10 Biggest Wrestling Visionaries

By Eric Delgado /

5. Gorgeous George

George Wagner was just your average professional wrestler in the 1930€™s. He wasn€™t very big and wasn€™t considered to be a great €œshooter.€ After George met his wife later that decade, they decided to get married in front of a crowd in the middle of a wrestling ring. The live wedding was a hit, so they did it again and again before different arenas. He was onto something. Eventually, George, who already had a fun-loving and big personality, took a concept started by a wrestler named €œLord€ Patrick Lansdowne and turned the volume all the way up. Wagner purchased custom robes covered in sequins, bleached his hair, turned his nose up, and hired a male valet named Jeffries who threw rose petals on the way to the ring while spraying perfume. Wrestling€™s first antagonist was born. More people bought televisions in the 1940€™s and 50€™s to see "The Human Orchid" Gorgeous George than any other entertainer on the planet. His act not only inspired Muhammad Ali€™s overbearing personality, but it created the market for people paying to see someone lose. These tactics are still used in entertainment today and we have Gorgeous George to thank.