Giant haystacks

Giant haystacks
Data
Ring name	Giant Haystacks Loch Ness Luke McMasters
height	2.03 m
Fighting weight	196 - 260 kg
birth	Camberwell , England October 10, 1946
death	November 29, 1998 Prestwich , Greater Manchester , England
Announced from	Manchester , England Scottish Highlands (as Loch Ness)
debut	1967

Martin Austin Ruane (born October 10, 1946 in Camberwell , London , England , † November 29, 1998 in Prestwich , Greater Manchester , England), better known as Giant Haystacks , was one of the best known from the mid-1970s until he fell ill in 1996 European wrestler . In addition, he has appeared in a number of television films and shows.

Life

Beginnings

Ruane was born in 1946 to an Irish immigrant family in Camberwell, a borough of London. His father had to take a job as a migrant worker and so the family moved often in the first few years before finally settling in Salford , Manchester . Even as a teenager, Ruane was very tall and massive for his age and often had to endure the ridicule of his classmates. After finishing school, he first worked in a furniture factory, but broke off there and then worked, among other things, in a tire recycling depot. After getting married and having three children with his wife by 1970, he looked for a regular income job. After he was shot at as a bouncer, he also worked as a migrant worker.

Wrestling career

By chance, the British part-time wrestler Billy Graham became aware of Ruane in 1967 and proposed a career as a wrestler to him. Despite small initial problems and after appropriate training, Ruane was finally given the ring name Haystacks Calhoun (an homage to the American super heavyweight), from which Giant Haystacks developed. He later gave his real name to Luke McMasters in order to keep his family out of the public eye . In 1975 Ruane received an invitation from British wrestling promoter Max Crabtree , who first put him on television. With a height of 2.03 m and a weight of almost 200 kg he was by far the largest and heaviest wrestler in England and therefore a spectator favorite. In particular, his arguments with Crabtree's brother Shirley, aka Big Daddy , who was also quite heavy at 170 kg, guaranteed high ratings.

Other wrestling organizations became aware of the British giant and so Ruane made a tour in 1980 and competed for different organizations on each continent. A special highlight were his appearances against his French counterpart Andre the Giant in Australia.

By the 1980s, Ruane had achieved cult status in England and was the top heel in Crabtree's joint promotion . He appeared in various television films and shows, but often refrained from lucrative offers from the United States in favor of his family . In the mid-1990s, British wrestling disappeared from the scene and Ruane had to find other ways to earn a living. He unsuccessfully operated a used car business and eventually opened a debt collection agency .

In 1996 he got an offer from World Championship Wrestling and went to America. He got the Loch Ness gimmick , under which he had already competed in Stampede Wrestling and he was integrated into the Dungeon of Doom , which was tracking Hulk Hogan . Ruane was now around 260 kg and was initially booked against The Giant , but should work with Hogan in the future. In the summer of 1996, Ruane was about to return to WCW in the United States when he was diagnosed with cancer. His wrestling career was over and on November 29, 1998 Ruane succumbed to his illness.

Others

• Ruane played in the film Broad Street from Paul McCartney a minor role.

• As is common in the wrestling business, Ruane was advertised bigger than he actually was. Advertised at 2.10 m, he was actually around 2.03 m tall. In the WCW his weight was even given as up to 310 kg.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Richard Holt, 'Ruane, Martin Austin (1946–1998)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004

Web links

• Website about Giant Haystacks ( memento of March 26, 2008 in the Internet Archive )