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In some extremely sad news, PWInsider.com is sad to pass along that former pro wrestler George Wells, perhaps best known as being Jake Roberts' first-ever Wrestlemania opponent back in 1986, passed away some time ago.
A reader sent word that Wells' passing was actually first reported several years back in the footnote of an article about that event written by author Brad Balukjian for TheRinger.com.
In reaching out to Balukjian about Wells, he responded to PWInsider.com, "I had always been curious about what happened to George Wells. He seemed to vanish from sight and no one for years had heard much of him, which is unusual given all the connections of the internet wrestling community. Since he was on the WrestleMania 2 card facing Jake Roberts, I did a deep dive during my reporting for my story on that event for The Ringer, and was able to reach his ex-wife in Oregon, Nancy. She told me on the phone that he had passed away a few years back, but did not seem to want to elaborate, only that he had had lots of health issues. George also has a son, Jason, living in the Berkeley/Oakland area of California, but he did not reply to my emails and messages. I was saddened to hear of the loss and wish the best to his surviving family and friends."
Balukjian provided PWInsider.com with contact information for Wells' ex-wife Nancy, but she did not respond to our attempts to reach out.
Wells was a former Canadian Football League standout. He attended Oakland Technical High School before continuing his education at Laney College and New Mexico State University, where he played college football and also competed in Amateur Athletic Union heavyweight wrestling tournaments.
Drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the fifth round of the 1971 NFL Draft, he instead built a successful eight-year career in the Canadian Football League with the Toronto Argonauts, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and Saskatchewan Roughriders. As a dominant defensive end, Wells earned four CFL All-Star selections, appeared in three Grey Cup championship games, won one Grey Cup title, and consistently ranked among the league's most productive pass rushers.
Wells began wrestling professionally in 1974 during the football offseason. He was a regular for the San Francisco territory, where he held that version of the United States Championship and wrestled Butcher Vachon and Masa Saito, among others. After his football career ended, Wells worked for a number of other territories including Mid-Atlantic, Georgia Championship Wrestling, Central States and in Canada, Stampede. He held the Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship with Don Kernodle, won the NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship, and later became Central States Tag Team Champion with Ron Ritchie.
In Mid-South Wrestling, Wells was one of several names that Bill Watts tried to utilize in a top position during the period after Junkyard Dog jumped to the WWF. He worked against Ernie Ladd, Butch Reed and The Midnight Express, among others. During that period, Wells teamed with Brickhouse Brown and at times, Magnum TA, all while using the ring name Master Gee.
Wells began working for the WWF in late 1978, at times teaming with Lanny Poffo and Bret Hart. He worked there as a babyface, often putting over heels that were being pushed, including John Studd, Jake Roberts and Adrian Adonis. In the Wrestlemania 2 bout against Roberts, Wells began foaming at the mouth after falling prey to the DDT and having Jake's snake Damian placed atop of him, something Roberts later stated he didn't know Wells was going to do.
After WWF, Wells began working as a heel under, once again, the ring name Master Gee this time for World Class Championship Wrestling, facing a young Dingo (Ultimate) Warrior, Tony Atlas, Scott and Steve Simpson and more.
Well also toured for New Japan Pro Wrestling in 1987, teaming with a young Rick Steiner and The Sheepherders, among others, facing names that included Tatsumi Fujinami and Antonio Inoki.
After retiring from the ring, Wells worked as a substance abuse counselor in San Francisco, according to a 2007 article in The Globe newspaper.
Unfortunately, to the best of our ability, there is no additional detail on the timing of Wells' passing nor any published obituaries, but everyone at PWInsider.com sends our condolences to his family, friends and fans. It is unfortunate that his passing was not well known sooner. If anyone is aware of additional details, please feel free to contact us.
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