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Grand Olympic Auditorium

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The Grand Olympic Auditorium is a former sports venue in southern Downtown Los Angeles , California . The venue was built in 1924 at 1801 South Grand Avenue, now just south of the Santa Monica Freeway . The grand opening of the Olympic Auditorium was on August 5, 1925, and was a major media event, attended by such celebrities as Jack Dempsey and Rudolph Valentino . One of the last major boxing and wrestling arenas still in existence, the venue now serves as a worship space for the Korean-American evangelical church, "Glory Church of Jesus Christ".

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78-425: Seating capacity in the 1920s and 1930s was 10,400. In 1936 it had more gate entries than Chicago Stadium and Madison Square Garden combined, and had about double the ticket sales of rival Hollywood Legion Stadium . Throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s it was home to some of the biggest boxing, wrestling, and roller derby events. The Auditorium was leased by the 1932 Summer Olympics Organizing Committee for

156-407: A minor penalty infraction. It was difficult to read how much time was left in a period of play on the main game timer's large face, as each minute of play was marked by a longer line on every third "seconds" increment on the central main dial, due to the minute hand's twenty-minute "full rotation" timing capacity for one period of ice hockey. The difficulty was compounded on the main central dial from

234-463: A 1941 card in Eugene, Oregon. He quickly antagonized the fans with his exaggerated effeminate behavior when the ring announcer introduced him as "Gorgeous George". Such showmanship was unheard of at the time. Consequently, arena crowds grew in size as fans turned out to ridicule Wagner, who relished the sudden attention. Gorgeous George was soon recruited to Los Angeles by promoter Johnny Doyle. Known as

312-460: A beaten George had his treasured golden locks shaved bald before 20,000 fans at Toronto 's Maple Leaf Gardens and millions more who watched the match on CBC Television . In one of his final matches, Gorgeous George later faced off against, and lost to, an up-and-coming Bruno Sammartino . He lost his precious hair again, when he was defeated by the Destroyer in a hair vs. mask match at

390-622: A cocktail lounge in Van Nuys, California , which he named "Gorgeous George's Ringside Restaurant". Wagner was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis in 1962 and his doctors instructed him to retire from wrestling. This, combined with financial troubles that stemmed from a recent divorce, worsened his health. He suffered a heart attack on December 24, 1963, and died two days later, at age 48. A plaque at his gravesite reads "Love to our Daddy Gorgeous George". Muhammad Ali and James Brown acknowledged that their own approach to flamboyant self-promotion

468-654: A dog track for the summer of 1930 with the backing of Thomas Duggan , but dog racing was ruled illegal in Chicago. Al Capone had operated dog racing tracks in Cook County for several years before the authorities stopped his tracks from operating. On January 20, 1933, the Stadium went into receivership. Sidney Strotz of the Stadium Corporation and Fred E. Hummel were named receivers. Strotz announced to

546-581: A drunk angel." The 1960s and 1970s were a major boom period for the Olympic, as major boxing and wrestling events were held at the arena every other Friday night, as well as being the home to the Roller Games Los Angeles T-Birds . The arena closed its doors in the mid-1980s when promoter Mike Le Bell discontinued his weekly wrestling shows due to low attendance figures when the boom of the professional wrestling era began. This

624-462: A larger-than-life figure in American pop culture. His first television appearance took place on November 11, 1947, an event that was named among the top 100 televised acts of the 20th century by Entertainment Weekly . He immediately became a national celebrity at the same level of Lucille Ball and Bob Hope , who personally donated hundreds of chic robes for George's collection, while changing

702-484: A legitimate contest. The great Lou Thesz , who took the AWA title away from Wagner, and who was one of the best " legit " wrestlers ever in professional wrestling, displayed some disdain for the gimmick wrestlers. Nevertheless, he admitted that Wagner "could wrestle pretty well", but added that, "he [Wagner] could never draw a fan until he became Gorgeous George." On March 26, 1947, Wagner defeated Enrique Torres to capture

780-538: A much-heralded wrestler) in the 1952 feature No Holds Barred . Musical performers such as Liberace , Little Richard , Elton John , Prince and Morris Day show signs of the George meme . His theme tune "Pomp and Circumstance" was later also used as a theme tune by Randy Savage in the WWF 1985–1994 (a classical arrangement) and WCW 1994–1997 (a rock guitar arrangement). Others in professional wrestling who have used

858-495: A musical venue after 1980. This period in music performances began with a concert by the band Public Image Ltd. which was produced by Punk Rock impresario David Ferguson and his independent CD Presents production company. This was the first concert held at the auditorium since the early 1970s and is credited with beginning the Olympic's reputation for being a notorious Punk Rock venue. Thereafter legendary promoter Gary Tovar and Goldenvoice Productions started booking shows at

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936-481: A penalty was counting down) illuminated from behind during gameplay. The "outer" face of each penalty timer had a single hand that avoided obscuration of the "inner" face and its own, "solid" single hand, through the use of metal rods forming the outer hand's "shaft", holding its hand's "pointer" head — the set of two concentric faces for each penalty timer dial could handle two penalties for each set, with an illuminated "2" on each penalty timer dial lighting up to display

1014-808: A pioneer of early entertainment television. He was posthumously inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2002 and the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2010. Wagner, of German heritage, was born March 24, 1915, in Butte, Nebraska . For a time, his family lived on a farm near the village of Phoenix in Holt County and probably in Seward County, before they moved to Waterloo, Iowa and later Sioux City . When he

1092-416: A purple spotlight. Wearing an elegant robe sporting an array of sequins, Gorgeous George was always escorted down a personal red carpet by his ring valet "Jeffries", who carried a silver mirror while spreading rose petals at his feet. While Wagner removed his robe, Jeffries would spray the ring with disinfectant, ostensibly Chanel No. 5 perfume, which Wagner referred to as "Chanel #10" ("Why be half-safe?" he

1170-543: A series-clinching empty-net goal in Game seven against the New York Rangers , CBS announcer Dan Kelly reported, "I can feel our broadcast booth shaking! That's the kind of place Chicago Stadium is right now!" The dressing rooms at the Stadium were placed underneath the seats, and the cramped corridor that led to the ice, with its twenty-two steps, became the stuff of legend. Legend has it a German Shepherd wandered

1248-450: A story of meeting Gorgeous George in person. He wrote, "He winked and seemed to mouth the phrase, 'You're making it come alive.' I never forgot it. It was all the recognition and encouragement I would need for years." The 1951 Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies cartoon Bunny Hugged featured the one-shot character "Ravishing Ronald", modeled after Gorgeous George. The Bowery Boys also lampooned Gorgeous George (with Huntz Hall as

1326-526: A suspected overdose of a legal high called Liquid fX, which was being handed out at the party. The event which had already gathered over 10,000 ravers was shut down by the LAPD before midnight, sending much of the crowd into the street, where a melee broke out between upset revelers and riot police. On July 16, 2000, ECW held its Heatwave pay-per-view at the Grand Olympic Auditorium. It

1404-581: A unique fan experience. On the west side of the building was the Players/Employee/VIP Visitors Parking Lot. It is also where Teams/Bands/Politicians/Performers would enter the building through the legendary Gate 3 1/2 (Appropriately placed between Gates 3 and 4 on the North and South Sides). Although protected by fencing, it was where fans could see the talent get out of their cars or teams exit their buses before going into

1482-633: A very nominal sum sufficient to cover expenses, for the purpose of conducting the training and competitions of the boxing , wrestling and weightlifting events of the Games. At the time it was the largest indoor venue in the United States . It has become somewhat of a landmark for boxing history. Charles Bukowski wrote about the Olympic: "even the Hollywood (Legion Stadium) boys knew the action

1560-588: Is located behind a statue of the Blackhawks' greatest players on the north side of the United Center. Two friezes from Chicago Stadium were incorporated into a building at St. Ignatius College Prep School , 1076 W. Roosevelt Road. Two of the Stadium's main parking lots, which are still used for United Center parking, retain signs that read "People's Stadium Parking". Gorgeous George George Raymond Wagner (March 24, 1915 – December 26, 1963)

1638-642: The NHL from 1929 to 1994 and the Chicago Bulls of the NBA from 1967 to 1994 . The arena was the site of the first NFL playoff game in 1932 ; the 1932, 1940, and 1944 Democratic National Conventions ; and the 1932 and 1944 Republican National Conventions , as well as numerous concerts, rodeo competitions, boxing matches, political rallies, and plays. The Stadium was built by Chicago sports promoter Paddy Harmon , first proposed in 1926, not long after

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1716-720: The Olympic Auditorium on November 7, 1962. This was his final match, as he was nearly 50 years old and suffering from the effects of alcoholism. Gorgeous George appeared in one motion picture, Alias the Champ , made in 1949, which featured wrestler Tor Johnson . As his wrestling career wound down, Wagner invested US$ 250,000 in a 195-acre (0.79 km ) turkey ranch built in Beaumont, California . He used his showman skills to promote his prized poultry at his wrestling matches and sport shows. He raised turkeys and owned

1794-431: The "Human Orchid", his persona was created in part by growing his hair long, dyeing it platinum blonde, and putting gold-plated bobby pins in it, which he called "Georgie Pins" and distributed to the audience. He transformed his ring entrance into a bonafide spectacle that would often take up more time than his actual matches. He strolled nobly to the ring to the sounds of " Pomp and Circumstance ", followed by his valet and

1872-763: The 2000 movie Snatch , Adam Fogerty plays a bare fist fighter named Gorgeous George. Wagner was married twice, first to Betty Hanson (1913–2011), whom he married in 1939 in Eugene, Oregon inside a wrestling ring. They adopted two children. In 1951, after divorcing Betty, he married Cherie Dupré (1927–2000). By this marriage, he had one biological son, Gary George. Cheri filed for divorce from George in April 1962. Wagner's grandnephew Robert Kellum , best known as "The Maestro" in World Championship Wrestling , also wrestled as " Gorgeous George III " in

1950-783: The Bulls clinched the championship at home was in the newly built United Center in 1996 (when they did so against the Seattle SuperSonics ), their second season at the new arena, and the Blackhawks would not reach the Stanley Cup Finals again until 2010 (in which they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in six games), their 16th season in the new building, although they won their first championship since 1961 in Philadelphia . The Blackhawks last won

2028-605: The Day Sign Company of Toronto, much like the one used at the end of the 1960s (and constructed by Day Sign Company) to replace the nearly identical Bulova Sports Timer game-timekeeping device in the Boston Garden, and then in 1985 by another, this one with a color electronic message board. That latter scoreboard was built by White Way Sign, which would build scoreboards for the United Center . The Stadium

2106-557: The Grand Olympic Auditorium where New Jack tossed Vic Grimes off a 40-foot scaffold. Wrestling legends such as Jim Londos, Joe Stecher, Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Gus Sonnenberg, Ray Steele, Frank Sexton, Man Mountain Dean, Everett Marshall, Ed Don George, Enrique Torres, Baron Michele Leone, Freddie Blassie , John Tolos , Buddy Roberts , The Sheik , Fritz Von Erich , Gorgeous George , The Great Goliath, Black Gordman, Bobo Brazil , Buddy Rogers , Roddy Piper and Chris Adams competed in

2184-500: The Los Angeles Heavyweight Championship. On February 22, 1949, he was booked as the feature attraction at New York City 's Madison Square Garden in what was pro wrestling's first return to the building in 12 years. By the 1950s, Gorgeous George's star power was so large that he was able to command 50% of the gate for his performances, which allowed him to earn over $ 100,000 a year, making him one of

2262-668: The Olympic Auditorium for their music videos. Below are a few named who have used the venue. Rage Against the Machine played their final show in September 2000 at the Olympic Auditorium before their break-up a month later. The concert was filmed and later released in 2003 as a DVD and CD Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium . In 2005, the Glory Church of Jesus Christ, a Korean-American Christian church, purchased

2340-523: The Olympic Auditorium was host to many music concerts and shows, as well as boxing and wrestling. The arena is famous for its box office number "RI-9-5171" (213) 749-5171 which is no longer in use. As far back as 1951, there had been rhythm and blues concerts at the Grand Olympic. In 1969-70, The Grand Olympic Auditorium hosted concerts by hard rock acts such as Mountain , Jack Bruce , and Ten Years After . It would be used more extensively as

2418-583: The Stadium's first president. Building it incurred enemies. Harmon himself helped put out a fire on the Stadium's roof set by disgruntled workmen. Harmon reached an impasse in getting the Black Hawks as a tenant, although both sides wanted the team to move to the Stadium from the Chicago Coliseum , which was much smaller. Fed up with the delay, the Stadium board of directors forced Harmon to resign as president, although he remained an executive with

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2496-467: The Stadium, and when he died less than a year later due to a car crash, he had only his shares in the Stadium and $ 2.50 in cash on hand to leave to his widow and daughter. His funeral was held in the Stadium, paid for by friends, and the Stadium held a benefit boxing show in August 1930 to benefit his family. Struggling to pay the interest on the Stadium's debt, the Stadium planned to turn the Stadium into

2574-437: The Stadium, at courtside for Chicago Bulls home games from 1976 to 1984, and on the pipe organ for Chicago Blackhawks hockey there from 1985 to 1989. She was replaced at the keyboard in 1990 by Frank Pellico, who serves as Hawks organist to this day. It also became traditional for Blackhawk fans to cheer loudly throughout the singing of the national anthems, especially when sung by Chicago favorite Wayne Messmer . Denizens of

2652-436: The Stadium. Sheldon Clark became the new president, and he retained Nate Clark as the Stadium's boxing matchmaker. The board acceded to the Black Hawks' terms and the team moved in weeks later. After Harmon was ousted, dynamite was placed at the home of James Norris when Sidney Strotz, treasurer of the Stadium was attending for dinner. The dynamite's fuse went out, preventing its explosion. Harmon sank his entire fortune into

2730-686: The Stanley Cup at the Stadium in 1938 ; they did not win the Cup again at home until 2015 at the United Center. It was also the last NHL arena to retain the use of an analog dial-type large four-sided clock for timekeeping in professional hockey games. Boston Garden and the Detroit Olympia (as well as the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium in its pre-NHL days) had identical scoreboards but replaced them with digital timers in

2808-437: The aforementioned minute and sweep-second hands being in constant motion during gameplay. The "Sports Timer's" only digital displays were for scoring and for penalized players' numbers , each digit comprising a six-high, four-wide incandescent light dot matrix display. That clock eventually was replaced by a four-sided scoreboard with a digital clock , first used on September 21, 1975, in Blackhawks preseason play, crafted by

2886-648: The arena at one point in their careers, along with the legendary Lou Thesz , Mil Mascaras and André the Giant . Adams was one of the last big draws at the Olympic before promoters Mike Le Bell and Gene LeBell ended its wrestling cards in 1982. Adams went to Portland afterwards and eventually to Dallas to join Fritz Von Erich 's World Class Championship Wrestling , as the sport's top wrestling city shifted from Los Angeles to Dallas and Atlanta before Vince McMahon's WWF reached national prominence. Until 2005,

2964-416: The arena floor, which measured 12,100 square feet (110' by 110'). Throughout the early and mid 1990s, the venue was often the host of many large, all-night rave parties, often held outdoors in the back parking lot, as well as inside the auditorium. On New Year's Eve of 1996/1997, a large-scale rave called In Seventh Heaven was being held at the Olympic. Dozens of people had to be taken to the hospital from

3042-418: The bowels at night as "the security team." During the 1973 Stanley Cup Finals against Montreal, Blackhawks owner Bill Wirtz had the horn of his yacht (Kahlenberg Q-3) installed in the building, and had it sound after Blackhawks goals. This practice would, in the ensuing years, become commonplace in professional hockey. Nancy Faust , organist for 40 years at Chicago White Sox games, also played indoors at

3120-626: The building. It was also a great autograph and informal "meet and greet" opportunity. In 1992, both the Blackhawks and the Bulls reached the finals in their respective leagues. The Blackhawks were swept in their finals by the Pittsburgh Penguins , losing at Chicago Stadium, while the Bulls won the second of their first of three straight NBA titles on their home floor against the Portland Trail Blazers . The next time

3198-460: The center that kept the main game time for one period of ice hockey, with a set of shorter black-colored minute and longer red-colored sweep-second hands, and a pair of smaller, 5-minute capacity dual-concentric faces for penalty timekeeping, to the left and right of the primary 20-minute face — with each of the 5-minute penalty timers having its own single hand and each clock face, both the central main timer's dial and flanking penalty timer dials (when

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3276-431: The close-quartered, triple-tiered, boxy layout of the building, much of the loud, ringing noise of the fans could be attributed to the fabled 3,663-pipe Barton organ. It was estimated to have the total volume of 25 brass bands. The organ was considered to have the world's largest theater organ console with six manuals (keyboards) and over 800 stops. It was Harmon's intention that the massive organ would be needed to provide

3354-399: The course of the industry. No longer was pro-wrestling simply about the in-ring action. Wagner created a new sense of theatrics and character performance that had not previously existed. In a very real sense, it was Gorgeous George who single-handedly established television as a viable entertainment medium that could potentially reach millions of homes across the country. It is said that George

3432-406: The crowd. His credo was "Win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat!". This flamboyant image and his showman's ability to work a crowd were so successful in the early days of television that he became the most famous wrestler of his time, drawing furious heel heat wherever he appeared. It was with the advent of television that Wagner's in-ring character became the biggest drawing card

3510-560: The entire property. Although the name Grand Olympic Auditorium ceased to exist, many locals and longtime residents of Los Angeles still refer to the property by its former names. In 2007, the arena was given a new facelift back to its original brown coat of paint that was abandoned in 1993 when the arena reopened. Films and TV series with scenes shot at the Grand Olympic Auditorium include: 34°02′03″N 118°16′05″W  /  34.0341°N 118.2680°W  / 34.0341; -118.2680 Chicago Stadium The Chicago Stadium

3588-479: The greatest wrestler in the world!" Ali, who later echoed that very promo when taunting his opponent Sonny Liston , recalled, "I saw 15,000 people comin' to see this man get beat. And his talking did it. I said, 'This is a gooood idea!'" In the locker room afterward, the seasoned wrestler gave the future legend some invaluable advice: "A lot of people will pay to see someone shut your mouth. So keep on bragging, keep on sassing and always be outrageous." In 2002, he

3666-723: The highest-paid athletes in the world. On May 26, 1950, Gorgeous George defeated Don Eagle to claim the AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Boston version) , which he held for several months. During this reign, he was beaten by the National Wrestling Alliance World Champion Lou Thesz in a highly publicized bout in Chicago . Gorgeous George's perhaps most famous match was against his longtime rival Whipper Billy Watson on March 12, 1959, in which

3744-399: The industry had ever known. With the networks looking for cheap, effective programming to fill its time slots, pro wrestling's glorified action became a genuine hit with the viewing public, as it was the first program of any kind to draw a real profit. Consequently, it was Gorgeous George who brought the sport into the nation's living rooms, as his histrionics and melodramatic behavior made him

3822-660: The legalization of professional boxing in Illinois. Encouraged by the success of the New York Rangers and New York Americans expansion NHL teams, and their Madison Square Garden , Harmon also wanted to bring an NHL team to Chicago, but he lost out to Col. Frederic McLaughlin . This team would soon be known as the Chicago Black Hawks (later 'Blackhawks'). With or without the Black Hawks, Harmon then spent $ 2.5 million and borrowed more funds from friends, including $ 600,000 from James E. Norris , in order to build

3900-603: The media that the Stadium would operate much like it had before. In 1935, the Stadium was sold to Norris and Arthur Wirtz , a Chicago real estate owner. Norris and Wirtz had in 1933 purchased the Detroit NHL franchise and the Detroit Olympia. By court judgment, control of the Stadium changed hands to Norris and Wirtz for a total of US$ 250,000 (equivalent to $ 5,555,825 in 2023), of which $ 150,000 went for back taxes, $ 50,000 for reorganization expenses, and $ 50,000 for new working capital. The Stadium sat 17,317 for hockey at

3978-416: The mid-1960s, with Boston having their digital four-sided clock in use for the 1969–70 NHL season . After removing the balcony-edge game clocks at either end and at mid-ice zones of the Stadium, the replacement four-sided game clock suspended over center ice of the Stadium, built by Bulova as their "Sports Timer", was installed in Chicago in 1943. Each side of the clock had a large diameter 20-minute face in

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4056-542: The museum closed, sending the organ along with another theatre organ to a warehouse in Phoenix Arizona. In October 1996, a year after the stadium was razed, a propane tank explosion melted and destroyed both pipe organs, excluding the console. The organ is currently in the residence of Phil Maloof and is in good working condition with new pipes. In the Stanley Cup semifinals of 1971, when the Blackhawks scored

4134-463: The music for whatever event was playing in the building. It was played by Al Melgard for decades during hockey games there, earning the Stadium the moniker "The Madhouse on Madison". For years, the Stadium was also known as "The Loudest Arena in the NBA", due to its barn-shaped features. When the Stadium closed in 1994, the organ was removed and prepared to be installed in the 19th hole museum. Soon after

4212-485: The name "Gorgeous George" include Stephanie Bellars , Gorgeous George III and George Gillette, manager of Kendo Nagasaki . The 1978 motion picture The One and Only starring Henry Winkler was loosely based on his career. Rick "Lick" Joe, the Oklahoma based wrestler from the 1989 video game Violence Fight , has some styling cues resembling Gorgeous George, though with the "gorgeous" factor taken away. In

4290-473: The second balcony often added sparklers and flags to the occasion. Arguably, the most memorable of these was the singing before the 1991 NHL All-Star Game , which took place during the Gulf War . This tradition has continued at the United Center . Longtime PA announcer Harvey Wittenberg had a unique monotone style: "Blackhawk goal scored by #9, Bobby Hull, unassisted, at 6:13." The Chicago Stadium also provided

4368-409: The stadium. Eric Hall was the architect and he designed a stadium where all had a view of the action. His design philosophy was "The man who pays the lowest admission price has as much right to see the show as those who sit at the ringside". The building used Art Deco flourishes, including flattened columns, long vertical windows, relief sculptures of various athletics and medallions of wrestlers adorned

4446-798: The street. CNN televised the demolition, showing devoted Blackhawks and Bulls fans crying as the wrecking ball hit the old building. The console of the Barton organ now resides in the Phil Maloof residence in Las Vegas, Nevada . Also, the center of the Chicago Bulls' floor resides in Michael Jordan 's trophy room at his mansion in North Carolina. A pavement plaque with the words "Chicago Stadium – 1929–1994 – Remember The Roar"

4524-400: The time of closure, though standing room pushed the "actual" attendance beyond that figure. The official attendance figures in the published game summaries were often given in round numbers, such as 18,500 or 20,000. The largest recorded crowd for an NHL game at the stadium was 20,069 for a playoff game between the Blackhawks and Minnesota North Stars on April 10, 1982. In addition to

4602-424: The venue, with monthly concerts by the likes of GBH , The Exploited , T.S.O.L. , SIN 34 , Suicidal Tendencies , UK Subs , New Regime , Circle Jerks , Angelic Upstarts , The Dickies , Wasted Youth , Dead Kennedys , The Vandals , D.O.A. , Love Canal , Bad Religion , FEAR , M.I.A. and many others. Black Flag was the headliner for a New Year's Eve show 1981-82. Famous musical celebrities have also used

4680-460: The walls above entrances. Breaking ground in July 1928, it opened eight months later, on March 28, 1929. Various reports give the cost at US$ 5 million, US$ 7 million and US$ 9,500,000 (equivalent to $ 168,569,767 in 2023). Chicago Stadium was the largest indoor arena in the world at the time, with permanent seating for 15,000 people, and a capacity for 26,000 with floor seats and standing room. It

4758-407: Was 7 years old, Wagner's family moved to Houston, Texas , where he associated with kids from a tough neighborhood. As a child, he trained at the local YMCA and often staged matches against his friends. In 1929, he dropped out of Milby High School at 14, and worked odd jobs to help support his family. At this time, he competed at carnivals, where he could earn 35 cents for a win. At age 17, he

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4836-680: Was ECW's first and only West Coast appearance. Prior to the main event, six wrestlers from the LA-based Xtreme Pro Wrestling promotion, who were given front row tickets by promotion owner Rob Zicari , donned shirts of their promotion, which caught the attention of Tommy Dreamer and ECW security and were promptly ejected. A brawl followed in the parking lot between XPW ring crew and the ECW locker room, based on false reporting that Francine had been touched by someone from XPW. On February 23, 2002, XPW held its Freefall event at

4914-485: Was also one of the last three NHL arenas (the others being Boston Garden and the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium ) to have a shorter-than-regulation ice surface, as their construction predated the regulation. The distance was taken out of the neutral zone. After the Blackhawks and Bulls moved to the United Center , the Chicago Stadium was demolished in 1995. Its site is now a parking lot for the United Center across

4992-664: Was an indoor arena in Chicago that opened in 1929, closed in 1994 and was demolished in 1995. When it was built, it was the largest indoor arena in the world with a maximum seating capacity of 26,000. It was the home of the National Hockey League 's Chicago Blackhawks and the National Basketball Association 's Chicago Bulls . It was used for numerous other sporting events, opening with a championship boxing match in March 1929. The Stadium

5070-529: Was an American professional wrestler known by his ring name Gorgeous George . In the United States, during the First Golden Age of Professional Wrestling in the 1940s–1950s, Gorgeous George was one of the biggest stars of the sport, gaining media attention for his outrageous character, which was described as flamboyant and charismatic. He was a major national celebrity at his peak, and was

5148-409: Was at the Olympic. Raft came, and the others, and all the starlets, hugging those front row seats. the gallery boys went ape and the fighters fought like fighters and the place was blue with cigar smoke, and how we screamed, baby baby, and threw money and drank our whiskey, and when it was over, there was the drive in, the old lovebed with our dyed and vicious women. you slammed it home, then slept like

5226-581: Was built by Paddy Harmon , a promoter, who sank his entire fortune into the project, only to lose control to the Stadium shareholders. After exiting receivership in 1935, the Stadium was owned by the Norris and Wirtz families until its closure in 1994. It was replaced by the United Center built across the street, also owned in part by the Wirtz family. The Stadium hosted the Chicago Blackhawks of

5304-420: Was fairly rudimentary by modern standards, and was memorably given to filling the arena with fog during late-season basketball and hockey games. The Stadium also had no elevators. To get kegs of beer to upper-floor concessions, concession workers formed a line to pass the kegs upstairs. To return the kegs downstairs, the workers simply rolled them down the stairs, damaging the stairs in the process. Harmon became

5382-451: Was famous for saying) before he would start wrestling. George required that his valets spray the referee's hands before the official was allowed to check him for any illegal objects, which thus prompted his now-famous outcry "Get your filthy hands off me!" Once the match finally began, he would cheat in every way he could. Gorgeous George was the industry's first true cowardly villain, and he would cheat at every opportunity, which infuriated

5460-515: Was getting booked by the region's top promoter, Morris Siegel. In 1938, he won his first title by defeating Buck Lipscomb for Northwest Middleweight crown. On May 19, 1939, he captured the Pacific Coast Light Heavyweight Championship. At 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) tall and weighing 215 pounds (98 kg), Wagner was not especially physically imposing by professional wrestling standards, nor

5538-411: Was he an exceptional athlete, although he was a gifted amateur wrestler . Nevertheless, he soon developed a reputation as a solid in-ring wrestler. In the late 1930s, he met Elizabeth "Betty" Hanson, whom he later married in an in-ring ceremony. When the wedding proved a good drawing card, the couple re-enacted it in arenas across the country, enlightening Wagner to the potential entertainment value that

5616-532: Was inducted into the inaugural class of the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF.org) by a committee of his peers. On March 27, he was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2010. His 97-year-old former wife, Betty Wagner, accepted the honor on his behalf, answering questions and telling the story of how he became Gorgeous George. In September 2008, the first full-length biography of Gorgeous George

5694-477: Was influenced by George. This was referenced in the 2021 movie One Night in Miami... . A 19-year-old Ali met a 46-year-old George at a Las Vegas radio station. During George's radio interview, the wrestler's promo caught the attention of the future heavyweight champion. If George lost to Classy Freddie Blassie , George exclaimed, "I'll crawl across the ring and cut my hair off! But that's not gonna happen because I'm

5772-451: Was left untapped within the industry. Around this same time, Vanity Fair magazine published a feature article about a professional wrestler named 'Lord' Patrick Lansdowne, who entered the ring accompanied by two valets while wearing a velvet robe and doublet. Wagner was impressed with the bravado of such a character, but he believed that he could take it to a much greater extreme. Subsequently, Wagner debuted his new "glamour boy" image on

5850-413: Was probably responsible for selling as many television receivers as Milton Berle . In addition to his grandiose theatrics, Gorgeous George was an accomplished wrestler. While many may have considered him a mere gimmick wrestler , he was actually a very competent freestyle wrestler, having started learning the sport in amateur wrestling as a teenager, and he could handle himself quite well if it came to

5928-521: Was published by HarperEntertainment Press. The title of the 304 page book is Gorgeous George: The Outrageous Bad Boy Wrestler who Created American Pop Culture by John Capouya . In the 2005 book I Feel Good: A Memoir in a Life of Soul , James Brown said he used many of Gorgeous George's antics to "create the James Brown you see on stage". Bob Dylan said meeting George changed his life. In Dylan's book The Chronicles: Volume One , Dylan recounts

6006-455: Was situated in Harmon's old "Valley" neighbourhood where he grew up. Its first event was a boxing match between Tommy Loughran and Mickey Walker for a purse of US$ 150,000 (equivalent to $ 2,661,628 in 2023). Detroit's Olympia stadium, built two years earlier, was a model for the Chicago Stadium. The Stadium was also the first arena with an air conditioning system. However, the system

6084-540: Was when the wrestling scene shifted from Los Angeles to Dallas' World Class, Minneapolis' AWA , Jim Crockett Promotions Mid-Atlantic/NWA, and Stamford's WWF, now known as the WWE . It reopened in 1993, but the capacity was reduced from 10,400 to just over 7,300. In the 2000s the Auditorium sat 7,030 for boxing and wrestling, 4,514 for seated concerts, and 7,007 for general admission concerts. Up to 773 seats could be put on

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