Killer Kowalski
Killer Kowalski  | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 13, 1926 Windsor, Ontario |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Tarzan Kowalski The Masked Executioner Big Ron Studd The Masked Destroyer Evil Killer Kowalski |
| Billed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Billed weight | 275 lb (132 kg) |
| Trained by | Lou Thesz |
| Debut | 1947 |
| Retired | 1977 |
Wladek "Killer" Kowalski (born October 13, 1926) is a retired Polish-Canadian professional wrestler.
Career
Wladek (aka Walter) Kowalski wrestled from 1947 to 1977 in a number of organizations, including the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and American Wrestling Association (AWA). Always a fearsome heel, the genuinely intimidating Kowalski stood a good deal taller than most of his opponents and was known for a mean, unrelenting attack on any and all comers. Kowalski became the main antagonist of Bruno Sammartino in the World Wide Wrestling Federation in the 1960s & 1970s.
Most famously, in a 1954 match in Montreal versus Yukon Eric, Kowalski kicked his opponent in the side of the head, causing Yukon Eric's ear to fall off and roll around the ring. In reality, Eric's ears were already badly caulifloured due to years of abuse and the injury was an accident, but it fortified Kowalski as being a ruthless villain who ripped his opponents' ear off. Further, Kowalski attempted to visit his opponent in the hospital and began laughing along with Eric at how silly the bandages looked, with Kowalski recalling years later, "I swear, the first thing I thought of was Humpty Dumpty on the wall. Yukon Eric looked at me, shook his head and smiled. I started laughing and he laughed, too.". But the incident was reported in the paper the next day that Kowalski showed up at the hospital and laughed at his victim rather than with him, furthering Kowalski's image as a heel. [1].
On May 11, 1976, Kowalski won the WWWF Tag Team Title with Big John Studd. Both men wore black masks and tights and called themselves The Executioners.
In 1967 the top-rated talk show host Don Lane irritated Kowalski during an apparently friendly interview and was attacked with the Kowalski claw hold - Lane needed medical assistance and was off the show for a week.
After his retirement Kowalski started the very successful Killer Kowalski's Professional Wrestling School. Among the alumni of this school are Perry Saturn, John Kronus, Paul Levesque (better known as Hunter Hearst Helmsley or Triple H), Joanie Laurer (better known as Chyna) and Big John Studd. Kowalski has also trained Damien Kane, Chris Nowinski, Matthew Bloom (aka A-Train.), April Hunter, Frankie Kazarian, Nikki Roxx, and Ken Doane (aka Kenny Dykstra, formerly of the Spirit Squad).
He also made numerous post-retirement television appearances including Late Night with David Letterman in 1982, and was featured in a comic role in Michael Burlingame's surrealist film To a Random in 1986. "Lost in the B-Zone," a music video for Birdsongs of the Mesozoic which was derived from this film also prominently featured Kowalski.
He is a member of the Wrestling Hall of Fame.
On June 14, 2007 Kowalski was inducted into The National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame. [2]
Finishing and signature moves
- Kowalski Claw(The Claw)
- Flying knee drop
- Dropkick'
- Piledriver
Championships and accomplishments
- Atlantic Athletic Commission
- AAC World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Iowa Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ripper Daniels
- International Wrestling Alliance
- IWA United States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- IWA World Heavyweight Championship (5 times)
- IWA World Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Skull Murphy (2), Bill Miller (1), and Mark Lewin (1)
- Montreal Athletic Commission
- MAC World/International Heavyweight Championship (12 times)
- NWA Pacific Coast Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (2 times) - with Ox Anderson (1) and Gene Kiniski (1)
- NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Americas Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Kinji Shibuya
- NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time)
- NWA Pacific Coast Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time) - with Hans Herman
1Defeated Duke Keomuka and Danny Hodge in a handicap match to win the title.
External links
- 1926 births
- Living people
- American Wrestling Association alumni
- Canadian professional wrestlers
- Canadian vegetarians
- National Wrestling Alliance alumni
- Ontario sportspeople
- People from Middlesex County, Massachusetts
- People from Windsor, Ontario
- Polish Canadians
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
- World Wrestling Entertainment alumni
- WWE Hall of Fame