John Hill (wrestler)

For other uses, see John Hill (disambiguation).

John Hill

Birth name| John Steele Hill
Born| July 8, 1941[1]
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Died| March 10, 2010 (Aged 68)[2]
Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)| Guy Hill
Guy Mitchell
The Stomper
Jerry Valiant
The Masked Strangler
Mr. X (in Vancouver)
The Destroyer
The Assassin
Guy Heenan
Billed height| 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Debut| 1959[2]
Retired| Mid 1990s

John Steele Hill[3] (July 8, 1941 – March 10, 2010) was a Canadian professional wrestler best known under the ring names Guy Mitchell, The Stomper and "Gentleman" Jerry Valiant. During his career, he held the top singles titles in Australia and Vancouver, and competed in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) where he won the WWWF World Tag Team Championship.

## Contents

* 1 Professional wrestling career
* 1.1 1960s
* 1.2 1970s
* 2 Personal life
* 3 Championships and accomplishments
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Professional wrestling career[edit]

### 1960s[edit]

Hill became a professional wrestler in 1959 after working out for a year at both Al Spittles's and Jack Wentworth's gyms in Canada.[2] He traveled to the United States in 1960 in the hopes of making more money.[2] At the beginning of his career, Hill wrestled under the ring name Guy Hill.[2][4] While wrestling for Georgia 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 the NWA 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 in Indianapolis, where he formed a tag team in the World Wrestling Association (WWA) with Joe Tomasso known as The Assassins.[2] Together, the team won the WWA World Tag Team Championship three times in 1965 and 1966.[2][8] The team was managed by a rookie manager named Bobby Heenan.[2] Although The Assassins were a heel (villain) tag team who wore masks, Mitchell also competed as a face (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 Australian World Championship Wrestling, he used the ring name The Destroyer and wrestled under a mask. On September 3, 1966, he defeated Bearcat Wright to win the IWA 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 in Toronto, Ontario in 1967 as The Assassin.[5]

### 1970s[edit]

After wrestling as a heel for four years in Toronto, The Assassin feuded with The Sheik, losing a death 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 in Detroit, Michigan. Because the name Mitchell was already being used by another wrestler, WWA owner Dick the Bruiser gave him the ring name The Stomper.[5] The Stomper teamed with Ben Justice and won the Detroit version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship.[4][10] The team feuded with The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello and Don Kent), who were managed by George "Crybaby" Cannon.[2] During this feud, The Stomper suffered a kayfabe (storyline) injury when the Kangaroos broke his leg.[2] Because he could not wrestle in Detroit while he was supposedly recovering, Hill wrestled in Japan 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 with Bobo Brazil to win the title for the third time on July 21, 1973. They eventually dropped the belts to Ben Justice and his new partner, Killer Brooks.[4][10]

Hill went to the Vancouver territory, where he held the Canadian tag team title six times.[11]

In 1979, he was brought into the World Wide Wrestling Federation as Jerry Valiant after Jimmy Valiant contracted hepatitis[12] With Johnny Valiant, he held the WWWF World Tag Team Championship.[2] After Jimmy recovered, the three Valiants worked in six-man tag matches, and sometimes eight-man tag matches with manager Lou 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]

## Personal life[edit]

Growing up in Ontario Canada Hill had ten siblings, he played hockey and boxed in his youth.[2] His wife was Carolyn F. Hill. They were married on April 5, 1964, in Indianapolis.[1] They had a son, Jonathan S Hill.[1] 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[1] Hill died on March 10, 2010, in Indiana after a battle with advanced Alzheimer's onset by Post-concussion syndrome.[2]

## Championships and accomplishments[edit]

* Central States Wrestling

* NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Roger Kirby

* NWA All-Star Wrestling

* NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (6 times) - with Buck Ramstead (1), Gene Kiniski (1), The Brute (1), Ormand Malumba (1), Ricky Hunter (1), and Eric Froelich (1)
* NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (Vancouver version) (4 times)

* World Championship Wrestling (Australia)

* IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

* World Wide Wrestling Federation

* WWWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Johnny Valiant

* World Wrestling Association

* WWA World Tag Team Championship (5 times) - with Joe Tomasso (3), Roger Kirby (1) and Abdullah The Great (1)[13]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b c d "Obituary for John Hill". Swartz Family Community Mortuary and Memorial Center. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Johnson, Steven (March 12, 2010). "John Hill, man of many faces, dies at 68". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2010-03-13. age 68
3. ^ "Obituary for John Hill". Swartz Family Community Mortuary and Memorial Center. Retrieved 2010-03-13.
4. ^ a b c d e f g "Wrestler Profiles: "Stomper" Guy Mitchell". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
5. ^ a b c d e Johnson, Steven. "The many faces of John Hill". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
6. ^ "NWA Southern Heavyweight Title (Georgia)". Wrestling Titles. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
7. ^ "NWA Southern Tag Team Title (Georgia)". Wrestling Titles. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
8. ^ "World Wrestling Association Tag Team Title". Wrestling Titles. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
9. ^ "International Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Title". Wrestling Titles. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
10. ^ a b "National Wrestling Alliance Tag Team Title (Detroit)". Wrestling Titles. Retrieved 2009-01-06.
11. ^ Royal Duncan and Gary Will, Wrestling Title Histories, Archeus Communications, 2000, pp. 332-334.
12. ^ a b c Dave Meltzer, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, March 22, 2010
13. ^ "W.W.A. World Tag Team Title (Indianapolis)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.

## External links[edit]

* v
* t
* e

WWE World Tag Team Champions

1970s|

* Luke Graham and Tarzan Tyler
* Karl Gotch and Rene Goulet
* Mikel Scicluna and King Curtis Iaukea
* Chief Jay Strongbow and Sonny King
* Mr. Fuji and Professor Tanaka
* Haystacks Calhoun and Tony Garea
* Dean Ho and Tony Garea
* Valiant Brothers (Jimmy Valiant and Johnny Valiant)
* Dominic DeNucci and Pat Barrett/Victor Rivera
* The Blackjacks (Blackjack Lanza and Blackjack Mulligan)
* Louis Cerdan and Tony Parisi
* The Executioners (Executioner #1 and Executioner #2)
* Billy White Wolf and Chief Jay Strongbow
* Dino Bravo and Dominic DeNucci
* The Yukon Lumberjacks (Lumberjack Eric and Lumberjack Pierre)
* Larry Zbyszko and Tony Garea
* Valiant Brothers (Jerry Valiant and Johnny Valiant)
* Ivan Putski and Tito Santana

1980s|

* The Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika)
* Bob Backlund and Pedro Morales
* Rick Martel and Tony Garea
* The Moondogs (Moondog Rex and Moondog King/Moondog Spot)
* Mr. Fuji and Mr. Saito
* Chief Jay Strongbow and Jules Strongbow
* The Soul Patrol (Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas)
* The North-South Connection (Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch)
* The U.S. Express (Barry Windham and Mike Rotundo)
* The Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff
* The Dream Team (Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine)
* The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid)
* The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart)
* Strike Force (Rick Martel and Tito Santana)
* Demolition (Ax, Crush and Smash)
* The Brain Busters (Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard)
* The Colossal Connection (André the Giant and Haku)

1990s|

* The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags)
* The Legion of Doom (Animal and Hawk)
* Money Inc. (Irwin R. Schyster and Ted DiBiase)
* The Natural Disasters (Earthquake and Typhoon)
* The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner)
* The Quebecers (Quebecer Jacques and Quebecer Pierre)
* The 1-2-3 Kid and Marty Jannetty
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* The Headshrinkers (Fatu and Samu)
* Two Dudes with Attitudes (Diesel and Shawn Michaels)
* The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly
* The Smoking Gunns (Bart Gunn and Billy Gunn)
* Owen Hart and Yokozuna
* The Bodydonnas (Skip and Zip)
* The Godwinns (Henry O. Godwinn and Phineas I. Godwinn)
* Owen Hart and the British Bulldog
* Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin
* Dude Love and Stone Cold Steve Austin
* The Headbangers (Mosh and Thrasher)
* The New Age Outlaws (Billy Gunn and Road Dogg)
* Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie
* Kane and Mankind
* Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker
* Big Boss Man and Ken Shamrock
* Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart
* Kane and X-Pac
* The Acolytes/The A.P.A. (Bradshaw and Faarooq)
* The Hardy Boyz (Jeff Hardy and Matt Hardy)
* The Unholy Alliance (Big Show and The Undertaker)
* The Rock 'n' Sock Connection (Mankind and The Rock)
* The Holly Cousins (Crash Holly and Hardcore Holly)
* Al Snow and Mankind

2000s|

* The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray Dudley and D-Von Dudley)
* Edge and Christian
* Too Cool (Grandmaster Sexay and Scotty 2 Hotty)
* Right to Censor (Bull Buchanan and The Goodfather)
* The Rock and The Undertaker
* The Brothers of Destruction (The Undertaker and Kane)
* The Two-Man Power Trip (Stone Cold Steve Austin and Triple H)
* Chris Benoit and Chris Jericho
* Diamond Dallas Page and Chris Kanyon
* Chris Jericho and The Rock
* Booker T and Test
* Spike Dudley and Tazz
* Billy and Chuck
* Rico and Rikishi
* Edge and Hollywood Hulk Hogan
* The Un-Americans (Christian and Lance Storm)
* The Hurricane and Kane
* Chris Jericho and Christian
* Booker T and Goldust
* Lance Storm and William Regal
* Chief Morley and Lance Storm
* Kane and Rob Van Dam
* La Résistance (René Duprée and Sylvain Grenier)
* Evolution (Batista and Ric Flair)
* Booker T and Rob Van Dam
* Chris Benoit and Edge
* La Résistance (Robért Conway and Sylvain Grenier)
* Eugene and William Regal
* Tajiri and William Regal
* The Hurricane and Rosey
* Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch
* Big Show and Kane
* The Spirit Squad (Johnny, Kenny, Mikey, Mitch and Nicky)
* Roddy Piper and Ric Flair
* Rated-RKO (Edge and Randy Orton)
* John Cena and Shawn Michaels
* Paul London and Brian Kendrick
* Cody Rhodes and Hardcore Holly
* The Legacy (Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase (Jr.))
* Batista and John Cena
* CM Punk and Kofi Kingston
* John Morrison and The Miz
* The Colóns (Carlito and Primo)
* Chris Jericho and Edge
* Jeri-Show (Big Show and Chris Jericho)
* D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels and Triple H)

2010s|

* ShoMiz (Big Show and The Miz)
* The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith and Tyson Kidd)

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