For the first time in over 25 years, all three Valiant Brothers will be under the same roof at the same time. Yes, the boys from New York City are back, and Jerry, Johnny, and Jimmy will all be at the Holiday Inn in Carteret, NJ, along with other wrestling legends on Saturday, May 14.
In Person Entertainment, along with promoters Tim Beal and Evan Ginzburg, will be hosting the event from 8 a.m.- 2 p.m., but have vowed that this will not be just any wrestling convention, “Around 9 a.m., Johnny Valiant will be doing his critically-acclaimed one-man show. Obviously at most wrestling conventions you don’t have a theatrical event. I think that’s a good way to start the day. We’re also going to do a rare merchandise auction, which hasn’t been done at any other conventions,” Ginzburg told SLAM! Wrestling.
Johnny Valiant is looking forward to the event. “It’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said. “Everyone is going to have a good time.”
Along with those unique events, “The Genius” Lanny Poffo will be hosting a Q & A session, and for V.I.P.s, there will be a lunch with all the guests in attendance. “The V.I.P. ticket holders will be able to sit down and eat with their childhood heroes, and that’s a concept that hasn’t been done either,” Ginzburg said.
The idea is to make this event different than previous reunions held in “The Garden State.” “We will also have some independent wrestlers and promotions on hand, making things very colorful,” said Ginzburg. “Some lady wrestlers will be in attendance — you don’t get to see them at conventions that often. We just want to make this like a wrestling community for one day.”
While wrestling conventions can be fun, they can at the same time be trying. Fans stand in line, and when the chance finally comes to meet the stars, it’s a quick handshake, autograph, photo, and before being pushed along. Ginzburg plans on changing that stereotype. “I love these conventions, but at the same time it can be a little impersonal. You get in line, you get an autograph, 30 seconds, 45 seconds, you shake the guy’s hand, you pose for a picture, and you move on. We want it to be more than that, we want it to be up close and personal, and that’s our goal.”
Ginzburg has specific goals in mind for the event. “Obviously you want to make money, you want the fans to leave happy, you want it to be classy, comfortable, friendly, warm, and not just hustling people for their autograph money. We want this to be enough of a success, where as you could take the same cast of characters on the road. These guys worked every territory known to man back in the day. So many of these guys have fanscinating, and funny road stories, I feel there is a theatrical element to wrestling that has not been tapped in to, and of course we’d like to video tape the event and get it out to the people who couldn’t be there in person.”
The full list of guests for the event are as follows: “Handsome” Jimmy Valiant, “Luscious” Johnny Valiant, “Gentleman” Jerry Valiant, “Captain” Lou Albano, Lanny “The Genius” Poffo, Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, Nikolai Volkoff, King Kong Bundy, and referee, Dick Woehrle.
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