Author: Amy Kuperinsky / Source: NJ.com
Professional wrestling star “Luscious” Johnny Valiant has died after being hit by a truck while crossing the street in a suburb of Pittsburgh, reports the Associated Press, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and WPXI.
Valiant, 71, a WWE Hall of Famer whose real name was Thomas Sullivan, is known for being one half of wrestling duo the Valiant Brothers.
He also appeared in “The Sopranos” as a bodyguard for New York mafia boss Carmine Lupertazzi.Reports say Sullivan was hit while crossing McKnight Road near Siebert Road in Ross Township, Pennsylvania early Wednesday morning and pronounced dead at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. Police, who suspected no foul play, said Sullivan had not been at a crosswalk and that the driver of the truck remained on the scene.
Sullivan, who said he got his start in wrestling after approaching wrestling great Bruno Sammartino, grew up in North Hills, Pennsylvania. The WWE Hall of Famer, inducted in 1996, also managed Hulk Hogan in the 1980s.
After Sullivan met wrestler James Fanning, whose name in the ring was Jimmy Valiant, Fanning introduced him to the World Wrestling Association, and the two…
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