| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1929-08-27)August 27, 1929 |
| Died | January 20, 2014(2014-01-20) (aged 84) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | George Scott The Great Scott Benny Becker |
| Billed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Billed weight | 235 lb (107 kg) |
| Debut | 1948 |
| Retired | 1985 |
George Scott (August 27, 1929 – January 20, 2014) was a Canadianprofessional wrestler, booker and promoter. From the 1950s until the 1970s, he and his younger brotherSandy competed asThe Flying Scotts in North American regional promotions including theNational Wrestling Alliance, particularly theMidwest andMid-Atlantic territories, as well as successful stints in theAmerican Wrestling Association,Maple Leaf Wrestling andStampede Wrestling.
Scott was also the longtime head booker for theJim Crockett Promotions working under promoterJim Crockett, Jr. during the 1970s and withVince McMahon during theWorld Wrestling Federation's national expansion during the early 1980s. He helped organize many of the early PPV events such asWrestleMania I andWrestleMania 2 as well as the early cards for the WWF's weekly television showsSaturday Night's Main Event,Prime Time Wrestling andSuperstars of Wrestling.
On the Steve Austin Show Unleashed Podcast, Scott was credited byRic Flair as the person who came up with the idea that to reverse the Figure-four leglock, the opponent would simply turn over onto their stomach.
George Scott was the first born son to his parents, Walter James Scott Sr. and Jeannie Mackay. He was born inDalmeny, Scotland while his parents were visiting relatives and, returning to Canada, was raised inHamilton, Ontario. He grew up with his siblings Angus and Walter. His sister Jeannie Gow Scott, at the age of 11, suffered appendicitis during a return trip from Scotland on theSS Athenia, and was pronounced dead inMontreal, Quebec, on October 25, 1937. She is buried in Woodland Cemetery, Hamilton, Ontario.
Involved inhockey,basketball, androller skating as a child, Scott beganamateur wrestling at the localYMCA at age 12 and, during the next year, also started weightlifting.
Living nearbyBen and Mike Sharpe, both well known professional wrestlers in Hamilton at the time, he also facedMartin Hutzler in an amateur bout at the YMCA. Making his professional debut inWasaga Beach at age 17, he was helped in his early career byPat Murphy and Dano Macdonald. During the late 1940s, Scott attempted to convince local promoter Joe Maiche to wrestle in the Brantford armories before being signed by Toledo promoterJack Pfefer and promoted as an up-and-coming wrestler. As Benny Becker, would gain considerable experience from many veteran wrestlers in the territory and would later face"Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers andGorgeous George several times in his early career.
After a brief stint withGeorgia Championship Wrestling andJim Crockett Promotions, Scott eventually found his way back to Canada where he wrestled for promoterJohn Katan in Toronto and made his debut inMaple Leaf Gardens in November 1950. While there, he andWhipper Billy Watson had an altercation in which he appeared with Watson on the undercard facingLee Henning. The following day, a local newspaper wrote how Scott's match stole the show and Scott began appearing in the opening matches for much of his time in the promotion thereafter.
In 1952, following a match against Buddy Rogers in Florida, Scott collapsed in the bathroom of his apartment. He was eventually found by a friend who, noticing the bathroom light on, broke into the apartment when Scott failed to respond to his knocking on the door. Brought to a local hospital, Scott was told he had passed out due to a deep bruise in his hip and was eventually flown back to Toronto where he was diagnosed with three ruptured discs in his back caused when Rogers had kicked him in the back during their match.
Although doctors recommended surgery, Scott refused when he was told he would be unable to wrestle again. Taking a year off to recuperate, he lived with his parents while John Katan,Jack Laskin andJack Tunney held stags andfundraising events to help his family as Scott remained paralyzed for six months.
Worried that he might suffer another more serious injury, his parents had tried to encourage him to retire and his mother suggesting a career in law enforcement. Although he began working as a bouncer for a time and was offered a managerial position at the bar he worked for, he declined and eventually returned to active competition inStu Hart's Stampede Wrestling in 1954.
Helping his brother Angus break into the wrestling business in 1953, Scott began teaming with his brother in Stampede Wrestling shortly after his recovery later winning the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship in 1954. After a brief stint in Maple Leaf Gardens in 1955, The Flying Scotts, as they were known, became one of the top tag teams in the Toronto and Buffalo areas during the late 1950s. DefeatingChris andJohn Tolos for the Stampede International Tag Team Championship in 1958, they would feud withButcher andMad Dog Vachon the following year.
Scott would also return to the Carolinas with his brother during the 1960s before eventually regained the Stampede International Tag Team Championship in 1963. They would also win the Indiana version of the AWA World Tag Team Championship and, while inAustralia during the late 1960s, won theIWA World Tag Team Championship three times between 1966 and 1968.[1]
While inStu Hart's Stampede Wrestling in 1954, he and Angus would become one of the most popular tag teams inWestern Canada during their six-year stay in the promotion. At one event, in which they were featured in the main event against The Miller Brothers (Bill andEd Miller), promoters were forced to turn away 6,000 at a Stampede Wrestling event before splitting up. The two would eventually have a falling out after the death of their mother resulting in Angus refusing to attend her funeral.
Scott spent a short time (1968) in Championship wrestling based in Fort Worth Texas at the North side arena, the promotion was later bought by Fritz Von Erich and renamed WCCW. Scott as a baby face had bloody matches with Johnny Valentine, once Valentine ripped Scotts shirt off and ran him into the ring post, Scott spent the night in the hospital because Valentine went too far and really injured him.
Remaining in Calgary, Scott had a successful singles career while with Stampede Wrestling during the 1950s and 60s. When Billy Watson appeared in the area in the late 1960s, he refused to defend his title against Scott as well asLuther Lindsay andGeorge Gordienko. According to Scott, this was the result of their argument inToronto years before.
While wrestlingKiller Kowalski during a match in Calgary, fans reportedly began chanting"We want Scott". The following night at an event in Edmonton, Watson asked Scott to team with him in Toronto to which Scott declined. Scott has stated in later interviews that he regretted that decision as the wrestler who eventually teamed with Watson,Billy Red Lyons whose career would take off after that match.
Involved in booking for Stu Hart andJim Crockett during the early 1970s, he declined offers to tour Japan and instead chose to continue wrestling for both Stampede Wrestling and the Mid-Atlantic territory. He teamed withEl Mongol andJimmy Dancing Bear in 6-man tag team matches againstBuddy Colt andThe Assassins in late 1971 and, the following year, he lost toSuperstar Billy Graham in Chicago on November 3, 1972,[2] Suffering a neck injury while wrestling in Texas, he was forced to retire the following year[3] reuniting with his brother Angus against Atlantic Coast Tag Team ChampionsGene &Ole Anderson inWinston-Salem, North Carolina, on May 26, 1973, retiring later that year.[4]
In the years following his retirement, George gained a reputation as one of the leading bookers in the industry. Brought in by John Ringly, who had recently taken over Jim Crockett Promotions after the death of his father-in-lawJim Crockett, Sr., and stayed on afterDavid andJim Crockett, Jr. assumed control of the promotion.
During his first few years in the Carolinas, he made major changes in the promotion including changing its focus from traditional tag team wrestling to singles competitors by bringingWahoo McDaniel,The Super Destroyer andJohnny Valentine, with Valentine being the top wrestler in the territory. Although fans were slow to respond to the sudden shift, Valentine had become one of the most popular wrestlers in the region within several months. He also signed younger wrestlers such as"Superfly" Jimmy Snuka,Roddy Piper,Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and"Nature Boy" Ric Flair, and became a major influence during their early careers.
During the late-1970s, Scott became a partner with Jim Crockett buying a third of Toronto promoterFrank Tunney's promotion for $100,000. This allowed them access to southern Ontario and parts of the northeastern United States as well as bringing in wrestlers fromMaple Leaf Wrestling and the Carolinas. This would continue for several years until Frank Tunney's death in 1983 and his nephewJack Tunney sided with the World Wrestling Federation when they entered the area during the mid-1980s; Scott later sued Jack Tunney and eventually received a $500,000 settlement and $150,000 in legal expenses in 1992.
In 1981, Scott chose to leave Jim Crockett Promotions due to a pay dispute and resigned his position after giving Jim Crockett six weeks notice. Although Jim Crockett attempted to take Scott to court, the matter was soon dropped. Receiving numerous offers from promoters across the country, Scott took several months off before agreeing to temporarily assist Atlanta promoterJim Barnett andGeorgia Championship Wrestling for two months.
Scott was approached byEddie Einhorn to become a partner in hisInternational Wrestling Association, offering him a $250,000 salary and a percentage of the promotion, but Scott eventually declined. During this time, he also looking into purchasing the rights for the NWA's Oklahoma territory although he walked away from the deal allowingBill Watts to purchase the territory for hisUniversal Wrestling Federation/Mid-South promotion.[5]
In 1983, Scott received a call fromVince McMahon Sr. with whom he had a close working relationship while with Jim Crockett Promotions. Agreeing to assist his sonVince McMahon who had recently taken over theWorld Wrestling Federation, he was immediately sent to Atlanta to oversee the WWF's purchase of the Saturday night timeslot onTBS, forcing outGeorgia Championship Wrestling and resulting what became known as "Black Saturday". He was later involved in negotiations withKeith Hart for the McMahon's buyout ofStampede Wrestling which, according toStu Hart in his biographyStu Hart: Lord of the Ring, was concluded by a handshake agreement. The official sale was finalized byJim Barnett on August 24, 1984, for $1,000,000 to be paid off $100,000 a year.[6]
While in the area, he began running events inMiami, Florida, which soon became very profitable for the company, and he soon began booking for the entire promotion. Between 1984 and 1985, the WWF was grossing between $3 million and $4 million on weekends. He was directly involved in planning some of the biggest events in the promotion's history includingWrestleMania I and2, the first televised shows forSaturday Night's Main Event and the supercardBig Event at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium. Scott appeared on-camera at WrestleMania when, during the main event between Hulk Hogan & Mr. T and"Rowdy" Roddy Piper andPaul Orndorff, he pulled guest officialMuhammad Ali out of the ring as he was supposed to be an outside-the-ring referee.
Prior to WrestleMania, he took part in the initial negotiations withMr. T to appear in the main event. Despite an argument between him and Mr. T, the disagreement was eventually settled and he agreed to appear; Mr. T later ran up $22,000 in expenses during the week leading up to WrestleMania.
Scott was also one of the key officials who attempted to clean up the widespread drug use among wrestlers in the promotion. He was involved in setting up the WWF's initial drug testing program. Those who failed the drug test would be suspended for six weeks and, if caught a second time, would be released from the company. Although having control of most of the roster, he and thenWWF World Heavyweight ChampionHulk Hogan became involved in a heated argument during an event atMadison Square Garden regarding"some unsavory characters" hanging around backstage. Hogan, who by this time was gaining some political clout, went over Scott's head complaining about the incident to promoter Vince McMahon.
He worked three days straight withNBC producerDick Ebersol onSaturday Night's Main Event I. He and Ebersol disagreed on the show's content, with Ebersol in favor of aSaturday Night Live-style show as opposed to Scott's ideas for a traditional wrestling event. The format had been previously used on the WWF'sTuesday Night Titans. Eventually, Scott decided to resign due to overwork, the changing direction of the company and ongoing conflicts with Hogan and other wrestlers.[7]
After leaving the WWF in 1986, he briefly worked forFritz Von Erich in Dallas replacingKen Mantell, who had left the promotion earlier that year. AlthoughDave Meltzer'sThe Wrestling Observer newsletter reported that he had joined the promotion in August, other sources such as David Manning'sHeroes of World Class have claimed he had joined the promotion shortly beforeKerry Von Erich's motorcycle accident the previous month.
Scott's time in WCCW was brief however and, according toGary Hart, he resigned his position after failing to force Hart out of the promotion.[8] Scott, who reportedly regarded Hart as a threat to his position, had scheduled a match betweenAbdullah the Butcher andBruiser Brody at the supercardChristmas Star Wars '86 later that year. However, he secretly withheld from the participants that the match, in which Abdullah the Butcher would lose to Brody, would be a loser-leaves-Texas match. Brody would eventually find out about the arrangement and instead agreed to lose to Abdullah causing him to leave the promotion. Brody would return to WCCW as the masked wrestler Red River Jack and, with Scott leaving the promotion shortly after, Brody replaced him as head booker.[9].He later went back to work for Crockett in 1988, taking over creative rights of the promotion but lightning didn't strike twice and his run was brief as he was fired in April 1989, due to the lack of promotion for the Clash of the Champions, and was replaced by the NWA booking committee.[10] He started up a promotion in the Carolinas calledSouth Atlantic Pro Wrestling in the early 1990s. It got off to a promising start but shut down in 1994.
Retiring toIndian Rocks Beach, Florida, with his wife Jean, a former City Commissioner who has long been active in local politics. Scott also became involved inreal estate andrental property,[11] as well as his involvement in numerous charitable events, specifically his assistance in establishing the Eblen Foundation inAsheville, North Carolina, which helps underprivileged families.[12]
In 2001, he was among several honorees at theCauliflower Alley Club Banquet & Reunion. Scott was also acknowledged by Vince McMahon, who publicly thanked him for his contributions to the World Wrestling Federation during a wrestling event later that year.[7]
Scott was diagnosed withlung cancer in November 2011. He enteredhospice care in October 2013 and died a few months later on January 20, 2014.[13]