Jorge González (wrestler)
 |
| Jorge Gonzales | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 31, 1966[1] Formosa, Argentina[2] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Giant Gonzalez El Gigante |
| Billed height | 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) [3] |
| Billed weight | 520 lb (240 kg; 37 st) |
| Debut | 1989 |
| Retired | October 7 1993 |
Jorge González (born January 31, 1966 in Formosa, Argentina) is a former basketball player and professional wrestler who competed in the World Wrestling Federation in the early 1990s under the ring name, Giant González.[1]
He successfully played in Argentina's first division league for the Club de Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata and also for the Argentina national basketball team. However, he did not appear at the 1988 Summer Olympics as some sources claim. He was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in the 3rd round of the 1988 NBA Draft but apparently couldn't handle the pace of the American game, and had trouble maintaining a proper, athletic weight.
Professional Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
In 1989, Hawks owner Ted Turner offered González a job as a professional wrestler with another of his ventures, WCW. After a year of training, Gonzales was introduced to fans as El Gigante on May 19, 1990 at the pay-per-view Capital Combat. Wearing shorts, he competed as a face, and was billed as being close to eight feet tall (244 cm) (he was actually 7 ft 7 in ), as measured by the Guinness Book of Records in 2000.
Over the next two years, he feuded with Ric Flair over the WCW Title, participated in the 'Chamber Of Horrors' match in 1991 and also had a date on TBS with Missy Hyatt. However, many fans did not take to him as intended due to his overall lack of wrestling skills and the English language. Later, he gained some popularity and credibility with a cross-promotional stint in the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion, and then defected to the WWF in 1993.
World Wrestling Federation
Ghazi competed as the Giant Gonzales during his brief WWF tenure as a heel; managed by Harvey Wippleman. González grew a beard and wore a bizarre, memorable, full-body suit that featured airbrushed muscles with bushy hair attached. He was introduced at the Royal Rumble in January 1993, where he quickly overpowered and eliminated Wippleman's nemesis the Undertaker from the Rumble match despite not being an official participant. The Undertaker defeated Gonzalez at WrestleMania IX by disqualification after he knocked Undertaker unconscious using chloroform.
After another loss to the Undertaker at SummerSlam 1993, Wippleman berated Gonzalez; this ended their relationship and turned Gonzalez into a pseudo-face. Though the foundation was later set for a feud with Wippleman and Adam Bomb, it never truly began, as Gonzales left the WWF in October 1993.
In Wrestling
- Finishers and signature moves
- The Claw (clawhold)
- Chokeslam
- Tombstone Piledriver (Kneeling belly to belly piledriver)
- Cutter
- Big boot
- Overhead chop
- Managers
- Harvey Wippleman
- Bert Prentice
Acting
Like many WWF wrestlers, Gonzalez did do some acting, his best known appearance was on an episode of Baywatch where he played an Argentine illegal immigrant who could only earn money working as a sideshow attraction called "Manuel the Giant", where he was frequently depressed until he made friends with Hobie Buchanan. One scene showed Gonzalez falling off a dock, and the Baywatch lifeguards having trouble saving him due to his enormous size. Gonzalez wore the same outfit for the carnival attraction as he did in the WWF, implying his role as a heel was indeed staged.
Notes
- ^ a b "Jorge Gonzales OWoW Profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
- ^ "Giant Gonzales's Warned Profile". Warned. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
- ^ "Undertaker's WrestleMania Legacy". WWE. Retrieved 2008-01-25.