George Gulas

George Gulas is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with his father Nick Gulas' professional wrestling promotion NWA Mid-America in the 1970s and early 1980s.

George Gulas
Birth nameGeorge Gulas
BornNashville, Tennessee, United States[1]
Parent(s)Nick Gulas (father)[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)George Gulas[1]
Billed height6 ft 4 in (193 cm)[1]
Billed weight220 lb (100 kg)[1]
Debut1974[1][2]
Retired1982

Professional wrestling career

Gulas initially worked for NWA Mid-America, the Tennessee-based promotion owned by his father Nick, as a commentator and referee.[3][4] He became a professional wrestler in 1974 and was quickly positioned as a top star.[4][5][6] He performed mainly on the eastern side of the NWA Mid-America territory in locations such as Nashville, Tennessee, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Louisville, Kentucky.[3][5] He won his first championship later that year, teaming with Rufus R. Jones to win the NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship.[7]

Gulas formed a tag team with Jackie Fargo, with whom he won the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship on three occasions in 1974 and 1975,[8] as well as winning the NWA United States Tag Team Championship once in 1975.[9] In November 1974, Gulas, Fargo and Dennis Hall won a tournament to be crowned the inaugural NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Champions.[10]

Gulas won the NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship five times in 1975 with a variety of partners, and again in 1976 with Charlie Cook and Dennis Hall.[10] In 1976, Gulas won the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship a fourth time with Gorgeous George Jr.[8]

In 1977 and 1978, Gulas teamed with Tojo Yamamoto, with the duo winning the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship twice.[2][8][11]

In 1978, Gulas formed a tag team with Bobby Eaton known as the "Jet Set".[2][12] The duo won the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship twice before separating in 1979.[8] In August 1979, Gulas unsuccessfully challenged NWA World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race;[5][13] during the match, Race reportedly undersold Gulas' punches and chops, prompting Gulas to yell "Daddy says sell!"[4] Gulas won the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Championship once more with Ken Lucas in late 1979, then reformed the Jet Set with Eaton to win the title for a third time in early 1980. Gulas won the title twice more with Rocky Brewer later that year, marking a total of 12 reigns as NWA Mid-America Tag Team Champion.[8] Between 1978 and 1980, Gulas won the NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship a further six times.[10]

Gulas ceased wrestling regularly in 1980.[5] The following year, NWA Mid-America folded.[14] In 1982, Gulas and his former tag team partner Tojo Yamamoto opened a takeaway restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee selling Greek and "Oriental" dishes.[15]

In the late-2000s, Gulas appeared with the Tennessee-based promotion NWA Main Event as a referee and commissioner.[16][17] In 2010 and 2011, Gulas promoted a handful of professional wrestling events in Tennessee under the banner "Gulas Old School Wrestling", including a Nick Gulas Memorial Show in January 2011.[18][19][20]

Legacy

Despite being considered a well-educated and polite person, Gulas was regarded as a wrestler who was pushed far beyond that which his in-ring capabilities or appearance justified. Tim Dills described him as "a mess" and "less than graceful" in the ring and as "tall and thin and not very muscular" in appearance.[4] Wrestler Jerry Lawler described Gulas as a "a very bad wrestler" and as "a tall, skinny, gangly guy",[6] while wrestler Harley Race described him as looking like "a human milk bottle"[13] and as being "very, very limited" as a wrestler.[21] He was known for his poorly executed chops.[4][22]

Gulas is held up as an example of nepotism in the professional wrestling industry.[4][21][22][23][24] Nick Gulas' insistence on pushing Gulas despite poor audience figures was reportedly a contributing factor in Nick Gulas' business partner Jerry Jarrett electing to split from Gulas in 1977 and found his own company, the Continental Wrestling Association.[3][6][25] Journalist Dave Meltzer referred to Gulas as "territory-killing".[26]

Championships and accomplishments

References
  1. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "George Gulas". Cagematch.net. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  2. Lentz III, Harris M. (2015). Biographical Dictionary of Professional Wrestling (2 ed.). McFarland & Company. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-4766-0505-0.
  3. Jarrett, Jerry (2004). The Story of the Development of NWATNA: a New Concept in Pay-Per-View Programming. Trafford Publishing. pp. 76–78. ISBN 978-1-4120-2878-3.
  4. Dills, Tim. "Regional territories: Memphis/CWA". KayfabeMemories.com. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  5. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "George Gulas - Career". Cagematch.net. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  6. Lawler, Jerry (2008). It's Good To Be The King...: Sometimes. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-84739-708-9.
  7. "NWA Southeastern Tag Team Title [Tennessee & Alabama]". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  8. "NWA Mid-America Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  9. "NWA United States Tag Team Title [Tennessee & Alabama]". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  10. "National Wrestling Alliance World 6-Mam (sic) Tag Team Title". Wrestling-Titles.com. Retrieved January 14, 2021.
  11. Frasier, David K. (2002). Suicide in the Entertainment Industry: An Encyclopedia of 840 Twentieth-Century Cases. McFarland & Company. p. 350. ISBN 978-0-7864-1038-5.
  12. Meltzer, Dave (1988). Wrestling Observer Newsletter Yearbook. Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  13. Kleinberg, Adam; Nudelman, Adam (2005). Mysteries of Wrestling: Solved. ECW Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-1-55022-685-0.
  14. Sullivan, Kevin; et al. (2020). WWE Encyclopedia of Sports Entertainment. DK. p. 234. ISBN 978-0-241-48805-8.
  15. "Tojo Yamamoto was king of the 'Japanese Claw'". The Tennessean (via Newspapers.com). October 1, 2001. p. 52. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  16. Martin, Adam (February 12, 2009). "Indy news #1: February 12". WrestleView.com. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  17. Kreikenbohm, Philip. "NWA Main Event - 06.10.2006". Cagematch.net. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  18. "Wrestling returns to Portland on Friday". Lebanon Democrat. December 9, 2010. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  19. Fox, Randy (July 28, 2011). "Nashville wrestling fans, rejoice — it's the return of Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee and the fabulous Jackie Fargo". Nashville Scene. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  20. Csonka, Larry (January 17, 2011). "Nick Gulas Memorial Show results 1.17.11: LaVergne, TN". 411Mania.com. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  21. Flair, Ric (2010). Ric Flair: To Be the Man. Simon and Schuster. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-4391-2174-0.
  22. Lind, J.R. (May 30, 2019). "The greatest wrestling in the history of the world". Nashville Scene. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  23. Shoemaker, David (2013). The Squared Circle: Life, Death, and Professional Wrestling. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-101-60974-3.
  24. Hart, Bret (2009). Hitman: My Real Life in the Cartoon World of Wrestling. Ebury Publishing. p. 328. ISBN 978-1-4070-2931-3.
  25. Crawford, Steve (2012). "Introduction - All the way from Memphis". Legends of Memphis Wrestling. pp. 1–7. ISBN 978-1-4681384-6-7.
  26. Meltzer, Dave (2004). Tributes II: Remembering More of the Worlds Greatest Wrestlers. Sports Publishing. p. 195. ISBN 978-1-58261-817-3. ...feuding with Gulas's territory-killing son George...
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