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By CRAIG BASSE
© St. Petersburg Times, published May 3, 2001
TAMPA -- Johnny Valentine, a former professional wrestling champion with ties to the Suncoast, has died at 72.
Known for his "smash-mouth" style and for packing a powerful punch, he died of heart failure April 24 in a Fort Worth, Texas, hospital.
In October 1975, a plane carrying Mr. Valentine, three other wrestlers and a promoter ran out of fuel and crashed in North Carolina. Among the wrestlers was 24-year-old Ric Flair, who later held the world title several times.
Mr. Valentine, who was then U.S. heavyweight champion, suffered a broken back, foot and hand in that crash. The accident put him on crutches for the rest of his life.
Born John Theodore Wisniski in Washington state, Mr. Valentine was discovered by wrestling legend Stanislaus Zbyszko and fought his first match at age 19. He changed his name to Johnny Valentine.
During his career, he won numerous championships and titles, including the Florida Heavyweight title three times between 1967 and 1968 and the Southern Tag Team title, with Boris Malenko, in 1968.
For a time in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mr. Valentine lived in Temple Terrace and wrestled in the area.
In his prime, Mr. Valentine stood 6-foot-4 and weighed 270 pounds, said his son, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, who had launched his own wrestling career 30 years ago.
"It was the rough, smash-nose type of wrestling he was famous for," Greg Valentine told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "And if you went to see a Johnny Valentine match, it was always long -- 45 or 60 minutes."
- Information from the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram was used in this obituary.