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The Cageside Seats (CSS) Pro Wrestling Tournament continues today with a first round match-up pitting number three seed Gorgeous George against number 14 seed Ultimate Warrior.
Professional wrestling fans of today may not be all too familiar with Gorgeous George -- he died in 1963 -- but that doesn't lessen his impact on professional wrestling and its rich history. He was a flamboyant heel who wrote the book on how to be a villain in the industry. He also garnered mainstream success and influenced superstars from other areas of sports and entertainment. In fact, the great Muhammad Ali has said he took his persona and based it off what he saw George doing. You know the rest.
Ultimate Warrior might just be the exact opposite of George. He's far more famous to today's generation but had far less lasting impact. When he was around in the late 80s and early 90s at the height of his fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), though, he was a really big deal. He ended Honky Tonk Man's record reign as Intercontinental champion before going on to defeat Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 6 for the WWF championship, a huge deal at the time considering Hogan had main evented all but one 'Mania before it and hadn't lost any of those matches. To this day, Warrior is the only man to defeat Hogan in a WrestleMania main event.
Seeing as George died in 1963 and Warrior was born in 1959 these two obviously never crossed paths. But that's part of why we're doing the tournament, Cagesiders. You decide the winner.
Cast your vote in this opening round match-up and take a look at the updated bracket after the jump. For the complete round one schedule click here.
Bracket artwork by: June M. Williams