Valentino "Val" Puccio was a professional wrestler

Professional wrestling

Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

.

Wrestling career

Trained by Johnny Rodz

Johnny Rodz

Johnny Rodriguez is a retired American professional wrestler. He has previously worked as a professional wrestler under the ring name Johnny Rodz.-World Wide Wrestling Federation:...

, Puccio began his wrestling career in 1989 and worked for various northeast U.S. independent promotions for virtually his entire career. He frequently teamed with his brother, Tony. They originally called themselves The Undertakers, before changing their team name in the early 1990s to Double Trouble, after the World Wrestling Federation

World Wrestling Entertainment

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...

 bought the rights to their original name in order to name Mark Calaway The Undertaker.

Puccio worked briefly for Extreme Championship Wrestling

Extreme Championship Wrestling

Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...

 in 1995, losing matches to Mikey Whipwreck

Mikey Whipwreck

John Watson , better known by his ring name Mikey Whipwreck, is a retired American professional wrestler best known for his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling where he became the third ECW Triple Crown Champion....

 and Hack Meyers

Hack Meyers

Donald Haviland is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Hack Meyers. A mainstay in Florida independent promotions during the 1990s, he is best known for his time in Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1993 to 1996.-Career:Haviland made his wrestling debut as Bronco...

. Occasionally, Puccio wrestled under his real name.

Death

Puccio died on January 7, 2011. His brother Tony made the announcement on Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

. He was 45. His death is thought to have been caused by his obesity.

Championships and accomplishments

• International World Class Championship Wrestling
  International World Class Championship Wrestling
  International World Class Championship Wrestling was an independent professional wrestling promotion based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was promoted by Angelo Savoldi and his sons Mario, Tom, and Joseph Savoldi....
  
  
• IWCCW Tag Team Championship
  IWCCW Tag Team Championship
  The ICW / IWCCW Tag-Team Championship was the top tag-team championship of International World Class Championship Wrestling between 1984 and 1995 where IWCCW closed down operations...
  
   (2 times) - with Punisher

Appearances in Other Media

• Puccio's battles against obesity have been chronicled on the TLC
  TLC (TV channel)
  TLC is an American cable TV specialty channel which initially focused on educational content. Since 1991 TLC has been owned by Discovery Communications, the same company that operates the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and The Science Channel, as well as other learning-themed networks...
  
   series Inside the Brookhaven Obesity Clinic, where he was a patient.

External links

• Val Puccio's MySpace page