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Gorgeous George

Nickname: The Human Orchid; The Toast of the Coast; The Sensation of the Nation

Height: 5' 9"

Weight: 215 lbs.

From: Hollywood, CA

Birthday: Mar 24th

Pro Debut: 1929

Aliases: George Wagner, Ed Georges, Jack Georges

Feds Worked For: TSW, AWA, NWA, Al Haft Sports (IL/OH), All Star Wrestling (Canada), All Star Wrestling (NE), American Wrestling Alliance (MA), Atlantic Athletic Commission (MA), Big Time Wrestling (Canada), Central States Wrestling (IA/KS/MO), Championship Wrestling from Florida (FL), Championship Wrestling USA (OR), Eastern Sports Enterprises (NJ/NY/PA), El Paso Wrestling Association (NM/TX), Fred Kohler Enterprises (IL), Georgia Championship Wrestling (GA), Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling (AL), Hollywood Booking Office (CA), International Wrestling (Canada), Jack Pfefer Promotions (CA), John McIntosh Promotions (NM/TX), Klondike Wrestling (Canada), Kola Kwariani Booking Office (NY), Louisiana Wrestling Enterprises (AL/LA/MS), M & M Promotions (NM/TX), Manhattan Wrestling Enterprises (NJ/NY/PA/DC), Maple Leaf Wrestling (Canada), Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (NC/SC), Mid-Pacific Promotions (HI), Mike London Sports (AZ/CO/NM), Minnesota Boxing & Wrestling Club (MN), Mississippi Valley Sports Club (MO), Montana Sports Enterprises (MT), National Wrestling Federation (NJ/NY/OH/PA), NWA Chicago (IL), NWA Hollywood (CA), NWA Iowa (IA), NWA Los Angeles (CA), P. L. Pinkie George Promotions (IA), Pacific Northwest Wrestling (OR/WA), Rocky Mountain Sports Enterprises (CO), Sam Muchnick Sports Attractions (MO), San Francisco (CA), St. Louis Wrestling Club (MO), Terminal Athletic Club (OH), Tri-State Sports (ID/WA), Upstate Athletic Club (NY), Wrestling Promtions, Inc. (AZ)

Signature Moves: Side Headlock, Choke Hold, Hair Pull, Hiptoss

Career Highlights: -AWA (Boston) World Champion
-California Light Heavyweight Champion
-Northwest Middleweight Champion
-NWA (Georgia) Southern Champion
-NWA Gulf Coast Champion
-NWA (Illinois) World Champion
-Pacific Coast Light Heavyweight Champion (4x)
-Rocky Mountain Champion
-World Champion (Los Angeles version)

Affiliates: Cherie Dupree, Jeffries, Thomas Ross, Woodrow

Notable Feuds: Billy Watson, Red Berry, Enrique Torres, George Becker

Other Facts: -Real name was George Raymond Wagner. He legally changed his name to Gorgeous George in January 1951. His family also took the last name George at that time.
-Former husband of pro wrestling valet Cherie Dupree
-Great-Uncle of pro wrestler The 'Stro
-Trained for pro wrestler by Farmer Burns
-Early in his career he wrestled using his real name George Wagner. This is not to be confused with Gorgeous George, Jr. who legally changed his name to George Wagner after being sued by the original Gorgeous George's widow over his use of the Gorgeous George name while wrestling in California.
-Not to be confused with former wrestling valet Gorgeous George aka George Frankenstein. She was given the Gorgeous George name by Randy Savage because he was such a fan of the original George that he bought the rights to the name to keep it alive.
-Began competing at carnivals at age 14. He was being booked by top promoters by age 17.
-Competed in what is believed to be the first tag team match in wrestling history on August 4, 1938. He teamed with Don Montgomery and defeated Paul Bozzell & George Ligoski in a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match in Helena, AR. The match was conducted under what would be considered "Tornado Rules" today, as all 4 men were allowed in the ring at the same time.
-First wrestler to use entrance music. He came to the ring to "Pomp and Circumstance"
-Insisted the ring be sprayed with Chanel #5, which he called "Chanel #10" because he didn't want to be "half-safe".
-Died his hair blonde and used gold-plated bobby-pins, which he referred to as "Georgie pins". He would throw these to the members of the audience.
-Became the world's first major television wrestling star.
-Lucille Ball & Bob Hope both personally donated hundreds of chic robes for George's collection.
-By the 1950s, he was paid over $100,000 a year, making him the highest paid athlete in the world.
-Lost a match to Billy Watson in 1959, which resulted in him having his head shaved. 20,000 people watched this live and millions more saw it on national TV. He again lost his hair to The Destroyer in a Mask-vs-Hair match in 1962. This was his last match.
-Owned a cocktail lounge called "Gorgeous George's Ringside Restaurant"
-Influenced many performers both in and out of the ring, including Muhammad Ali (who saw George when he was 19), James Brown, & Bob Dylan.
-Appeared in the movie "Alias the Champ" in 1949.
-Passed away December 26, 1963 at the age of 48
-Cremated after his death. His ashes were in the possession of his grandson until some point in the 1970s when they were used as given to a tattoo artist who mixed part of them into a tattoo that the grandson had. That artist would eventually pass the ashes on to the possession of Oklahoma based wrestler Carnage, whose family still has in their possession today.
-His biography "Gorgeous George: The Outrageous Bad-Boy Wrestler Who Created American Pop Culture" was written by John Capouya and released in 2008
-Posthumously inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996
-Posthumously inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2002
-Posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010
-Posthumously inducted into the Nebraska Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame