George Zaharias

Who was George Zaharias?

Theodore Vetoyanis was an American professional wrestler and sports promoter, known by his ring name George Zaharias, popularly known as "The Crying Greek from Cripple Creek" or "The Greek Hyena" during the 1930s. Often cast as a villain or sore loser, one of his most celebrated bouts was a 1932 match with Jim Londos at a sold-out Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, which Londos won. The 14,500 audience was the highest attendance for any North American wrestling match that year.

In 1938 Zaharias met Babe Didrikson, a talented female athlete best known as a golfer, at a charity golf event; the promoter had matched the wrestler, the golfer, and a minister in a threesome as a gag. Zaharias and Didrikson married later that year, and Zaharias quit wrestling in order to manage his wife's career. He promoted wrestlers and ran a cigar store in Denver. As Babe's career soared, he managed a tailoring shop, a women's sports clothier in Beverly Hills, California, and a golf course in Florida, where the couple retired.