GEORGES GORDIENKO VS. THE TOP HEAVIES!!

I remember The great George's Gordienko from Canada he had genuine wrestling skill, and great strength, he always entered the ring by placing his left hand on the corner post then pivoted his entire body over the top rope, I've never seen anyone else do this. I understand he retired from wrestling I believe in the late 70s and moved to Italy to take up one of his other passions which was art painting, I firmly believe he would've destroyed someone like Hulk Hogan who had very little genuine wrestling skill but relied on his charisma and personality to win support from fans, as for big Daddy he would've been far too slow for the likes of Gordienko who would've had him in a submission move before he had time to think, big Daddy used his weight and bulk to knock opponents over, like Hogan he lacked any wrestling skill

From that last bill, the bout I would like to see in terms of Southern Shooting, as it were, would be Barratt v Gordienko. Neither would want to give there.

I wonder if they ever fought?

Doug and Billy Joyce on the same bill. No name-changing there.

Which also has Bob Robinson beating Billy Robinson.

Gordienko, Wall, Tibor, Joyce and Robinson sharing a dressing room!

Some bill, that.

I have copies of some old Albert Hall results and yes, Georges Gordienko did win this 1970 Heavyweight Tournament. He knocked out Hans Streiger in the quarter-finals, beat Judo Al Hayes 1-0 in the semi-final and then beat Bruno Elrington 2-1 in the final.

I recall an amazing strength but very sporting contest with Georges with Jo Zaranoff [approx 1963] at Casino Rochester one Friday night - went full hour draw 1 submission each as main event. The final contest was Danny Lynch & Spencer Churchill lasted 10 mins still finished at 10.30 normally finished by 10. Sammy King MC was beside himself as Dale Martin had to pay extra for hall hire.

I am lucky to remember Gordienko very well from TV only and I mean the Black and White Days.

It's worth reminding people that he started as an 18 year old sensation in the USA pro game at age 18 in 1947.

That's ten years ahead of Billy Robinson and Albert Wall and almost two decades ahead of Nagasaki.

BY the time Nagasaki went to Stampede , Gordienko was only wrestling part time.

It's a fair bet he was nearing his peak when we got him in 1957 and probably remained there maybe for another decade.

I can remember the bad guys turning rough on him and Kent Walton used to say " I Yi Yi Yi Yi , you don't start the rough stuff with Gordienko"

He was bang on as well. Gordienko went up a gear or two and they were never in it. Only Robinson from GB was ever in his league.

It is possible he could have crossed paths with Assirati , but I suspect it was too late for Bert, who only had limited opponents once he left Joint.

I was fortunate to see George Gordienko on several occasions and it is quite true what has been said about him in this forum- he was magnificent and the best ever heavyweight wrestler I ever saw live. Pitted against "heels" even someone of the calibre of Bruno Ellrington, he simply toyed with them. He appeared to be at his best when matched against wrestlers of a similar style such as Geoff Portz and Albert Wall in what I believe used to be called "blood and thunder" contests.Really memorable bouts and far removed from the later pantomime antics of Big Daddy etc which helped to ruin wrestling.

Gordienko was also a highly intelligent man with strong left wing views which put paid to his career in the United States in the 1950's which was then obsessed with anyone who veered to the left in their political thinking. Hence his departure for Europe. Wrestling was really his second love to painting as he became a successful artist- good enough to stage exhibitions, although sadly his art was only really appreciated after his death.

I fully agree that George Gordienko was one of the all time greats.

Billy Robinson, in his book, "Physical Chess", says something along the lines of himself, Karl Gotch and Big George being the three best "real" wrestlers in the World, in the their mid-late 60's prime.

I don't think I ever saw George live, so it must have been on TV, but he was a huge bloke.

All the stories I have read about, from other wrestlers, were that he could actually wrestle, was taught submission wrestling, and was just naturally a very strong man indeed.

Hi Adrian. As I think I wrote in an early 'My Journey', I was stunned when George rolled down towards the ring at the Brighton Stadium one evening in the early '60s. I hadn't known he was on the show, but having read so many glowing reports of him in THE WRESTLER, he was already in my mind a legendary, unbeatable giant, a colossus whom I would never be lucky enough to see. The pictures in the magazines didn't do justice to the man who passed close by me. He was huge and looked so cool, calm and collected! His opponent was Horst Hoffman who was a big guy, taller but not as muscular as George, who in his youth had been a serious weight lifter. I remember little of the bout, except the result: 2-1 to Horst! I was shocked George had lost, but my admiration for the Canadian never wavered from that day to this. Gordienko, Robinson, Bill Joyce, Karl Gotch, they were the Wrestling Gods for me. (Some years later when I had 'wised up', I figured that George and Horst had probably taken their match-up, up and down the country and swapped wins. Only a couple of years ago, someone posted some results from that year and there were the two of them, popping up, apposing each other and indeed, both had wins and losses to each other).

Gordienko wrestled Pat Roach on TV and won by a second round knockout, if I remember correctly.

Some super billings there Main Mask, but I don’t think any of the opponents would have unduly troubled the great man.

In my opinion when listing who were the greatest heavyweights of the Golden Age, place Robinson and Gordienko right at the top then argue about the rest.

Here We Find GEORGES up against STEVE VEIDOR at The TOWN HALL

in CHELTENHAM!-an Interesting Contest for sure!

Below My Poster for This Show Complete with a Full-Length Photo of

GORDIENKO!!

MAIN MASK