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Remembering ‘Killer’
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The death of one of professional wrestling’s legendary heels, a potential coup for TNA and WWE’s Unforgiven pay-per-view are among the top stories in a very busy week for news in the world of pro wrestling.
Walter “Killer” Kowalski, a main event attraction all over the wrestling world for thirty years, passed away last Saturday at the age of 81. The beloved grappler who spent most of his career as a “bad guy” in the squared circle was unable to recover from a massive heart attack nearly three weeks earlier that reportedly had doctors thinking he probably would not last more than a couple of hours at the time.
Like many of his ring opponents down through the years, perhaps the doctors underestimated Wladek’s extraordinary stamina. The Polish born strongman wrestled as Tarzan Kowalski early in his career when he sported one of the game’s most impressive physiques. When he became a vegetarian, he lost some of his muscle mass but became known for an endurance that left many an opponent blown up and gasping for breath.
Kowalski main-evented cards all over the United States and was a favorite opponent and frequent challenger of Bruno Sammartino in the old World Wide Wrestling Federation. He teamed with Bruno in Japan and worked against Giant Baba there on numerous occasions, and also worked in Canada and Australia on top.
The Kowalski legend really began in the early 1950s when his kneedrop grazed and took off the cauliflower ear of Yukon Eric during a bout in Montreal. When Walter went to the hospital to apologize and check on his opponent’s condition, both wrestlers apparently enjoyed some lighthearted laughter over how the bandages made Eric look and the press there reported Kowalski was laughing about what he had done to his poor opponent. He was dubbed “Killer Kowalski” from that point forward.
In reality, Killer was a quiet, religious man who enjoyed reading and poetry away from the arena. He didn’t drink or chase women, two of the principle outside-the-ring occupations of many wrestlers of that era. He was gentle and kind to people and that apparently frustrated some promoters who wanted their workers to stay in character during the days when kayfabe ruled.
Kowalski ran a wrestling training school after his wrestling career wound down. He teamed with one of his students, John Minton, (aka Big John Studd) to capture the tag titles as the Executioners in the late 1970s. While his most famous trainee would be Triple H, he also taught Perry Saturn, Kenny Dykstra of the Spirit Squad, Frankie Kazarian and Chyna how to wrestle professionally.
Tributes from many of his famous and not so famous trainees were online this week, with heartfelt sentiment and appreciation clearly evident for the man with one of professional wrestling’s all-time greatest monikers and a reputation as one of the true gentlemen in a normally rough and often cutthroat business.
Mick Foley, ironically another famous wrestler who lost an ear while tangled in the ropes during a match against Vader in Germany several years ago, announced that he has signed to work for TNA and will also be able to pursue some opportunities outside of wrestling with Spike TV, the network that telecasts TNA.
Foley gratefully acknowledged his recent time with WWE, so he certainly did not publicly burn any bridges there, but it is doubtful that Vince McMahon is too thrilled with Foley heading over to the lone wrestling opposition with a national television deal.
Foley will likely not wrestle more than once in a blue moon, but could be effective in any of several roles as a commissioner, announcer or good will ambassador for meet and greets. Don’t be surprised to see him on some reality type show on Spike.
Unforgiven’s true main event tonight will be the grudge match between Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho and it came perilously close to not happening. At this past week’s Smackdown taping, Michaels took a bad bump on the ring apron that resulted in a triceps injury that was initially thought to be a complete tear that would require surgery and an extended layoff.
Further tests revealed a lesser tear that will likely respond well to physical therapy and enable Michaels to still face Y2J at the pay-per-view. Besides that match, we get three scramble matches for each of the three major championships, and a tag title bout between Rhodes and DiBiase and Chryme Tyme.
WWE’s 24/7 this month features Ric Flair and the famous Shea Stadium supershow from 1980 with Bruno Sammartino facing Larry Zbyszko in a steel cage is scheduled to air next month. Old school fans can check with Service Electric for a subscription to the service that provides classic mat action from yesteryear.
Walter “Killer” Kowalski, a main event attraction all over the wrestling world for thirty years, passed away last Saturday at the age of 81. The beloved grappler who spent most of his career as a “bad guy” in the squared circle was unable to recover from a massive heart attack nearly three weeks earlier that reportedly had doctors thinking he probably would not last more than a couple of hours at the time.
Like many of his ring opponents down through the years, perhaps the doctors underestimated Wladek’s extraordinary stamina. The Polish born strongman wrestled as Tarzan Kowalski early in his career when he sported one of the game’s most impressive physiques. When he became a vegetarian, he lost some of his muscle mass but became known for an endurance that left many an opponent blown up and gasping for breath.
Kowalski main-evented cards all over the United States and was a favorite opponent and frequent challenger of Bruno Sammartino in the old World Wide Wrestling Federation. He teamed with Bruno in Japan and worked against Giant Baba there on numerous occasions, and also worked in Canada and Australia on top.
The Kowalski legend really began in the early 1950s when his kneedrop grazed and took off the cauliflower ear of Yukon Eric during a bout in Montreal. When Walter went to the hospital to apologize and check on his opponent’s condition, both wrestlers apparently enjoyed some lighthearted laughter over how the bandages made Eric look and the press there reported Kowalski was laughing about what he had done to his poor opponent. He was dubbed “Killer Kowalski” from that point forward.
In reality, Killer was a quiet, religious man who enjoyed reading and poetry away from the arena. He didn’t drink or chase women, two of the principle outside-the-ring occupations of many wrestlers of that era. He was gentle and kind to people and that apparently frustrated some promoters who wanted their workers to stay in character during the days when kayfabe ruled.
Kowalski ran a wrestling training school after his wrestling career wound down. He teamed with one of his students, John Minton, (aka Big John Studd) to capture the tag titles as the Executioners in the late 1970s. While his most famous trainee would be Triple H, he also taught Perry Saturn, Kenny Dykstra of the Spirit Squad, Frankie Kazarian and Chyna how to wrestle professionally.
Tributes from many of his famous and not so famous trainees were online this week, with heartfelt sentiment and appreciation clearly evident for the man with one of professional wrestling’s all-time greatest monikers and a reputation as one of the true gentlemen in a normally rough and often cutthroat business.
Mick Foley, ironically another famous wrestler who lost an ear while tangled in the ropes during a match against Vader in Germany several years ago, announced that he has signed to work for TNA and will also be able to pursue some opportunities outside of wrestling with Spike TV, the network that telecasts TNA.
Foley gratefully acknowledged his recent time with WWE, so he certainly did not publicly burn any bridges there, but it is doubtful that Vince McMahon is too thrilled with Foley heading over to the lone wrestling opposition with a national television deal.
Foley will likely not wrestle more than once in a blue moon, but could be effective in any of several roles as a commissioner, announcer or good will ambassador for meet and greets. Don’t be surprised to see him on some reality type show on Spike.
Unforgiven’s true main event tonight will be the grudge match between Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho and it came perilously close to not happening. At this past week’s Smackdown taping, Michaels took a bad bump on the ring apron that resulted in a triceps injury that was initially thought to be a complete tear that would require surgery and an extended layoff.
Further tests revealed a lesser tear that will likely respond well to physical therapy and enable Michaels to still face Y2J at the pay-per-view. Besides that match, we get three scramble matches for each of the three major championships, and a tag title bout between Rhodes and DiBiase and Chryme Tyme.
WWE’s 24/7 this month features Ric Flair and the famous Shea Stadium supershow from 1980 with Bruno Sammartino facing Larry Zbyszko in a steel cage is scheduled to air next month. Old school fans can check with Service Electric for a subscription to the service that provides classic mat action from yesteryear.
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