WWE legend Valentine here Aug. 29

 

Fans can meet WWE Hall of Famer Greg "The Hammer" Valentine on Saturday, August 29 when the Red Wings host the Pawtucket Red Sox at 7:05 p.m.

Valentine will sign at Frontier Field August 29 from 6-6:40 p.m., and again from 7-7:30 p.m. There will be a $15 fee for autographs, and photos of and with Valentine will also be available for purchase.

Valentine's appearance is presented by Collectorfest Monthly as part of their annual Card and Collectibles Show in the concourse that day, beginning when the gates open at 6 p.m. The show will feature sports cards and collectibles, plus pro wrestling items.

Local card collector and promoter Ernie Orlando's Collectorfest Monthly event in Webster is the only regularly scheduled monthly collectibles show in Western New York. Valentine will also be appearing at the Sunday, August 30 Collectorfest Monthly show in Webster, signing autographs between 1-2:30 p.m.

 

One of the toughest, most rugged competitors ever to come down the pike, Greg Valentine more than carried on the tradition first established by his legendary father, the late Johnny Valentine. A top-ranked Superstar during the 1970s, '80s and '90s, his is a career that encompasses several different eras of the sport's history.

Rochester-area fans would have first watched Valentine compete in the early 1970s as Johnny Fargo, part of the Fargo Brothers tag team champs. The Fargos appeared in the Buffalo-based National Wrestling Federation's "Championship Wrestling" TV show shown here, hosted by Ron Martinez and Jack Reynolds.

In the NWA's Mid-Atlantic territory, he was a frequent tag-team partner and World Tag Team Champion with Ric Flair, and held the United States Championship as well. Valentine famously broke the leg of Wahoo McDaniel during their feud, after which Valentine began wearing a t-shirt that read "I broke Wahoo's leg." That gesture received a modern-day homage in 2010, when C.M. Punk appeared with a similar shirt after breaking the hand of The Big Show.

In WWE, Valentine captured the World Tag Team Championship in 1985 as part of the Dream Team with Brutus Beefcake, and defended that title at WrestleMania 2. Prior to that, Valentine enjoyed a lengthy reign in 1985 as Intercontinental Champion, defending that title against the late Junkyard Dog at the first WrestleMania and waging countless battles with fellow 2004 WWE Hall of Fame inductee Tito Santana.

Valentine was a thorn in the side of WWE Champions Bob Backlund and Hogan, and later formed one-half of the Rhythm & Blues tag team with the Honky Tonk Man. Valentine also spent time in WCW, where he held the U.S. Tag Team Championship with Terry Taylor and made frequent appearances on Monday Nitro. His hard-hitting style in the ring will never be forgotten by those who saw him, and along with Flair and Hall of Famer Buddy Rogers, he helped make the figure-four leglock a household word.

Valentine was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2004.

Click here to order tickets for Aug. 29 or any Red Wings home game. (Tickets for Opening Day April 11 on sale now; tickets for all other home games go on sale Saturday, March 28.)