Gorgeous George

[Loss]

I just wondered if anyone here has really watched very many of his matches. For someone who is such a big name, he's never really been discussed much as a worker.

 

There is plenty of footage of him out there, including some really long matches. In fact, he has a 60-minute draw against Frankie Talaver from 1950 that is on YouTube.

 

Anyway, I want to make it a point to watch a lot of his matches relatively soon, and I wondered if anyone else here ever has. Was he one of the first American wrestlers to incorporate comedy in his matches?

[Indikator]

The comedy aspect was definitely existing in the European tournament setting. As you had a roster wrestlers who weren't main eventers desperately needed a niche, and if you were likeable comedy spots were a great way to make you an important babyface for the troupe. For me the earliest match report that reads like some midget match in regards to comedy spots was from 190X.

 

And with everything in wrestling - if it was popular and got over in one place then surely will it be copied by others. The only question is when it happened. Likely one angry newspaper writer will have reported it. Weirdly enough what I have read in that regard was mostly positive, like a jolly good fellow who spices up his performances. Of course I mainly have Austrian match reports accessible, that might explain it. Somebody needs put frigid Prussian newspapers online, upscale UK newspapers could be hilarious as well.

 

The tournaments made pretty much everything in wrestling as we know it necessary, like characters, dynamics, finishes, decent matchmaking etc. . Look at the needs of a multi week tournament and tell me why it should have been invented in some Kansas town that only had two matches per show.

 

I did also notice that the middleweight contortionists with nicknames like "human eel" used such comedic spots. Quite possibly only the one match of Fritz Kley is surviving video of one of those wrestlers.

[conker8]

I watch a good chunk of his taped work.

I remember being surprised by his technical abilities because I always thought he was only a gimmick.

He knew how to gain heat, had a good matwork game, good at stooging and selling, give some nice facial expressions (à la William Regal) and can brawl at the end of the match when the crowd is hot.

 

I will watch his 60 minutes match (as I never saw it) to check how he incorporate those things in a long long match.