Killer Kowalski

Killer Kowalski
Data
Ring name	Tarzan Kowalski The Masked Executioner Big Ron Studd The Masked Destroyer Evil Killer Kowalski
height	198 cm
Fighting weight	114 kg - 132 kg
birth	October 13, 1926 Windsor ; Ontario ; Canada
death	August 30, 2008 Everett , Massachusetts
Trained by	Lou Thesz
debut	1947
retirement	1977

Walter E. Kowalski (born October 13, 1926 in Windsor , Ontario as Edward Władysław Spulnik (name change 1963), † August 30, 2008 in Everett , Massachusetts ), better known as Killer Kowalski , was a Canadian wrestler and successful wrestling coach. Kowalski belonged to the pioneering generation of the first televised wrestling programs and was one of the most prominent wrestlers of the 1950s and 1960s . In 1996, Kowalski was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame .

Life

Walter Kowalski was one of three children of the Polish immigrants Anthony and Marie (Borovska) Spulnik. After attending high school in Windsor, he enrolled at Assumption University there for electrical engineering . In parallel, he worked with his father at an auto plant in Detroit before he started wrestling.

Career

NWA and AWA

Kowalski was trained as a wrestler by Lou Thesz and made his debut in 1947, initially as "Tarzan" Kowalski . In the early 1950s he held several regional titles from the NWA and AWA organizations . At just under 2 meters tall, Kowalski was one of the exceptional phenomena in his sport at that time.

In January 1953 he played the first ever wrestling match broadcast on television in Canada with wrestler Yukon Eric . It was also Yukon Eric who was to make Kowalski better known. In 1954 an accident happened in a fight between the two, with Kowalski tearing off a piece of his opponent 's ear in the course of a knee drop . This incident underscored Kowalski's advertised attitude as a brutal “ villain ”, but his name attribute “killer” had been used by him before.

WWF

Kowalski eventually came to WWF and became one of the main opponents for the local champion Bruno Sammartino . In 1963 he received the WWF US Tag Team title together with Gorilla Monsoon . At that time he also fought in Australia and won several titles there. In 1967 he made headlines when he was asked about the unreality of wrestling by talk show host Don Lane. During the interview, Kowalski put his Clawhold on Lane, which put him out of action for a week.

By the end of his career, Kowalski played over 6,000 fights and performed with the most famous wrestlers of his time, such as B. Buddy Rogers , Gorgeous George , Bruno Sammartino and André the Giant . Shortly before the end of his career, he was allowed to buckle on the belt of the World Tag Team Championship on May 11, 1976 together with Big John Studd, who had been trained by him . They appeared masked and called themselves The Executioners .

After wrestling

In 1977 he resigned from active wrestling and founded his own wrestling school. Until the sale of this school in 2003 Kowalski trained there a lot of very famous wrestlers, including Perry Saturn , Chyna , A-Train and HHH .

Even after his career ended, Kowalski made a few television appearances, including in 1982 on Late Night with David Letterman , and got a role in the surrealist film To a Random by Michael Burlingame in 1986 . He also appeared in the music video Lost in the B-Zone .

According to his own admission, Kowalski had been a vegetarian since 1953. It was not until the age of 79 that Kowalski married Theresa A. Ferrioli, 1 year younger than him, who he had met in 1998. Two years later, on the evening of August 8, 2008, he suffered a serious heart attack while in hospital in Everett, Massachusetts, from which he did not recover. Life support measures were suspended on August 18, 2008 and Kowalski finally died on August 30, 2008.

Titles earned

• American Wrestling Association
  • 11 × Montreal International Heavyweight Championship
• Atlantic Athletic Commission
  • 1 × AAC World Heavyweight Championship
• Heart of America Sports Attractions
  • 1 × NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship
  • 1 × NWA Iowa Tag Team Championship - with Ripper Daniels
• Championship Wrestling from Florida
  • 1 × NWA Florida Southern Heavyweight Championship
• Grand Prix Wrestling
  • 9 × Grand Prix Heavyweight Championship
• International Wrestling Alliance
  • 1 × IWA United States Heavyweight Championship
  • 5 × IWA World Heavyweight Championship
  • 4 × IWA World Tag Team Championship - 2 × with Skull Murphy , 1 × with Bill Miller , and 1 × with Mark Lewin
  • NWA Mid-Pacific Promotions
  • 1 × NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Hawaii version)
• Montreal Athletic Commission
  • 12 × Montreal World / International Heavyweight Championship
• NWA All-Star Wrestling
  • 2 × NWA Pacific Coast Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) - 1 × with Ox Anderson and 1 × with Gene Kiniski
• NWA Hollywood Wrestling
  • 1 × NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship
  • 1 × NWA Americas Tag Team Championship - with Kinji Shibuya
• NWA San Francisco
  • 1 × NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version)
  • 1 × NWA Pacific Coast Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) - with Hans Herman
• World Class Championship Wrestling
  • 1 × NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Championship
  • 1 × NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship
  • 1 × NWA Texas Tag Team Championship - alone
• Stampede wrestling
  • 2 × NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship (Calgary version)
  • 2 × Stampede International Tag Team Championship - with Jim Wright
• World Wide Wrestling Federation
  • WWWF United States Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Gorilla Monsoon
  • WWWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Big John Studd

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} Walter 'Killer' Kowalski, wrestler and teacher; at 81 In: The Boston Globe, accessed June 14, 2010
2. ↑ ^{a b} OBITUARY: Walter E. "Killer" Kowalski In: Malden Observer, accessed June 14, 2010
3. ^ Killer Kowalski's Pro Wrestling School , accessed June 14, 2010
4. ↑ Interview with Barry Harris On: VegetarianUSA.com, accessed June 14, 2010

Web links

• Killer Kowalski's WWE Hall of Fame profile
• Profile on Neckbruch.com