John Steele Hill (July 8, 1941 – March 10, 2010) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, and competed in the

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was an American sports promotion company. Run by Vincent J. McMahon from the 1950s until the 1980s, the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing promotion and later became the holding company ...

(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. He traveled to the United States in 1960 in the hopes of making more money. At the beginning of his career, Hill wrestled under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

Guy Hill. While wrestling for

Georgia Championship Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades b ...

in 1961, however, a news reporter accidentally referred to him as Guy Mitchell, and Hill was forced to take on the new name. Under his new identity, Mitchell held the Georgia version of the NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship for one week. Shortly thereafter, he teamed with Bob Rasmussen to win the Georgia version of the NWA Southern Tag Team Championship. Mitchell later wrestled in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, where he formed a

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

in the

World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish language, Spanish) is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora Jr.. It featured some of Mexico's best ...

(WWA) with Joe Tomasso known as The Assassins. Together, the team won the

WWA World Tag Team Championship The WWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title in the Indianapolis-based World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish language, Spanish) is a lucha libre ...

three times in 1965 and 1966. The team was managed by a rookie

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

named

Bobby Heenan Raymond Louis Heenan (November 1, 1944 – September 17, 2017) was an American professional wrestling Manager (professional wrestling), manager, color commentator, and wrestler. He performed with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the Wo ...

. Although The Assassins were a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...

(villain) tag team who wore masks, Mitchell also competed as a

face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...

(fan favorite) singles wrestler without a mask. Mitchell also wrestled as Guy Heenan in some areas, where he was a storyline sibling of Heenan. While wrestling in the Australian

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

, he used the ring name The Destroyer and wrestled under a mask. On September 3, 1966, he defeated

Bearcat Wright Edward M. Wright (January 13, 1932 – August 28, 1982) better known by his ring name "Bearcat" Wright was an American professional wrestler who became popular in the late 1950s and 1960s. Despite racial tension in the United States, he became wi ...

to win the IWA World Heavyweight Championship. The Destroyer's mask was eventually removed, and he announced to the audience that his name was John Hill. After leaving Australia, he began competing in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

in 1967 as The Assassin.

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 Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. Because the name Mitchell was already being used by another wrestler, WWA owner

Dick the Bruiser William Fritz Afflis Jr. (June 27, 1929 – November 10, 1991) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and National Football League player, better known by his ring name, Dick the Bruiser. During his NFL days he played four seasons with ...

gave him the ring name The Stomper. The Stomper teamed with Ben Justice and won the Detroit version of the

NWA World Tag Team Championship The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling World Tag Team Championship, world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed List of National Wrestling Alliance territories ...

. The team feuded with

The Fabulous Kangaroos :''This team is not to be mistaken for the similarly named team The Royal Kangaroos of Jonathan Boyd and Norman Frederick Charles III'' The Fabulous Kangaroos were a professional wrestling tag team who existed in various forms from 1957 until ...

(

Al Costello Giacomo Costa (14 December 1919 – 22 January 2000) was an Italian Australian professional wrestler best known by his ring name, Al Costello. Costello was the first professional wrestler to be nicknamed "The Man of a Thousand Holds" because of ...

and Don Kent), who were managed by George "Crybaby" Cannon. During this feud, The Stomper suffered a

kayfabe In professional wrestling, kayfabe (pronounced ) is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants. The term has evolved to become a code word ...

(storyline) injury when the Kangaroos broke his leg. Because he could not wrestle in Detroit while he was supposedly recovering, Hill wrestled in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

for several months. 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 Houston Harris (July 10, 1924 – January 20, 1998) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Bobo Brazil. Credited with breaking down barriers of racial segregation in professional wrestling, Harris is considered one o ...

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 Timothy Paul Brooks (December 4, 1946 – June 30, 2020), better known by his ring name "Killer" Tim Brooks, was an American professional wrestler. He competed in North American regional promotions, including the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA ...

. Hill went to the

territory, where he held the Canadian tag team title six times. In 1979, he was brought into the

as Jerry Valiant after

Jimmy Valiant James Harold Fanning (born August 6, 1942) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name "Handsome" Jimmy Valiant. Early life Fanning was born in Tullahoma, Tennessee as the youngest of five children of James and Effie Fann ...

contracted hepatitisDave Meltzer, ''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Wee ...

'', March 22, 2010 With

Johnny Valiant John L. Sullivan (born Thomas Sullivan; November 25, 1946 – April 4, 2018) was an American professional wrestler and manager, better known by his ring name, Johnny Valiant. He competed in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), which ...

, he held the WWWF World Tag Team Championship. After Jimmy recovered, the three Valiants worked in six-man tag matches, and sometimes eight-man tag matches with manager

Lou Albano Louis Vincent Albano (July 29, 1933 – October 14, 2009) was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor, who performed under the ring/stage name "Captain" Lou Albano. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1 ...

. 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. 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. He married Carolyn F. Hill on April 5, 1964, in Indianapolis. They had a son, Jonathan S. Hill. 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 Hill died on March 10, 2010, in Indiana from advanced Alzheimer's caused by

post-concussion syndrome Post-concussion syndrome (PCS), also known as persisting symptoms after concussion, is a set of symptoms that may continue for weeks, months, or years after a concussion. PCS is medically classified as a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). About ...

Championships and accomplishments

Central States Wrestling Heart of America Sports Attractions, Inc., operating as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebr ...

NWA Central States Tag Team Championship The NWA Central States Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team championship for the Heart of America Sports Attractions / Central States Wrestling promotion from 1979 until the promotion ceased to exist in 1988. The Central States Tag Team ...

(

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) – with

Roger Kirby Roger Sinclair Kirby FRCS(Urol), FEBU (born November 1950) is a British retired prostate surgeon and professor of urology. He is prominent as a writer on men's health and prostate disease, the founding editor of the journal '' Prostate Cance ...

NWA All-Star Wrestling NWA All Star Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Vancouver) is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. All-Star Wrestling folded in 1989. History Early history Although other wrestling promotions e ...

:* NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship ''(Vancouver version)'' ( 6 times) - with Buck Ramstead (1),

Gene Kiniski Eugene Nicholas Kiniski (November 23, 1928 – April 14, 2010) was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion. "Canada's Greatest Athlete", as he ...

(1), The Brute (1), Ormand Malumba (1), Ricky Hunter (1), and Eric Froelich (1) :* NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship ''(Vancouver version)'' (

4 times "4 Times" (stylized as "4 TIMES") is the 50th single by pop/ R&B singer Koda Kumi. It was released on August 17, 2011 and debuted at No. 6, remaining on the Oricon charts for nine consecutive weeks. In commemoration of it being the fiftieth singl ...

) *

World Championship Wrestling (Australia) World Championship Wrestling was an Australian professional wrestling promotion that ran from 1964 until 1978. History The promotion gained publicity through television programs on the Nine Network, which were presented at noon on Saturdays an ...

:* IWA World Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) *

:* WWWF World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with

( 5 times) - with Joe Tomasso (3),

(1), and Abdullah The Great (1)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, John 1941 births 2010 deaths 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century Canadian professional wrestlers Canadian male professional wrestlers IWA World Heavyweight Champions (Australia) Masked wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Hamilton, Ontario World Tag Team Champions (WWE, 1971–2010) 20th-century Canadian sportsmen