Talk about Impact Wrestling:WWE Hall of Famer Johnny Valiant killed after being hit by a pickup truck/Bill Mercer’s(World Class Championship Wrestling) granddaughter is the Play-by-Play baseball voice for the Lexington, Kentucky Legends

Johnny Valiant, Jimmy Johnny Valiant, Greg Valiant, or maybe that was Greg Valentine(The Hammer), but this one here today goes out to all of the Valiants among us, and it is sad to see Johnny gone and to hear he was killed when he stepped out in front of a pickup truck in light traffic, but gone he is and what a talker he was, and all of the Valiants for that matter were outstanding communicators/talkers, and Johnny Valiant was always walking around trying to look tough and that is again the nature of the wrestling/entertainment business….Here is the link to Wrestling Inc. and you can see an old photo of Johnny and Jimmy Valiant working together in the ring….CLICK HERE

And also today we have the story of Emma Tiedemann, the granddaughter of legendary wrestling announcer Bill Mercer…Mercer was the man who called/announced the glory days of World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas and helped put that promotion on the map with the Von Erichs, The Freebirds, Gentleman Chris Adams, Gino Hernandez, Tully Blanchard, Gary Hart, Skandor Akbar, The Dingo Warrior, Jack Tatum, Missy Hyatt, Cactus Jack Manson(Mick Foley), Jimmy Garvin with Precious and many more….Bill Mercer is a Hall of Famer himself and the last I heard he was living in Durham, North Carolina…..Now his granddaughter, Emma Tiedemann is making a name for herself as the baseball Play-by-Play announce for the Lexington Legends of the South Atlantic League….Little Emma Tiedemann, Bill Mercer’s granddaughter, is stepping up to the plate….Bill Mercer, his granddaughter Emma Tiedemann announcing baseball, to me that is true “Impact Wrestling”…..Read more about Bill’s granddaughter, Emma Tiedemann, when you finish reading about the “Impact Wrestling” moment with Johnny Valiant…..Good reads….
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Coming in from the Wrestling Inc. website at www.wrestlinginc.com…..

WWE Hall of Famer Thomas Sullivan, a.k.a. Johnny Valiant, was killed after being struck by a pickup truck Wednesday morning in Ross Township, Pennsylvania. He was 71 years old. According to WPXI, Valiant was crossing a busy road and was not in a crosswalk.

“We do have witnesses. There was other traffic on McKnight at the time, so we were able to speak with people who actually witnessed the accident,” Ross Township Det. Brian Kohlepp said. “The driver of the truck stayed here on the scene. There’s no indication that this was anything other than a terrible accident at this point, but we’re still investigating.”

Valiant won the WWWF Tag Team Championship on two occasions. After his in-ring career was over, Valiant had a successful career as a manager. After managing Hulk Hogan in the AWA, he signed with the WWF and managed superstars like Brutus Beefcake, Greg Valentine, Dino Bravo and even Demolition. He left the promotion in 1988 and finished his wrestling career in the AWA.

Valiant was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996.

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As a young girl growing up in the Dallas suburbs, Emma Tiedemann dreamed of becoming a veterinarian. But after a pivotal moment at age 15, those childhood dreams took a significant detour.

Play-by-play baseball broadcasting is now Tiedemann’s passion. Her ultimate goal, similar to all Minor League Baseball broadcasters, is to call games at the Major League level. Tiedemann recently took a significant step toward that goal; last Friday, the Class A Lexington Legends revealed she will serve as their primary play-by-play broadcaster in 2018. She will serve as the first female play-by-play broadcaster in the South Atlantic League, joining Kirsten Karbach of the Class A Advanced Clearwater Threshers as the only female lead broadcasters in Minor League Baseball.

As for Tiedemann’s pivotal teenage moment? It came courtesy of her grandfather, esteemed Texas sports broadcaster Bill Mercer. Mercer’s sprawling resume, which began in the Minor Leagues with the 1959 Class C Muskogee Giants, included work with the Texas Rangers, Dallas Cowboys and World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW). Mercer also spent over three decades teaching broadcasting classes at the University of North Texas. In this capacity, he would assign students to call games at the nearby University of Texas at Dallas, a Division III school.

“There was a [University of Texas at Dallas] basketball game, and none of his students could make it to the game,” said Tiedemann. “I was 15 at the time and played basketball at my high school. My grandfather told me, ‘Well, I can’t keep score and broadcast all by myself. Can you come here and keep score? And if you want to talk, feel free.’ I ended up talking about what was going on during the game and just fell in love with it.

“It was really that experience that opened my mind to the possibility [of being a broadcaster]. It just felt natural. It was fun to go into the atmosphere of a packed gym and to get to know the players. Without a doubt, after that first broadcast the thought of being a veterinarian never crossed my mind. I found my passion.”

Tiedemann did play-by-play work for the University of Texas at Dallas for the remainder of her time in high school, branching into other sports beyond basketball. She then enrolled at the University of Missouri and hit the ground running.

“Mizzou was fantastic in the way it was able to give me experience right off the bat. I started immediately with [university radio station] KCOU and got plenty of reps,” she said. “As any broadcaster will tell you, it’s all about the reps. My initial goal out of college was to work in radio year round, so I wanted to have a well-rounded experience. I called any sport I wanted; Mizzou was great for that.”

Read more on Emma Tiedemann when you CLICK HERE for the South Atlantic League Baseball website…..SAL website is www.southatlanticleague.com