.jpg) | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | John Steele Hill July 8, 1941[2] Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | March 10, 2010 (Aged 68)[1] Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Guy Hill Guy Mitchell The Stomper Jerry Valiant The Masked Strangler Mr. X (inVancouver) The Destroyer The Assassin Guy Heenan |
| Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) |
| Debut | 1959[1] |
| Retired | 1988 |
John Steele Hill[3] (July 8, 1941 – March 10, 2010) was aCanadianprofessional wrestler best known under the ring namesGuy Mitchell,The Stomper and"Gentleman" Jerry Valiant. During his career, he held the top singles titles inAustralia andVancouver, and competed in theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) where he won theWWWF World Tag Team Championship.
Hill became a professional wrestler in 1959 after working out for a year at bothAl Spittles's andJack Wentworth's gyms in Canada.[1] He traveled to the United States in 1960 in the hopes of making more money.[1] At the beginning of his career, Hill wrestled under thering name Guy Hill.[1][4] While wrestling forGeorgia Championship Wrestling in 1961, however, a news reporter accidentally referred to him as Guy Mitchell, and Hill was forced to take on the new name.[5] Under his new identity, Mitchell held the Georgia version of theNWA Southern Heavyweight Championship for one week.[4][6] Shortly thereafter, he teamed with Bob Rasmussen to win the Georgia version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship.[4][7]
Mitchell later wrestled inIndianapolis, where he formed atag team in theWorld Wrestling Association (WWA) withJoe Tomasso known as The Assassins.[1] Together, the team won theWWA World Tag Team Championship three times in 1965 and 1966.[1][8] The team was managed by a rookiemanager namedBobby Heenan.[1] Although The Assassins were aheel (villain) tag team who wore masks, Mitchell also competed as aface (fan favorite) singles wrestler without a mask. Mitchell also wrestled as Guy Heenan in some areas, where he was a storyline sibling of Heenan.[5]
While wrestling in the AustralianWorld Championship Wrestling, he used the ring name The Destroyer and wrestled under a mask. On September 3, 1966, he defeatedBearcat Wright to win theIWA World Heavyweight Championship.[4][9] The Destroyer's mask was eventually removed, and he announced to the audience that his name was John Hill.[4] After leaving Australia, he began competing inToronto,Ontario in 1967 as The Assassin.[5]
After wrestling as a heel for four years in Toronto, The Assassinfeuded withThe Sheik, losing adeath match in July 1971. The Sheik won the match and removed The Assassin's mask, revealing him to be Guy "Stomper" Mitchell. While wrestling as a heel in Toronto, Hill also competed as a babyface inDetroit,Michigan. Because the name Mitchell was already being used by another wrestler, WWA ownerDick the Bruiser gave him the ring name The Stomper.[5] The Stomper teamed with Ben Justice and won the Detroit version of theNWA World Tag Team Championship.[4][10] The team feuded withThe Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello andDon Kent), who were managed byGeorge "Crybaby" Cannon.[1] During this feud, The Stomper suffered akayfabe (storyline) injury when the Kangaroos broke his leg.[1] Because he could not wrestle in Detroit while he was supposedly recovering, Hill wrestled inJapan for several months.[5]
Upon his return to Detroit, The Stomper and Justice continued their feud with the Kangaroos. The teams faced each other in a tournament final for the vacant tag team championship, which the Kangaroos won. The following year, The Stomper and Justice regained the title belts by defeating the Kangaroos. They held the belts for five months, and The Stomper had one last reign as champion when he teamed withBobo Brazil to win the title for the third time on July 21, 1973. They eventuallydropped the belts to Ben Justice and his new partner,Killer Brooks.[4][10]
Hill went to theVancouver territory, where he held theCanadian tag team title six times.[11]
In 1979, he was brought into theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation as Jerry Valiant afterJimmy Valiant contracted hepatitis[12] WithJohnny Valiant, he held theWWWF World Tag Team Championship.[1] After Jimmy recovered, the three Valiants worked in six-man tag matches, and sometimes eight-man tag matches with managerLou Albano.[12] After eight months in the WWF, Hill split from the Valiants and left the area. He returned as a solo prelim wrestler and referee in 1984 when the WWF would use his ring at shows in Indiana, Missouri, Michigan and Kansas.[12]
He retired from wrestling in 1988.
Growing up in Ontario, Canada, Hill had six siblings. He played hockey and boxed in his youth.[1] He married Carolyn F. Hill on April 5, 1964, in Indianapolis.[2] They had a son, Jonathan S. Hill.[2] After retiring, Hill owned and operated Hill's Landscaping for 14 years with his son. He enjoyed volunteering as Santa Claus for different organizations in central Indiana[2] Hill died on March 10, 2010, in Indiana from advanced Alzheimer's caused bypost-concussion syndrome.[1]
,Internet Wrestling Database