Valentine debuted as a professional wrestler in 1947, wrestling Karl Nowena in Buenos Aires. In order to make the matches as believable as possible Valentine insisted the men he faced in the ring hit him as hard as possible. From that he earned a strong reputation as being a very tough man. On New Year's Day, 1950, Buddy Rogers defeated Valentine in the finals of a United States title tournament. He also competed in the NWA's Capitol Wrestling territory. Jerry Graham, who was a co-holder of the Northeast version of the NWA United States Tag Team Championship, selected Valentine in November 1959 to take over the title from Graham's injured partner. They were beaten for the title belts the following April, but Valentine took on a new partner, Buddy Rogers, to regain the championship by defeating The Fabulous Kangaroos on November 19, 1960. Wisniski's rivalry with the Kangaroos continued, as the Kangaroos regained the belts in a rematch one week later. Valentine went over one year without holding a championship before teaming with a new partner, this time Bob Ellis, to defeat the Kangaroos and take back the championship. Valentine & Ellis lost the belts to Buddy Rogers & Handsome Johnny Barend in a match where Arnold Skoaland subbed for Ellis, but the belts were still up, on Washington, DC TV. Rogers & Barend then defeated the real team of Valentine & Ellis 2 pins to 1 in a main event at Madison Square Garden.