A Closer Look At…Gorgeous George

It is no secret that professional wrestling is more of a spectacle than an athletic contest. While the performers in the ring are well trained and usually gifted athletes, their talents as entertainers are more often than not considered more important than their physical abilities. This has been the case for over 60 years now and can be traced back to the career of a single man: George Raymond Wagner, known to millions of people across the world by his ring name, Gorgeous George.

Gorgeous George began his wrestling career working under his given name, wrestling in carnivals where he would be awarded 35 cents per win. Standing only 5’9 and weighing 215 lbs, George was not physically imposing and only possessed average athletic ability. However, through hard work, George gained a reputation as a decent in-ring competitor, and was soon being booked by the top promoters in the Pacific Northwest. George Wagner won a few titles in his early days, but he was hardly a strong drawing card.
Hearing a story about a professional wrestler named Lord Patrick Lansdowne who would come to the ring wearing a monocle and a velvet robe, George was intrigued by the display of showmanship. He decided to run with the idea and make it a part of his own wrestling persona.
George began wearing elaborate robes to the ring, many designed by his first wife, Betty Hanson. Because Betty took such care in making Gerge’s robes, George took a lot of time disrobing, making sure nothing happened to his entrance attire. This started to anger the crowd of mostly lumberjacks and loggers, who would boo George. Wagner, hearing the reaction his meticulous disrobing was eliciting, realized he was on to something.
Soon, George’s ring entrance and pre-match ritual would take longer than his actual matches. He would slowly walk to the ring, bathed in a purple spotlight. George was the first wrestler to ever use entrance music, as “Pomp and Circumstance” would play as he strutted to the ring. His valets would sprinkle the ground with rose petals for him to walk on, and the ring would have to be “sanitized” with perfume before George would enter. Likewise, the referee’s hands would also have to be sprayed with the perfume before George would allow himself to be searched for foreign objects. Growing his hair long and dying it platinum blonde, George began to act more effeminate and cheated at every opportunity. Now going by the name “Gorgeous George,” Wagner became the biggest draw in wrestling, as fans sold out arena after arena, hoping to see the hated George get his mouth shot by his opponent.
By using spectacle and entertainment to get a reaction from the crowd, rather than his athletic prowess, Gorgeous George is the man who single handedly changed the business of wrestling from a (albeit worked) sport to what is today known as “sports entertainment.” However, George’s influence reached far outside of the world of professional wrestling. While George was unquestionably an enormous ticket seller in wrestling, demanding and receiving an unheard of 50% of the gate for his appearances, George became a bona fide star in his own right.
In the infancy of television, networks were looking for cheap, easy to produce programs. Because of the rudimentary camera’s being used at the time, filming complicated programs was a near impossibility. Professional wrestling was a natural fit for the new medium and George was by far wrestling’s biggest star. With Gorgeous George drawing huge ratings, professional wrestling was the very first television program to make a sizable profit. It is said that in the 1950, Gorgeous George sold just as many TV sets as Milton berle, as people across the country were drawn to the loudmouthed, cowardly villain, hoping to see him get beaten while they watched in their living rooms. At one point in the 1950s, George was making in excess of $100,000 a year, making him, by far, the highest paid professional athlete in the world.
His showmanship and charisma being watched by millions of people around the world, Gorgeous George changed the future of professional wrestling by leaps and bounds, not to mention entertainment as a whole. James Brown saw George’s entertaining act and was influenced a great deal, bringing showmanship to his own musical act. A 19 year old Muhammad Ali met Gorgeous George at a Nevada radio station and was impressed by George’s flamboyant personality. Gorgeous George gave Ali a lot of advice on how to sell himself during this meeting, telling the young boxer that “A lot of people will pay to see someone shut your mouth. So keep on bragging, keep on sassing and always be outrageous.” Ali took those words to heart and went on to become a legend who is often said to be the most recognized man on the planet.
Gorgeous George’s influence on the world of professional wrestling can not be over-stated. With his flamboyant personality, elaborate, music filled entrances, cowardly heel routine and unmatched showmanship, George forever changed the world of wrestling in a dramatic way. Every single person who enjoys wrestling today, as well as every person who steps into a wrestling ring, owes a debt of gratitude to Gorgeous George.