Well before the 'Nature Boy' Ric Flair ever burst onto the scene, limousine riding and jet flying, there was a different showman on top of pro wrestling. A showman who helped influence the future swaggers of Muhammad Ali and James Brown.
His name was Gorgeous George. And if the WWE has its way, entirely different generations of wrestling fans will get to know who the legendary figure was, too. On Wednesday, WWE Studios announced that it is co-developing the George Raymond Wagner biopic, Gorgeous George, with Great Point Media. Josh Gad (The Wedding Ringer, Frozen) and writing partner Ryan Dixon (Opening Night) will pen the script.
The biopic will chronicle the colorful life of pro wrestling's original showman, documenting his wrestling career through the 1940s and 1950s, all the way until his death in December 1963 at the age of 48. The blonde-haired villain would wear fur and lace robes to the ring, quick to tell a referee to get his "filthy hands" off him while checking for a foreign object concealed on the grappler.
"Gorgeous George was a true pioneer in television," Michael Luisi, president of WWE Studios, said in a press release statement. "Josh is a true talent and we are thrilled to see him and Ryan tackle such a groundbreaking story."
Telling this story via a biopic makes all the sense in the world for WWE Studios to do — not only because a character like Gorgeous George must be explained — but also because it has the resources to do it. No offense to The Marine series but doing a biopic on a wrestler as legendary as Gorgeous George just makes better sense and is something the WWE should have done years ago.
Perhaps this film will even open the door for future biopics about other WWE Superstars.
Gorgeous George was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2010.
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