An unheralded figure in wrestling research officially retired from the game in June. He'd worked behind the scenes for over 25 years, never went to a Cauliflower Alley Club reunion, and never attended a wrestling match. But, without his dedication much of what has been learned in the last two decades about wrestling in the 20th century would still be unknown.

Officially, George Rugg was the Curator for Americana in the Rare Books and Special Collections of the Hesburgh Libraries at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. Wrestling historians, however, knew him differently. To them, George Rugg was the guy who had daily access to the largest assemblage of irreplaceable documents related to wrestling history that is likely to exist. He was the guy who could help you find that payout sheet that would establish, once and for all, exactly how much a specific wrestler was making, where they were working, and when. He was the guy with the keys to the bank vault. George Rugg was the guy who ran the Pfefer Collection.

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