Ed Don George

**Edward Nicholas George Jr.** (June 3, 1905 – September 18, 1985), better known as **Ed Don George**, was an American amateur and professional wrestler, and promoter. A former Olympic freestyle wrestler, George competed in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.

## Early life

George was born in North Java, New York, the son of French-German parents Edward Nicholas and Sarah Becker George. He moved out of his Wyoming County farm at 14 when he came to Buffalo to attend Canisius High School while living in boarding houses. He wrestled for both St. Bonaventure University (where he was transferred to during his sophomore year) and the University of Michigan.

George earned a concentration of study in engineering with the latter university and was inducted into both of their respective halls of fame. He also represented the United States in freestyle wrestling at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, placing fourth in the heavyweight class (87 kg). Later in 1929, at St. Bonaventure University, he graduated with a college degree.

## Professional wrestling career

George was training for an executive position with the Firestone Tire Corporation in Akron, Ohio when Boston promoter Paul Bowser took notice of him. At the time, George traveled through Batavia in New York to watch a wrestling match at a local carnival, and Bowser asked him if he thought of wrestling himself. Afterwards, Bowser gave him a flat salary for one year's service, in excess of the offer from the Akron company. George had a consultation with his employer and would go on a leave of absence, but did not come back.

Quick and powerful, George wrestled his first professional match on November 21, 1929, defeating Ivan Ludlow shortly after returning from the Olympics. Early in his career, he was set for a bout in Los Angeles when the promoter forgot what George's first name was. Don George was listed as his name on placards, which was taken from a musician of the same name around the coast. After the match, it was revealed that his name was actually Ed George, so they settled on the ring name of Ed Don George.

Ed Don George mastered the hammerlock, flying mare and tackle during his day, and captured the AWA World Heavyweight Championship on December 10, 1930, from Gus Sonnenberg. He held onto the mat championship until April 13, 1931, when he was bested by Ed "Strangler" Lewis. He relinquished the world title to Henri DeGlane in Montreal the following month in the controversial “bite victory”. George would once again capture the lineal world title when he defeated DeGlane on February 9, 1933.

On December 18, 1933, George fought title claimant Jim Browning to a 1:40 draw, in a title unification bout at Madison Square Garden. In the summer of 1934, George wrestled two drawn bouts totaling almost 5 hours in length, with title claimant Jim Londos. Despite the confusing history of the title, George held onto the belt until July 30, 1935, when he lost it in an upset to Danno O’Mahoney. On April 19, 1939, he defeated Steve “Crusher” Casey to win the AWA Championship for a third and final time, until losing it back to Casey on November 3.

According to the *Buffalo News*, by the time George retired from the ring in 1941, he had won 1,320 matches and more than half a million dollars. During his career, George got to wrestle in places around the world including England, France, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, and the Fiji Islands.

On March 23, 1942, Ed Don George joined the United States Navy. There, he taught hand-to-hand combat to naval air cadets. He left the navy with the rank of Commander on December 22, 1945. During the late 1940s through the 1950s, he promoted numerous wrestling matches in the United States. In the mid 1950s, he found himself promoting wrestling at the casinos in Havana, Cuba until Fidel Castro came to power. In 1949, Ed Don George bought a 375-acre (1.52 km2) parcel just east of North Java, New York where Camp O'Ryan was situated. He then very soon afterwards leased this land for 25 years to the Federal government, which built, in conjunction with New York State, a New York National Guard training site.

## Death

On September 18, 1985, George died at the Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at the age of 80.