Courtesy Roanoke Times

(June 16, 2009) Forget "Friday Night SmackDown" and "Monday Night Raw."
Wrestling fans in the New River Valley now have a ringside perspective into the world of pro wrestling with "The Big Dog Sports Talk Main Event Hour with Jimmy 'The Boogie Woogie Man' Valiant and the 'Big Dog,' Rick Watson."

The show debuted June 4 and will air from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursdays on Sports Talk 101.7 with what Watson called "probably the fastest hour ever" in the history of his daily show.

Not even the pouring rain could compete with the flood of calls and e-mails to the inaugural program, and even after the show had signed off, people were still trying to call in.

In fact, the first call did not even come from the New River Valley, but rather a Lynchburg listener tuned in online from the show's Web site.

The pair expects much more of that because Valiant's fan base is international and word is spreading through his various grapevines.

Despite a gentle demeanor and quiet smile the 66-year-old Valiant naturally wears, at the flick of the "On-Air" light, he jumps into the energy and enthusiasm that has trademarked his 45-year career.

"Wooooo mercy!" Valiant bellowed out at the show's opening.

"I am pumped up man, and I am just ready to start rockin' and rollin'!"

Valiant moved to Shawsville 18 years ago and has become a fixture in the New River Valley.

Valiant said he fell in love with Virginia while wrestling at the Roanoke Civic Center but, more importantly, he fell in love with a Virginia girl.

His wife, Angel, is his constant companion and business partner.

Together they operate Boogie's Pro Wrestling Camp and conduct annual fundraisers.

Valiant has also recently released an autobiography called "Woo ... Mercy Daddy," chronicling his life in pro wrestling that found him in more than 10,000 matches and logging 10 million road miles.

But it was not just Valiant and his experience that the fans got.

Each week the show will feature a call from another famous pro wrestler of the past or the present and started off with none other than Ivan Koloff, the Russian Bear.

Valiant said he wanted Koloff as the first guest because the two started at the same time and Valiant considers him a brother.

For Watson, he was the perfect first guest.

"I remember seeing those guys on Saturdays and seeing Ivan in his black tights and he just scared the crap out of me," Watson said, laughing.

On air, the two World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Famers had much to talk about, letting fans into the off-camera world of pro wrestling in the '60s and '70s.

In those days, they often wrestled seven days a week, each night in a different city and rarely with adequate sleep.

And then there was the fan abuse.

In the first part of Valiant's career, he was known as Handsome Jimmy Valiant, playing up a persona of arrogance and self-absorption, and like Koloff, he was seen as a villain.

On the way to ring, Koloff and Valiant recalled, they were often spat on, targeted for debris and Valiant was even stabbed.

But at least for Valiant, in his role as "The Boogie Woogie Man," he was able to transform into a hero and fan favorite.

"But poor Ivan," Valiant mused after the show. "He was a bad heel his whole career."

Today, Koloff is an ordained minister and performs marriage ceremonies anywhere in the country, even in the ring, if so requested.

The show promises something new and fresh each week and both Watson and Valiant said they are having a ball doing it.

"There is nothing else like this in the country," said Watson.

"And you can see from the response we had, people really want something different."