Alias The Champ

Alias the Champ

1949

starring Gorgeous George

Whatever Happened Too...

Whatever happened to Randy Savage one time girlfriend and valet Gorgeous George (Stephanie Bellars)?

Well I did a little searching and she is now married to punk rock guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein (Paul Caiafa) and she performs with his current group Gorgeous Frankenstein. (above)

She was with him for a run in WCW and had mixed tag team matches with Madusa against Ric Flair/Charles Robinson (Little Nature Boy)/Aysa

Gorgeous George

Today in 1963 the man who had been credited with establishing pro wrestling as a viable television staple and one its first big stars, "Gorgeous" George Wagner, died of a heart attack.

Born in 1915 he became the first big star of pro wrestling on the new medium of television. During the first Golden Age of Pro Wrestling in the 1940s and 1950s George Wagner and pro wrestling rivaled even the early stars of entertainment during prime time and spurred many to buy their first television set.

George had made a statement in 1949 by starring in the "B" movie "Alias the Champ" and this began his ascent to stardom on television.

In 2008 a very good full length biography of George Wagner was published, The Outrageous Bad-Boy Wrestler Who Created American Pop Culture, written by John Capouya.

Gorgeous George

I would be remiss if I didnt mention that yesterday March 24th was the birthday of the late great legend of wrestling Gorgeous George Wagner. He paved the trail for the modern day wrestler on tv with his gimmick that had never been seen before. It is said he sold more television sets than Milton Berle with people just wanting to see the strange man get his tail whipped every week.
The WWE will finally acknowledge its godfather by inducting George into the WWE Hall of Fame this weekend at Wrestlemania 26.

WWE Hall of Fame

Last week it was announced that Bob Uecker will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and now this Monday with some really cool news:
WWE announced today that the late Gorgeous George will be inducted in the 2010 WWE Hall of Fame and his former wife, 96 year old Betty Wagner will accept the honor on his behalf. "Gorgeous George's was a pop-culture innovator who took risks pushing the social envelope and did things that no other performer had ever dared to do," said CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon.
"He was a cultural tour-de-force who set the standard that many in the world of sports and entertainment still emulate today." WWE Studios also secured the rights to his story for a major motion picture which is scheduled to start production in the first quarter of 2011.