NWA The Last Battle of Atlanta
Toxic Tutu
The Third Annual NWA Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament
AWA The Road to Super Clash III
WWC Aniversario '88: A Hot Night in Bayamón
WCCW Cotton Bowl Extravaganza '88
AWA SuperClash III
NWA Boogie Jam
TWA Autumn Armageddon '90
NWA Night of Champions
The First Annual NWA Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament
NWA Lords of The Ring
NWA Great American Bash '86 Tour: Charlotte
NWA Great American Bash '86 Tour: Greensboro
The Second Annual NWA Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament
Ultimate Death Match 2