Why Liberace appeared at Wrestlemania, and more links between him and Wrestling

It’s often been said in books and documentaries that the success of Wrestlemania hinged on it’s use of celebrities to make it feel like no ordinary card at Madison Square Garden. There were some that came from the sports world like Muhammad Ali and Billy Martin, ones you might expect to see involved with wrestling, some and some that were less obvious.


In this video I’m going to get into every involvement I could find of Liberace in wrestling. I know it seems like he’s an odd choice to make a video about when you also have Cyndi Lauper and Muhammad Ali there too, but I’m also working on separate videos about them. The goal is to look for any other involvement they have had in wrestling, and I might do more of these in time.


At the first Wrestlemania on March 31st 1985, Liberace was introduced just before the main event, and announced to be the time keeper for the match pitting Hulk Hogan and Mr. T against Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff. At the age of sixty five, he would enter the Garden with four of the Rockette’s and would dance around the ring with a big smile on his face. If you’re wondering, I could find absolutely no information on how the Rockette’s were brought in, so don’t worry, there'll be no video on them. On the surface, Liberace might seem like an odd choice, I mean look at this image, one of these is not like the others. Maybe though, there was some method to it.


Earlier in the same week, Liberace would be interviewed on a local news broadcast, and would talk in depth about his love for New York, having performed in Radio City Music Hall many times. He was also no stranger to Madison Square Garden, the site of Wrestlemania, as on May 26th 1954 he would perform there to fifthteen thousand people.


On March 29th, WWF would hold a press conference, where Hogan, Muhammad Ali and Liberace would appear. Liberace was quoted as saying ”If my mother was alive today, she would say, ‘Son, you’re finally a man.’ Because she was a great fan of wrestling.” It turns out that this, combined with his love for New York, may have explained why Liberace was asked, and why he accepted the chance to appear.


Liberace’s involvement with WWF wasn’t limited to just an appearance in the Garden though, as he would appear briefly on the March 30th episode of WWF Championship Wrestling, being interviewed by Mene Gene Okerlund. I say interviewed by, but that’s very generous wording to be honest. This was more of a thirty second TV spot, designed to let you know very quickly that Liberace will be at Wrestlemania, and he is looking forward to it.


Later on that same night, Liberace also appeared on Season ten episode fifthteen of Saturday Night Live, which was hosted by Hulk Hogan and Mr. T, and also included appearances from their opponents Roddy Piper and Paul Orndorff. While he didn’t interact with any of them on the show, only appearing in a talk show sketch with Billy Crystal and Martin Short, he could be seen front and center with Hogan and Mr. T in the Goodnights.


While he might have only made one appearance in a WWF arena, in an Associated Press article that was published days before Wrestlemania, “He recalled that Gorgeous George, a champion of the 1950s, once sent the Liberace family a lavender turkey for Thanksgiving.” George was sometimes considered a pioneer of television wrestling, and his name will come up again a bit later.


As Liberace will likely never come up on this channel again, here are a few more tenuous links I found between him and wrestling. In a 2020 tribute to Mr. Wrestling II following his passing, Dave Meltzer wrote of his wife Olivia Walker, who was notable for having made robes for Ric Flair, as well as other wrestlers such as Dusty Rhodes, Tommy Rich, Paul Orndorff and her husband. Dave also notes that she made clothing for musicians too, naming Dolly Parton, Porter Wagner and Liberace.


As with many other figures in pop culture, Liberace has had wrestlers that took inspiration from him. In 1999, Robbie Kellum, who had previously wrestled under the name Gorgeous George III, the original being a distant relative, would be brought in by WCW. If you're wondering who Gorgeous George two is, the name was given to Stephanie Sellers, the valet of Randy Savage in WCW. Kellum had a few stints in WCW and struggled to find a foothold until given a new Liberace inspired gimmick. Gorgeous George III was given a piano, sparkly ring gear, and the name The Maestro. This was a short lived character, as were many in WCW around the time, with his most notable feud with Earnest Miller, culminating with James Brown appearing at Superbrawl 2000. Unadvertised. WCW 2000.


One last tenuous link isn’t actually to do with the man himself. In April 2010, Deadline reported on WWE acquiring the film rights to a 2008 biography called ‘Gorgeous George: The Outrageous Bad-Boy Wrestler Who Created American Popular Culture’. The article says “A Gorgeous George film was McMahon’s idea, an exception to his unwritten rule not to make pictures about wrestlers. Pavone, (Mike Pavone, head of WWE Studios) said George’s flamboyant persona not only set the tone for future stars like Hulk Hogan and The Rock, but also helped Bob Dylan come out of his shell and influenced the likes of Muhammad Ali, James Brown, and Liberace.” While both Muhmmad Ali and James Brown had said in the past that they took inspiration from George and other wrestlers, as far as I can tell Liberace didn’t ever say such a thing publicly.


So there sia ll I could find of Liberace’s involvement in the world of pro wrestling. One last thing I found of note was an interesting quote that was published in the March 26th 2001 edition of Figure Four Weekly. Bryan Alvarez wrote that a main event level WWE star had been interviewed by Mancow, no I don't know either, and bemoaned the use of celebrities in wrestling. “He said the company didn’t need to use celebrities at WrestleMania anymore because the wrestlers were the big stars now. He said he didn’t think Liberace sold one extra PPV buy, except maybe to Pat Patterson.” This quote came from Triple H, who probably changed his tune recently when he saw IShowSpeed’s guts being turned inside out go viral.


Sources:

Associated Press article March 29th 1985, Liberace quote

Mr. Wresting II Tribute, Dave Meltzer, June 15th 2020: https://members.f4wonline.com/tributes/mr-wrestling-ii-tribute/

Gorgeous George Film:
https://deadline.com/2010/04/wwe-films-pic-flurry-culminates-in-gorgeous-george-wrestler-biopic-35862/