WWF History - Greg "THE HAMMER" Valentine(from heel to face)

[johnissoevil]

This was quite a rarity for Valentine, as he was always known to play the heel. WCW wasted no time in switching him back to heel when he went down there about a year later.

[rasamahamasahama]

Aw come on Alfred it was hardly blatant was it?

[filthiestfish]

This happened before Royal Rumble and if anything was done quickly due to the sudden departure of Honky TonK Man, thereby breaking the Rhythm and Blues tag team.

[guardian08527]

@filthiestfish

Exactly. Honky was supposed to be in the Rumble but was wished well on his future endeavour less than a week before the ppv. So they had Hammer do the quick face turn at a house show like 2 days before the Rumble. Another reason I think they booted him out of the the Hart stable was because Jimmy had just brought in the Nasty Boys and The Mountie. In the WWF they always "trimmed the fat" whenever Heenan, Fuji or Hart brought in new talent for their stables.

[guardian08527]

@guardian08527 If you weren't one of the people at that house show when it happened you would of been one of the people in the crowd at the Rumble or watching on tv who was shocked. Valentine was more tweener at the ppv before the full story came about. Valentine dumping Bravo easily in the Rumble then knocking Hart off the apron sealed the deal.

[filthiestfish]

@guardian08527 Actually, the match in which Jimmy Hart accidentally knocked out The Hammer with the guitar took place on 28/12/90 at MSG, New York, so not a couple of days but 3 weeks before the ppv.

[keithjfro]

The Hammer is the greatest "seller" of all time

[slimmsayton]

Saba goddamn Simba? I could choke Vince McMahon for that one.

[wrestlexclusive]

i always though he was boring in the ring

[NukeIt2Bdone]

Two men that trained me to wrestle, Tony Atlas & Greg Valentine

[jobber25v]

alfred was great

[msm1876]

I love Valentine's selling! The way he sold the guitar shot @ 0:19 was classic...I watched for a few seconds, thinking...is he gonna no sell it?

[malfoy2]

It was great how he did it. Only thing was he didnt do his usual face plant.

[ckendall67]

I remember watching the '91 Royal Rumble & when Valentine came out No. 3, I expected he'd help Bravo double-team Bret Hart; then he went & attacked Bravo instead & eliminated him & I was like "WTF?? I thought they were still allies??" I can't remember if it was before or after the Rumble when I 1st saw the video of the guitar-shot to Valentine, although it may have been before the Rumble when this happened...

[dX927]

@ckendall67 The match itself aired on Prime Time in early January. I remember it being clear at the time why Valentine attacked Bravo in the Rumble even though Piper seemed confused.

[landrykkb]

@dX927 I remember seeing this update probably about 3 weeks after Royal Rumble '91,and Tony Atlas had left right after that Royal Rumble.Greg Valentine had basically been just putting talent over at this stage of his career.

[raider8sox]

R.I.P. Lord Alfred Hayes!!!

[landrykkb]

Another sign of his babyface turn was that he lasted 45 minutes at the '91 Royal Rumble.They don't give that sort of credibility to a mid-card heel that's been there a long time.

[jahpsu981]

@landrykkb Actually there was a very interesting story behind Valentine lasting so long. This was actually punishment for Valentine talking to and negotiating with the UWF at the time. This was confirmed in a issue of the Wrestling Observer that came out right after the Rumble. The fact that Valentine really didn't get any significant push after this makes sense

[RNCoyote]

Signs of Valentine face turn came at the Royal Rumble. Valentine eliminated Dino Bravo whom Hart was managing at the Royal Rumble. Just as Hart argue with Valentine about the elimination Valentine punched him off the apron.

[SaskBlade]

Lol at how long it took the Hammer to fall after the guitar shot. Valentine's pratfalls are just as funny as Flair's.

[EvenflowBlack]

@SaskBlade Yeah - not surprising, though, given Valentine's history with Flair. If I remember rightly, Valentine modeled himself on Flair - dyed blond hair, sparkly ring robe/jacket, Figure Four leglock, similar spots (pratfalls, thrown off the top rope) - after they teamed up for a while.

[greatestgoalie25]

@SaskBlade: 7 seconds. LOL Loved Greg Valentine. Was pretty impressed with the pop he got at WM XX.

[johnissoevil]

@SaskBlade I always believed that Valentine did that as a salute to Flair.

[TrueTalkTV]

lol @ "blatant" attack :D

Anybody could see that was an accident.

This was a ploy to turn Valentine face quick and in a hurry just to get a match together for WMVII

[delshizzy]

HE WAS LIKE "SHOULD I SELL?"

[NoirFan01]

Not really. I think Valentine sold it as being stunned and out on his feet and then collapsed. My memory of seeing this on TV is that Valentine also had a small cut from the guitar shot.

[BaronofBooya]

We didn't even see Hammer's response. We just read about it in the info.

[sanyboj]

Well If you looked the picture at behind, you'll see that Hammer is not really frendly with Jimmy Hart.