George "Scrap-Iron" Gadaski

                 George “Scrap-Iron” Gadaski was an iconic figure in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) well into the 1980’s, putting over countless top stars who came through the Gagne territory.  Gadaski was a powerful weightlifter who was trained in Calgary by Stu Hart and began wrestling in San Francisco for Roy Shire and other areas such as Florida.  However, by the mid 1960’s, Gadaski began mainly working in the AWA and wrestled in mostly enhancement matches against the likes of Verne Gagne, Mad Dog Vachon, and many others well into the early 1980’s, while also working as a referee for many matches.  More famously, Gadaski was Ric Flair’s first opponent on December 10, 1972 in Rice Lake, WI, going to a ten-minute time-limit draw.  From AWA records (by clawmaster at the Sports and Wrestling forums), Gadaski debuted in the AWA by putting over Billy Red Cloud on September 3, 1966, in Minneapolis, MN.  The last match Gadaski refereed was on January 3, 1982 in Milwaukee, WI.  His last match wrestling in the AWA appears to be on December 20, 1981 in Minneapolis, MN, teaming with Woody Wilson in a loss to Bobby Duncum and Ken Patera.

                One interesting moment for Gadaski came on December 13, 1981, in Minneapolis, as he teamed with Kenny Jay to fight Jesse Ventura and Adrian Adonis.  Both Adonis and Ventura had debuted at the WWF Championship Wrestling tapings in Allentown, PA on October 13, 1981 and their match with Jay and Gadaski was scheduled to be their final AWA appearance.  Their final match in the AWA (for the time being) turned into a complete brawl with Ventura and Adonis laying out both Jay and Gadaski, along with some AWA officials.  Wally Karbo came out and banned both Adonis and Ventura from ever appearing in the AWA again before they attempted to rough up Karbo. 

                By 1982, George Gadaski’s life was taking a negative turn as he had been diagnosed with a severe brain tumor.  The AWA held a fundraiser for him on April 5, 1982, in Amery, WI and Gadaski passed away on December 13, 1982.  On March 10, 1996, a company named Mid-American Wrestling held a Scrap-Iron street fight tournament, in Waukesha, WI, in memory of Gadaski.  The only results for that show I could find were pretty unclear, taken from the March 25, 1996 Wrestling Observer Newsletter...

"One-night Scrap Iron Street fight tournament: Waverider Craig b Spymaster, Billy Joe Eaton b Waverider Mike, Big Daddy Dave b Farmer Vic, Axl Future b Eric Love, Craig d Eaton, Future b Dave"