How many people can say they were Muhammad Ali’s role model growing up? Most would never expect that he would say a professional wrestler.
Gorgeous George Wagner, born in 1915, who also inspired Bob Dylan, by giving him “the look.” The late James Brown said, “After I saw him and the special flamboyance he added to his matches, that helped create the James Brown you see onstage.”
In John Capouya’s Gorgeous George: The Outrageous Bad Boy Wrestler who Created American Pop Culture, the first-ever biography on the legendary professional wrestler, we learn how George transformed from a high school drop-out to one of the first-ever television actors, who touched a frightened and hero-seeking audience in the United States in the 1930s and ‘60s.
George was an anti-hero-the first-ever snobby blonde, cowardly wrestler.
While people looked for a hero, they enjoyed watching George get beat up every week. Wrestling was easier to market since TV technology was not yet advanced enough to keep up with the speed of baseball or football and boxing was unpredictable. At the time, wrestling was more profitable than Major League Baseball on TV. Bob Hope even joined in on George’s celebrity status on more than one occasion.
So many wrestlers have copied his persona or made slight variations of it. From Ric Flair to Hulk Hogan, (a photo of Hogan in a toupee is featured in the book) there have been many household names that took many of the antics George first introduced.
Even today, former World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho showcases mannerisms similar to “The Human Orchid.” Copycats in name and gimmick were around when George was competing, thanks to greedy promoter Jack Pfefer, who tried to make as much money off George without paying him.
Although the self-proclaimed “Toast of the Coast” died the day after Christmas in 1963, Capouya is able to put together a lot of details on George’s life thanks to his first wife Betty-—who is over 93 years old—his second wife, wrestlers, files from George’s arch nemesis Pfefer, and many more.
George is pictured as a kind and gentle soul outside of the ring, but inside the ring he has no problem calling his opponents “chink” or threatening to kill one of his opponents for messing up his “gorgeous hair.”
Stardom took a toll on George. He became an unsuccessful gambler and an abusive alcoholic. It is believed he had a girlfriend in almost every state. Eventually Betty got fed up. George went on to brood until he found a stripper who looked similar to Betty. His second divorce was blamed on spousal abuse.
Capouya’s extensive work on George is not limited to the fact that some issues with his life remain unknown. Unlike a lot of World Wrestling Entertainment propaganda books that stretch or hide the truth to protect the WWE, Capouya is not afraid to admit that some of what he has been told may not be completely accurate considering he is dealing with a sport of fakery.
This book is a great history lesson for wrestling fans wanting to know about one of the first true gimmicks and one of the true innovators of sports entertainment. It is filled with wrestling terminology, but enough explanations are provided. Chapters on Ali and Brown’s backgrounds seem unnecessary, but Capouya argues that without George there would be no Madonna, Liberace, Jesse Ventura, Dennis Rodman and the like. But that’s something only readers can decide after reading this unique biography.
Gorgeous George: The Outrageous Bad Boy Wrestler who Created American Pop Culture
John Capuyo
Harper Collins
304 pp
$27.95
