| Val Puccio | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Valentino Puccio |
| Born | (1965-06-09)June 9, 1965 Bronx, New York, U.S. |
| Died | January 7, 2011(2011-01-07) (aged 45) Bronx, New York, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Big Malley Big Val Puccio Henchman Double Trouble #2 Chaos |
| Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Billed weight | 475 lb (215 kg) to 530 lb (240 kg) |
| Trained by | Johnny Rodz |
| Debut | 1989 |
| Retired | 1999 |
Valentino Puccio (June 9, 1965 – January 7, 2011) was aprofessional wrestler best known under thering namesVal Puccio andHenchman and teaming with his brother Tony Pucci as "The Undertakers" and later as "Double Trouble".
Trained byJohnny Rodz, Puccio began his wrestling career in 1989 and worked for various northeast U.S. independent promotions for most of his career.[1][citation needed]
Teaming with his brother Tony the duo formed atag team called "The Undertakers", with Val using thering name Henchman and Tony worked as Punisher. The duo started inInternational Championship Wrestling (ICW; later renamed International World Class Championship Wrestling or IWCCW). On December 11, 1989, the Undertakers defeated a team known as the S & S Express (Vic Steamboat andJoe Savoldi to win theICW Tag Team Championship.[2][3] Their run with the championship only lasted 17 days asthe Dynamic Duo (Phil Apollo and Eric Sbraccia) defeated them on a show inPortland, Maine.[2][3] In March 1990 the Undertakers won the championship again, this time renamed the IWCCW Tag Team Championship.[2][3] Almost a year later, on February 20, 1991, the Undertakers lost the championship to a team known as The Billion Dollar Babies (Mike Sampson and G.Q. Stratus).[2][3]
After this the twins toured Japan, working forAll Japan Pro Wrestling in February and March 1991. Their first match came on February 23, 1991, when they faced "The Land of Giants" duo ofButch Masters andNitron.[4] They also facedMighty Inoue &Rusher Kimura, as well asDean Malenko andJoe Malenko. In November 1992 they wrestled forWrestle Association R losing the teams ofHaku andThe Berzerker; andGenichiro Tenryu andTakashi Ishikawa.
At this point in time the team changed their name after theWorld Wrestling Federation bought the rights to their original name to ensure there would be no confusion between the team and the WWF wrestlerMark Calaway who worked as "the Undertaker".[5] The team took the name "Double Trouble", making their first appearance on September 30, 1991, at a dark match in Wheeling, WV where they defeated a preliminary team at aWrestling Challenge taping.[6] They won another dark match against preliminary opposition in Huntington, WV at aWWF Superstars taping.
In June 1992 they began teaming regularly on WWF house shows. The tour was part of the settlement that they reached with the WWF over "The Undertaker" name.[7] They were winless in house show encounters withThe Bushwhackers. In August they entered a house show series againstHigh Energy, and in September they received title matches againstWWF Tag-Team ChampionsThe Natural Disasters. After going winless, Double Trouble finally gained their first victory of the year on October 2, 1992, in Poughkeepsie, NY when they defeatedMark Thomas andPhil Apollo. They finished the year facingRoad Warrior Animal in handicap matches.
In 1993 they wrestled only one match, losing toThe Steiner Brothers on January 30 in Providence, RI.[8] After a lengthy absence they returned on July 7, 1994, to face the tag-team championsThe Headshrinkers in Landover, MD.[9] Following two more matches against The Headshrinkers the duo left the promotion.
During their hiatus from the WWF in 1993, the duo also worked in the CWA. On September 23, 1993, the duo defeated The Interns to become the first everCWA Tag Team Champions forCentury Wrestling Alliance.[10][11] On March 25, 1994, the team of Vic Steamboat andRay Odyssey defeated Double Trouble to end their title run.[10][11] In 1994 the team worked as "the Trouble Makers" with Val being known as Chaos and Tony working as Mayhem. Their final match in the CWA came on December 12, 1994, when they defeatedAlex Shane &Cherokee Renegade in Elizabethton, Tennessee.[12]
In 1995 Val worked forExtreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), known as Big Val. His run was short lived, losing matches toMikey Whipwreck andHack Meyers.[13] Puccio's only ECW victory was a win overTony Stetson by disqualification. He was one of the founding members of a tag team withJT Smith, which would later evolve intoThe Full Blooded Italiansgroup.
After his ECW Run Val briefly held theCWA New England Heavyweight Championship, winning it from and losing it back toTony Rumble.[11][14]
Val Puccio joinedNWA New England, wrestling under the moniker of "Punisher" losing toThe Mercenary on May 28 in Somerville, Massachusetts. He also facedIron Fist while in the promotion.
Puccio's battles against obesity have been chronicled on theTLC seriesInside the Brookhaven Obesity Clinic, where he was a patient.[15] Puccio died on January 7, 2011. His brother Tony made the announcement onFacebook. He was 45. His death is thought to have been caused by his obesity.[5]
,Internet Wrestling Database