{{Short description|Canadian professional wrestler (1941–2010)}} {{Other uses|John Hill (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox professional wrestler |name=John Hill |birth_name = John Steele Hill |names=Guy Hill<br>Guy Mitchell<br>The Stomper<br>Jerry Valiant<br>The Masked Strangler<br>Mr. X (in Vancouver)<br>The Destroyer<br>The Assassin<br>Guy Heenan |image=John Hill (wrestler).jpg |image_size=200px |height=6 ft 3 in |weight= |birth_date=July 8, 1941<ref name=obit>{{cite web|url=http://swartzfh.frontrunnerpro.com/runtime/28119/runtime.php?SiteId=28119&NavigatorId=148424&op=tributeObituary&viewOpt=dpaneOnly&ItemId=449676&LinkId=103|publisher=Swartz Family Community Mortuary and Memorial Center|title=Obituary for John Hill|access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref> |birth_place=Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |death_date= March 10, 2010 (Aged 68)<ref name=dies>{{cite web|url=http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2010/03/12/13215206.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106164001/http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2010/03/12/13215206.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 6, 2015|title=John Hill, man of many faces, dies at 68|author=Johnson, Steven|publisher=SLAM! Wrestling|access-date=2010-03-13|date=March 12, 2010}} age 68</ref> |death_place= Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |resides= |billed= |trainer= |debut=1959<ref name=dies/> |retired=1988 }} '''John Steele Hill'''<ref name=obit2>{{cite web|url=http://swartzfh.frontrunnerpro.com/runtime/28119/runtime.php?SiteId=28119&NavigatorId=148424&op=moreinfo&viewOpt=dpaneOnly&ItemId=449676&LinkId=100|publisher=Swartz Family Community Mortuary and Memorial Center|title=Obituary for John Hill|access-date=2010-03-13}}</ref> (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.
==Professional wrestling career== ===1960s=== 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.<ref name=dies/> He traveled to the United States in 1960 in the hopes of making more money.<ref name=dies/> At the beginning of his career, Hill wrestled under the ring name Guy Hill.<ref name=dies/><ref name=oww>{{cite web|title=Wrestler Profiles: "Stomper" Guy Mitchell|work=Online World of Wrestling|url=http://www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/profiles/g/guy-mitchell.html|access-date=2009-01-06}}</ref> 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.<ref name=faces>{{cite web|title=The many faces of John Hill|work=SLAM! Wrestling|url=http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2005/10/31/1286536.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122082219/http://slam.canoe.com/Slam/Wrestling/2005/10/31/1286536.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 22, 2015|access-date=2009-01-06|last=Johnson|first=Steven}}</ref> Under his new identity, Mitchell held the Georgia version of the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship for one week.<ref name=oww/><ref name=nwasouthhw>{{cite web|title=NWA Southern Heavyweight Title (Georgia)|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ga/nwa/ga-south-h.html|access-date=2009-01-06}}</ref> Shortly thereafter, he teamed with Bob Rasmussen to win the Georgia version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship.<ref name=oww/><ref name=nwasouthtag>{{cite web|title=NWA Southern Tag Team Title (Georgia)|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ga/nwa/ga-south-t.html|access-date=2009-01-06}}</ref>
Mitchell later wrestled in Indianapolis, where he formed a tag team in the World Wrestling Association (WWA) with Joe Tomasso known as The Assassins.<ref name=dies/> Together, the team won the WWA World Tag Team Championship three times in 1965 and 1966.<ref name=dies/><ref name=wwa>{{cite web|title=World Wrestling Association Tag Team Title|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/in/wwa/in-wwa-t.html|access-date=2009-01-06}}</ref> The team was managed by a rookie manager named Bobby Heenan.<ref name=dies/> 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.<ref name=faces/>
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.<ref name=oww/><ref name=iwa>{{cite web|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/australia/au-iwa-h.html|title=International Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Title|work=Wrestling Titles|access-date=2009-01-06}}</ref> The Destroyer's mask was eventually removed, and he announced to the audience that his name was John Hill.<ref name=oww/> After leaving Australia, he began competing in Toronto, Ontario in 1967 as The Assassin.<ref name=faces/>
===1970s–1980s=== 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.<ref name=faces/> The Stomper teamed with Ben Justice and won the Detroit version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship.<ref name=oww/><ref name=nwadet>{{cite web|title=National Wrestling Alliance Tag Team Title (Detroit)|work=Wrestling Titles|url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/mi/nwa/mi-nwa-t.html|access-date=2009-01-06}}</ref> The team feuded with The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello and Don Kent), who were managed by George "Crybaby" Cannon.<ref name=dies/> During this feud, The Stomper suffered a kayfabe (storyline) injury when the Kangaroos broke his leg.<ref name=dies/> Because he could not wrestle in Detroit while he was supposedly recovering, Hill wrestled in Japan for several months.<ref name=faces/>
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.<ref name=oww/><ref name=nwadet/>
Hill went to the Vancouver territory, where he held the Canadian tag team title six times.<ref>Royal Duncan and Gary Will, ''Wrestling Title Histories'', Archeus Communications, 2000, pp. 332-334.</ref>
In 1979, he was brought into the World Wide Wrestling Federation as Jerry Valiant after Jimmy Valiant contracted hepatitis<ref name=observer>Dave Meltzer, ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'', March 22, 2010</ref> With Johnny Valiant, he held the WWWF World Tag Team Championship.<ref name=dies/> After Jimmy recovered, the three Valiants worked in six-man tag matches, and sometimes eight-man tag matches with manager Lou Albano.<ref name=observer/> 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.<ref name=observer/>
He retired from wrestling in 1988.
==Personal life== Growing up in Ontario, Canada, Hill had six siblings. He played hockey and boxed in his youth.<ref name=dies/> He married Carolyn F. Hill on April 5, 1964, in Indianapolis.<ref name=obit/> They had a son, Jonathan S. Hill.<ref name=obit/> 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<ref name=obit/> Hill died on March 10, 2010, in Indiana from advanced Alzheimer's caused by post-concussion syndrome.<ref name=dies/>
==Championships and accomplishments== *'''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)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/in/wwa/in-wwa-t.html |title=W.W.A. World Tag Team Title (Indianapolis) |year=2003 |publisher=Puroresu Dojo }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== * {{Professional wrestling profiles}} {{World Tag Team Championship (WWE)}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, John}} Category:1941 births Category:2010 deaths Category:20th-century male professional wrestlers Category:20th-century Canadian professional wrestlers Category:Canadian male professional wrestlers Category:IWA World Heavyweight Champions (Australia) Category:Masked wrestlers Category:Professional wrestlers from Hamilton, Ontario Category:World Tag Team Champions (WWE, 1971–2010) Category:20th-century Canadian sportsmen