"Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers, born Herman Rohde, (February 20, 1921 – June 26, 1992) was an American professional wrestler and one of the biggest wrestling stars in the beginning of the television era. His performances inspired generations of professional wrestlers, such as "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, who used Buddy Rogers' nickname, as well as his look, his attitude, and his finishing hold, the figure-four leglock. He was a two-time world heavyweight champion, most notably becoming the first professional wrestler to hold both the WWWF Championship, now known as the WWE Championship, and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

Professional wrestling career[link]

Early career (1940s–1950s)[link]

The son of German immigrant parents, Rogers was an outstanding athlete, taking up wrestling at age nine at the local YMCA. Upon the advice of one of his instructors, he joined the Camden YMCA Wrestling League, winning its heavyweight championship. He also excelled in football, boxing, and track, but perhaps his best sport was swimming. In 1937 he won the YMCA’s three-mile swimming championship, and throughout his life was known as an excellent swimmer.

Joining the Dale Brothers Circus as a wrestler at age 17, he then went to work at a shipyard and became a police officer, but one day he went to the offices of wrestling promoters Ray and Frank Hanley, who gave him his first match on July 4, 1939, against one Moe Brazen. Rogers won.^[1]

Rogers soon became a top wrestler using his real name around his hometown where he gained his first major win over Ed "Strangler" Lewis. Like virtually all professional wrestlers, Rogers was not the height and weight listed. Buddy actually stood 5'11" tall and weighed in at 195 pounds soaking wet.

He continued his career in Houston, where he assumed the name "Buddy Rogers." Rogers would get his first major taste of gold during his tenure there, winning the Texas Heavyweight title four times, once from the great Lou Thesz, beginning a long feud both in and out of the ring. After leaving the Texas territory for Columbus, Ohio, the final pieces of his character were added. He bleached his hair and was given the moniker "Natural Guy", later "Nature Boy", by promoter Jack Pfefer.^[2] In the early 1950s, Lillian Ellison (under the moniker Slave Girl Moolah) worked as his valet.^[3] Ellison claims that the partnership ended after Rogers pushed for a sexual relationship, which Ellison refused.^[3]

With the advent of television, Rogers' flashy look, great physique and bombastic personality instantly caught the ire of audiences. The first sign of Rogers' impact was his involvement in Sam Muchnick's opposition promotion in St. Louis, Missouri, a major wrestling market at the time. He was pitted against the well respected Lou Thesz as a draw. In the end, Muchnick's promotion was powerful enough with Buddy Rogers as its main star that the two promotions merged. Rogers continued control of the Midwest as a booker and wrestler, most notably in Chicago, frequently selling out the 11,000-seat arena. In the 1950s, Rogers expanded into Vince McMahon, Sr.'s Capitol Wrestling Corporation. He also wrestled in the Al Haft promotion out of Columbus, Ohio in the 1950s into the 1960s.

National Wrestling Alliance (1960–1963)[link]

In 1961, the National Wrestling Alliance voted him into a NWA World Heavyweight Championship match. On June 30, 1961, Pat O'Connor lost the title to Rogers in front of 38,622 fans at Comiskey Park, a North American professional wrestling attendance record that lasted until the David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions in 1984.^[4] The ticket sales of $148,000 were a professional wrestling record for almost 20 years.^[4] The match, a two out of three falls match, was billed as the "Match of the Century".^[4] During the match, both men had gained a pinfall, when O'Connor missed a dropkick, hit his head, and Rogers pinned him to win the match.^[4]

To many promoters, it seemed that Buddy Rogers favored northeastern promoters over other territories. Promoters and noted shooters Karl Gotch and Bill Miller confronted Rogers in Columbus and broke his hand. Another injury in Montreal in a match against Killer Kowalski kept Rogers on the sidelines. On his return, the heads of the NWA voted to switch the title back over to Lou Thesz, who publicly disliked Rogers. On January 24, 1963, the match took place in Toronto. Rogers was hesitant about dropping the title, so promoter Sam Muchnick put in place three safeguards to guarantee Rogers' cooperation. First, the match was only one fall, out of the ordinary since most title matches were two out of three falls until the mid-1970s. The second safeguard was his threat to give Rogers' bond (the NWA Champion was required to pay a $25,000 deposit to the NWA Board of Directors before being given the title; the deposit was returned to the wrestler after losing the title) away to charity. The third was matching him against the legitimate wrestler Thesz who could "take" the title if necessary. Thesz won the match and the title.

Rogers was also co-holder of the U.S. Tag Team Championship, with frequent tag partner Handsome Johnny Barend. They won the belts in 1962 on Washington, D.C. television from Johnny Valentine and Arnold Skaaland (Skaaland subbing for the missing Ellis, but the belts were still up). Rogers and Barend defeated Valentine & Ellis in a title rematch at Madison Square Garden, and went on to defend the belts until spring 1963, when they lost the titles on Washington, D.C. television to Killer Buddy Austin & The Great Scott (even though one of the falls was on a disqualification and they technically should not have passed). Rogers and Barend split briefly and feuded, but reunited that summer to defeat Bruno Sammartino & Bobo Brazil in Madison Square Garden 2 falls to 1.

During the brief Rogers-Barend feud, Rogers teamed up regularly with a masked wrestler, The Shadow (veteran wrestler Clyde Steeves). Prior to the title reign with Barend, he was frequently a tag partner with Bob Orton, grandfather of Randy Orton.

World Wide Wrestling Federation (1963)[link]

Northeast promoters, led by McMahon and Toots Mondt, withdrew their membership from the NWA and formed the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF), as Thesz was not a strong draw in the area. Promoter Willie Gilzenberg, and first WWWF "President" appeared on Washington, D.C. TV in April 1963; and announced that Rogers had been the victor in a wrestling tournament which took place in Brazil, effectively making him the first WWWF title holder. Rogers' reign was cut short by a mild heart attack that greatly hindered his endurance. Physically in decline, Rogers was matched against the hugely popular and immensely powerful Bruno Sammartino. Rogers was beaten by Sammartino on May 17 of that year, in a match that lasted a mere 48 seconds. Stunned and disheartened, Rogers quickly left the ring. Legend says that Mondt dragged Rogers out of his hospital bed and forced him into the match, but it was obvious that Rogers could not take the burden of a world championship in his condition. Sammartino publicly claimed that Rogers was not ill, but that he just didn't want to lose the belt. Sammartino also claimed that he told Rogers that he (Bruno) would be winning the belt that night—not their promoter and Rogers just wanted to get it over quickly.

After losing to Sammartino, Rogers stayed on top, in anticipation of a rematch. He defeated Hans "The Great" Mortier in less than a minute with the Figure-4 in Madison Square Garden, and teamed with Handsome Johnny Barend to take 2 out of 3 falls via pin from Sammartino and Bobo Brazil, with Rogers pinning Sammartino for the final fall.

The big rematch was to be held October 4, 1963, at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey. The tickets were printed with Rogers–Sammartino on them. However, it was announced that Rogers was retiring, and Gorilla Monsoon, who had won a Ring Wrestling TV tournament, got the title shot that night. Rogers subsequently only wrestled an occasional show for The Sheik's promotion in Detroit and Montreal. In 1968, Rogers appeared for a brief time in an Ohio-based promotion called Wrestling Show Classics where he spent time on TV talking with his former manager Bobby Davis and appearing in brief studio and arena matches.

Jim Crockett Promotions and WWF (1978–1992)[link]

In 1978, Rogers returned to wrestling as a babyface in Florida although he was in his late 50s. He later moved up to Jim Crockett Promotions in the Carolinas as a heel manager managing wrestlers like Jimmy Snuka, Ken Patera, Gene Anderson, and Big John Studd. His most notable moment during his run in the Carolinas was his feud with the new "Nature Boy", Ric Flair before Rogers put over the younger Nature Boy on July 9, 1978. After his time in Mid-Atlantic, he moved back into WWF where he was a babyface manager and part-time wrestler who also hosted the interview segment "Rogers' Corner." During a feud teaming with his old protégé Jimmy Snuka against Lou Albano and Ray Stevens, Rogers broke his hip and retired from wrestling for good.

End of career and death[link]

He was set to wrestle yet another "Nature Boy", this time Buddy Landel, in a comeback match for the Tri-State Wrestling Alliance (a predecessor of ECW) in early 1992, but the promotion went out of business and the match never occurred. Later in the year, Rogers was weakened by a severe broken arm and suffered three strokes, two on the same day. He was put on life support and died a short time afterward on June 26, 1992.

Legacy[link]

Rogers was considered the first total package wrestler. He had all the looks, physique, personality, and ability promoters wanted. He is often attributed with developing the psychology that several heels went on to use with great success, and with inventing the "Figure-Four Grapevine" (later renamed the Figure-Four Leglock).

Lou Thesz, Rogers' long-time colleague and frequent opponent, best described Rogers’ early impact in his memoir, Hooker: “Rogers is remembered by fans and performers alike as one of the top all-time stars in the business, but it’s probably not common knowledge just how influential he was… he broke into the business somewhere around 1941 as a hero-type personality, with little more going for him than a good body and natural charisma in the ring – which is actually a pretty good beginning – and he was a hit almost from the start. He had that indefinable something fans responded to, and he was sharp enough to build upon what he had, paying attention to what got a reaction from the fans. What evolved over several years was the ‘Nature Boy,’ the prototype of the cocky, strutting, sneering, arrogant peroxide blond villain that is almost a tired wrestling cliché today. Rogers invented the character, and I believe he did it better than anyone.

“He was also one of the first guys to rely a lot on what we called ‘flying’ moves in the ring – body slams, dropkicks, piledrivers, ricochets off the ropes into his opponent, action moves that are commonplace today. All of those moves were in use before Rogers came along, but they were used sparingly; most of the wrestling prior to Rogers’ emergence was done on the mat. Rogers was the first to use flying moves in quantity, staying off the mat, and the style was so popular with the fans that other wrestlers, including me, followed his lead.”^[5]

Another Rogers contribution to modern wrestling was his bombastic interviewing style. Wrestlers might talk, converse, with interviewers, but Rogers bragged, boasted about how great he was and how pathetic his opponents were. After winning the NWA championship from Pat O'Connor in Chicago in 1961, Rogers accepted the belt and then took the microphone and shouted, "To a nicer guy it couldn't happen!" This type of bombastic style went over well with the fans and has been followed ever since.

Rogers was not well liked during his prime years because he had a habit of taking advantage of opponents in the ring. During his prime years, he was known as much for his distinctive peacock-like strut as for his wrestling performance. He was also very skilled at drawing heat during interviews, with a smug "to a nicer guy, it couldn't have happened" being his catch phrase of sorts whenever he was victorious. He may have been the first authentic "charismatic" pro-wrestler, who, along with almost equally charismatic Bobby Davis, would use cruel, yet hilarious, put-downs of his opponents, such as "After I get through with him, he'll be back driving a garbage truck where he belongs." Almost like a tag-team of pseudo-arrogance, Bobby Davis would incredulously say of Roger's opponents that they didn't even deserve to be in the same ring as Rogers, bemoaning the fact that "This is a sport of Kings!" With age, Rogers mellowed and became a very respected veteran.

According to Thesz, Rogers, although admittedly an excellent wrestler and a superb showman, was a manipulative schemer behind the scenes and was fond of saying in private: "Screw your friends and be nice to your enemies, so your enemies will become your friends, and then you can screw them too."^[6]

Rogers had one of the longest consistent top drawing periods of any main-eventer—15 years—and the ability to draw in several different territories successfully. In 1994, he was posthumously inducted into the World Wrestling Federation Hall of Fame.

Fellow professional wrestler Ric Flair throughout his whole career to the present day, adopted the "Nature Boy" gimmick from Buddy Rogers as a tribute to him. Even using Rogers' own signature move the Figure-Four Leglock as his own, Flair even went as far as doing his own variation of the Buddy Rogers strut as well.

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • Figure-Four Grapevine (Figure-four leglock) – innovated

• Managers
  • Slave Girl Moolah^[3]
• Bobby Davis
• Diamond Jack

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• American Wrestling Association
  • AWA Eastern States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Ohio version) (3 times)
• Midwest Wrestling Association
  • MWA Ohio Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Great Scott (3) and Juan Sebastian (1)
• Montreal Athletic Commission
  • World Heavyweight Championship (Montreal version) (3 times)
• NWA Capitol Wrestling
  • NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Northeast version) (2 times) - with Johnny Valentine (1) and Johnny Barend (1)
• NWA Chicago
  • NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Chicago version) (1 time)
• NWA Mid-America
  • NWA Mid-America Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• NWA San Francisco
  • NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time) - with Ronnie Etchison
• NWA Western States Sports
  • NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Amarillo version) (1 time)
• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Stanley Weston Award (1990)
• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
  • Class of 2002 (Television Era)
• Southwest Sports Inc.
  • NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
  • Texas Heavyweight Championship (4 times)¹

• • Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Otto Kuss

• St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame

• World Wide Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Federation
  • WWF Hall of Fame (Class of 1994)
  • WWWF World Heavyweight Championship (1 time, inaugural)
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)
• Other titles
  • Maryland Eastern Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
  • World Heavyweight Championship (Jack Pfeffer version) (5 times)

¹Five of Rogers' six reigns with the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship occurred before the title came under the control of the NWA and before the NWA was created. The situation is the same regarding Rogers' reign with the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship.

References[link]

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

• WWE Hall of Fame profile
• Buddy Rogers at FindAGrave.com

Buddy Rogers may refer to:

• Charles Rogers (actor) (1904–1999), aka "Buddy" Rogers, American actor and jazz musician
• Buddy Rogers (wrestler) (1921–1992), aka "Nature Boy", stage name of wrestler Herman Rohde

This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Johnny Valentine
Valentine vs. Dory Funk, Jr. in 1973
Ring name(s)	Johnny Valentine[1] The Big O[2]
Billed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[1]
Billed weight	255 lb (116 kg; 18.2 st)[1]
Born	(1928-09-22)September 22, 1928 Washington, D.C.
Died	April 24, 2001(2001-04-24) (aged 72)[1] River Oaks, Texas
Debut	1947
Retired	1975[1]

Johnny Valentine (born John Theodore Wisniski,^[3] September 22, 1928–April 24, 2001) was a Polish American professional wrestler with a career spanning almost three decades. He has been inducted into four halls of fame for his achievements in wrestling. Wisniski was the father of professional wrestler Greg "The Hammer" Valentine.

He held numerous world champion and regional titles, including the NWA United States Championship and the World Heavyweight title. He had long running rivalries with Bobo Brazil, Pat O'Connor, Buddy Rogers, Antonio Rocca, Lou Thesz, Harley Race, The Sheik, Wahoo McDaniel, Fritz von Erich, Bruno Sammartino, Johnny Powers, Antonio Inoki and Jack & Jerry Brisco. He alternated between being a villain and a hero (babyface) during the Golden Era in the 1940s through 1960s of wrestling.^[1]

In 1975, he was injured in a plane crash; he suffered a broken back and was forced to retire from wrestling. He worked briefly as a manager before retiring altogether. He suffered from several health problems during his career, which worsened considerably after a fall in 2000. He died the following year.

Professional wrestling career[link]

Wisniski debuted as a professional wrestler in 1947, wrestling Karl Nowena in Buenos Aires.^[2] On New Year's Day, 1950, Buddy Rogers defeated Wisniski in the finals of a United States title tournament.^[2] He also competed in the NWA's Capitol Wrestling territory. Jerry Graham, who was a co-holder of the Northeast version of the NWA United States Tag Team Championship, selected Wisniski in November 1959 to take over the title from Graham's injured partner. They were beaten for the title belts the following April, but Wisniski took on a new partner, Buddy Rogers, to regain the championship by defeating The Fabulous Kangaroos on November 19, 1960. Wisniski's rivalry with the Kangaroos continued, as the Kangaroos regained the belts in a rematch one week later. Wisniski went over one year without holding a championship before teaming with a new partner, this time Bob Ellis, to defeat the Kangaroos and take back the championship.^[2] Wisniski & Ellis lost the belts to Buddy Rogers & Handsome Johnny Barend in a match where Arnold Skoaland subbed for Ellis, but the belts were still up, on Washington, DC TV. Rogers & Barend then defeated the real team of Wisniski & Ellis 2 pins to 1 in a main event at Madison Square Garden.

In Toronto, Wisniski and three different partners won the International Tag Team title during 1963. Wisniski left the territory without dropping the title.^[2] He wrestled in Japan in the mid-1960s and had a series of matches against Antonio Inoki. Those matches are regarded as the bouts that helped build Inoki into an elite wrestler in Japan, as Valentine was the highest-profile foreign wrestler Inoki had ever faced at the time. Valentine put over Inoki in the matches, dropping the Toronto version of the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship to him catapulting Inoki's career in the process.^[4] Wisniski also continued to wrestle in the former Capitol Wrestling territory, which had since been renamed the World Wide Wrestling Federation. While there, he had one last reign with what was then known as the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship, as he teamed with Tony Parisi to hold the belts for seven months in 1966.^[2] Wisniski later turned on Parisi, however. This ignited a brief feud with Bruno Sammartino, who was billed as Parisi's cousin. Because Wisniski was also wrestling in Texas at the same time, he got only sporadic main event matches against Sammartino during this feud.^[5]

Wisniski then moved on to the Florida territory, where he won the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship three times.^[2] In Georgia, he defeated Tim Woods for the NWA Georgia Heavyweight title, on May 10, 1968, and repeated his win in a match against Doug Gilbert (not to be confused with the Doug Gilbert who was not yet born) to retake the title.^[2] In Missouri, Wisniski competed for the Missouri Heavyweight Championship in a tournament to determine the inaugural champion. He defeated Baron Von Raschke before withdrawing from the tournament due to focus his efforts on the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. After Harley Race won the tournament and the title belt, Valentine defeated him to win the championship on January 19, 1973.^[2][6] He dropped the belt to Terry Funk the following month. Because Funk used a chair as a weapon in front of the referee, fans demanded a rematch. Valentine was unable to compete due to heart problems, however, so Gene Kiniski took his place and won the belt from Funk.^[6][7] In October 1972, Wisniski defeated Jacques Rougeau for the International Heavyweight Championship, but was stripped of the title in January 1973, after he no-showed the rematch.^[2]

In the National Wrestling Federation, Wisniski defeated Johnny Powers for the NWF North American Heavyweight Championship on September 1, 1972. Powers beat Wisniski for the title in October, but Wisniski won the title again from Abdullah the Butcher on October 19. He was stripped of the title following a match with Johnny Powers. On November 23, he captured the title from Powers, but lost it again in January.^[2] In the Japan Wrestling Association, Wisniski won the International Tag Team title on February 22, 1973, and then the United National Heavyweight Championship on March 2. He lost the Tag title on March 6, and the United Heavyweight title on March 8.^[2] Back in the National Wrestling Federation, in August 1973, Wisniski beat Jacques Rougeau, Sr. to win the North American Heavyweight Championship. He lost it to Johnny Powers in late 1973.^[2]

In Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, Wisniski was awarded the Mid Atlantic Heavyweight Championship in January 1974, after Jerry Brisco left to work in Japan. Bearcat Wright defeated Wisniski in a boxing match to win the title on May 13, 1974. He won the championship from Sonny King on November 4, and won the United States Heavyweight Championship on July 4, 1975.^[2]

After Wisniski was paralyzed in a plane crash, he remained active in professional wrestling as a manager in Jim Crockett, Jr.'s Texas-based promotion. From his wheelchair, Wisniski managed Dale Hey, who competed as Buddy Valentine in a storyline that saw the two promoted as brothers. The storyline did not last long, however.^[8]

Personal life[link]

Wisniski was originally from Maple Valley, Washington.^[1] He was a devout Christian for many years.^[9] He was married to a woman named Sharon, who plans to write a book titled A Never Ending Love Story of a Wrestler and His Wife about their life together.^[10] He also had a son, Greg Valentine, who has wrestled professionally since 1970 and is best known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine.^[1] Ric Flair, who wrestled with Wisniski, has described him as a quiet person who kept to himself. He was also known for making his demands clear to employers and not backing down,^[11] and many stories continue to circulate about practical jokes, or ribs, that he played on his fellow wrestlers.^[5][12]

On October 4, 1975, Wisniski was in a private airplane^[13] (a twin-engined Cessna 310^[14]) with Ric Flair, David Crockett, Bob Bruggers, and Tim Woods.^[2] Because of the weight of the passengers, the pilot realized that he could not take off without reducing the amount of fuel the plane was carrying. Part way through the flight, the aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed near Wilmington, North Carolina.^[13][14][15] The crash broke Flair's back,^[13] killed the pilot,^[13] and broke Wisniski's back. A bone fragment became embedded in his spinal column, paralyzing him for life and forcing him to have a clamp implanted to hold the bones in his back together.^[14]

In August 2000, Wisniski fell from his front porch, and had a number of injuries and complications. These included a fractured back, pneumonia, staph infection, collapsed lungs and kidney failure.^[16] He was originally hospitalized for a high fever, but died when his heart gave out.^[1] His wife had purchased medical insurance through a health maintenance organization (HMO), but the organization was unwilling to pay for Wiskiski's extended stay in the hospital.^[9] As a result, Lou Thesz's wife convinced the Cauliflower Alley Club to help contribute to Wisniski's medical bills. He died in River Oaks, Texas on April 24, 2001.^[1]

Valentine has been recognized for his wrestling career by several sources. Shortly after his death, he was named the 2001 recipient of Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Stanley Weston Award, a recognition given for lifetime achievement in professional wrestling. He has also been inducted into several halls of fame. He was a member of the inaugural class of inductees to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996.^[17] He is also a member of the Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame.^[18] In 2006, he was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame,^[19] and he joined the St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame the following year.^[20] Valentine on April 17, 2010 was inducted into the IHWE Hall of fame in Fort Worth Tx just days before the anniversary of his death, David Fuller who credits Valentine for mentoring him in 1998 inducted Valentine, His widow Sharon accepted the induction & quoted "Out of all the Hall of Fame's John has been inducted to, This IHWE Hall of fame is the most important" Valentine received a standing ovation & was given a rose by every IHWE superstar.

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing moves
  • The Brainbuster (Valentine slams his elbow over an opponent's head)^[1]

• Signature moves
  • Diving elbow^[1]
  • Vertical suplex^[1]

• Nicknames
  • "Handsome" Johnny Valentine^[1]

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• All Japan Pro Wrestling

• NWA International Tag Team Championship (Japan version) (1 time) – with Killer Karl Krupp
• NWA United National Championship (1 time)

• Capitol Wrestling Corporation/World Wide Wrestling Federation

• NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Northeast version) (3 times) – with Buddy Rogers (1), Bob Ellis (1), and Dr. Jerry Graham (1)
• WWWF United States Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tony Parisi

• Championship Wrestling from Florida

• NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Florida version) (1 time)
• NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
• NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) (1 time)
• NWA Southern Tag Team Championship (Florida version) (1 time) – with Boris Malenko

• IHW Entertainment

• Hall of Fame (Class of 2010)

• International Wrestling Association (Chicago)

• IWA International Heavyweight Championship (Chicago version) (1 time)

• International Wrestling Association (Montreal)

• IWA International Heavyweight Championship (Montreal version) (1 time)

• Maple Leaf Wrestling

• NWA International Tag Team Championship (Toronto version) (5 times) – with Bulldog Brower (1), The Beast (1), Jim Hady (1), and Whipper Billy Watson (2)
• NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Toronto version) (7 times)

• Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling

• NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
• NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Mid-Atlantic version) (1 time)

• Mid-South Sports

• NWA Georgia Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

• National Wrestling Alliance

• NWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2011)^[21]

• NWA Detroit

• NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Detroit version) (3 times)
• NWA United States Television Championship (3 times)

• NWA Los Angeles

• NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Championship (1 time)

• NWA Mid-Pacific Promotions

• NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Ripper Collins

• NWA Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club

• NWA World Tag Team Championship (Minneapolis version) (1 time) – with Chet Wallick

• NWA Western States Sports

• NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Amarillo version) (1 time)

• National Wrestling Federation

• NWF Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
• NWF North American Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (1973)^[22]
  • PWI Stanley Weston Award (awarded posthumously) in 2001

• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum

• (Class of 2006)^[19]

• Southwest Sports, Inc./NWA Big Time Wrestling

• NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Texas version) (2 times)
• NWA American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
• NWA American Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Wahoo McDaniel (2) and Thunderbolt Patterson (1)
• NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (8 times)
• NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Rip Rogers
• NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Texas version) (1 time)¹

• St. Louis Wrestling Club

• NWA Missouri Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

• Stampede Wrestling

• NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship (Calgary version) (2 times)
• Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame ^[18]

• St. Louis Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • (Class of 2007)

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)

¹This championship would be renamed the NWA American Heavyweight Championship in May 1968. It would go on to be renamed the WCWA World Heavyweight Championship after World Class' withdrawal from the NWA in February 1986.

References[link]

External links[link]

Professional wrestling portal

• See "Crash finished Seattle man's career on mat"

Killer Kowalski
Walter "Killer" Kowalski Training John Quinlan & The Brooklyn Brawler in 2000.
Ring name(s)	Hercules Kowalski Killer Kowalski[1][2] The Masked Destroyer[2] The Masked Executioner[2] Tarzan Kowalski[1][2]
Billed height	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)[1][2]
Billed weight	280 lb (130 kg)[1]
Born	(1926-10-13)October 13, 1926 Windsor, Ontario, Canada[3]
Died	August 30, 2008(2008-08-30) (aged 81) Malden, Massachusetts, USA
Trained by	Lou Thesz[4]
Debut	1947[1][2]
Retired	1977[1][2]

Władek (later Walter) "Killer" Kowalski^[3] (October 13, 1926 – August 30, 2008), born Edward Władysław Spulnik, was a Polish Canadian professional wrestler. Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, including the NWA and WWF, and was a known heel wrestler. He held numerous championships including the WWWF World Tag Team Championship with Big John Studd billed as The Executioners and managed by Lou Albano. After retiring in 1977, Kowalski started a professional wrestling school in Malden, Massachusetts and trained many professional wrestlers, including Triple H, Ron Zombie, Chyna, Former Ring of Honor World Heavyweight Champion Eddie Edwards and Kofi Kingston. He was also a vegetarian.

Early life[link]

The man later known as "Killer Kowalski" (he legally changed his name in 1963) was the son of Polish immigrants Antoni Spulnik and Maria Borowska, he and his brother Stanley were raised in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.^[5] Years later, he would tell interviewers that he never expected to be a wrestler. By the age of fourteen, he was already 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm), and because he was thin for his height, he began working out at the local YMCA, but he had no plan to go into athletics at that time. When he entered college, his major was electrical engineering. He worked part-time at the Ford plant in Detroit to help pay his way.^[5]

Professional wrestling career[link]

There are several stories of how he became a wrestler. The most common one is that while attending the University of Detroit (some sources say Assumption College in nearby Windsor, Ontario), he heard that there was an opportunity to make good pay by wrestling. He was only being paid $50 a week at the plant and was told he could make more as a wrestler.^[6] Since he already had an athletic build, he decided to give wrestling a try and began attending a wrestling school.^[5][7] When he first wrestled professionally, he was known as Tarzan Kowalski,^[8] but was also called Hercules Kowalski, Killer Kowalski (this nickname is used as early as 1950) and even The Polish Apollo, according to newspaper reports from 1950–51. During the Cold War, his name was changed to Wladek Kowalski, which was supposed to sound more menacing.^[9] Kowalski wrestled from 1947 to 1977 in a number of organizations, including the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and American Wrestling Association (AWA) as a heel.

Kowalski's rise in the business came quickly. His first recorded match occurred on May 6, 1948, and by November 29 of the same year, Kowalski was facing NWA champion Orville Brown in a heavyweight championship match. Kowalski stood out in his era for his larger-than-normal size, and for a faster-paced style in the ring. He wrestled as a demonstrative "heel," or villain, except when facing the even-more-hated Buddy Rogers. In his matches with Rogers, Kowalski would adopt a more serious "babyface" approach. Out of the ring, however, Kowalski was considered so friendly and polite that some wrestling promoters complained about the way he would "drop character" in public.

Incidents[link]

In a 1954 match in Montreal versus Yukon Eric, Kowalski ripped off a part of Yukon Eric's ear while performing a knee drop.^[3] In reality, Eric's ears were already badly cauliflowered due to years of abuse and the injury was an accident, but it fortified Kowalski as being a ruthless villain who gleefully maims his opponents. 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.". When the incident was reported in the paper the next day, it stated that Kowalski showed up at the hospital and laughed at his victim rather than with him, furthering Kowalski's image as a heel.^[10] The incident sparked a long-running series of grudge matches between the two wrestlers which took place throughout North America. By the time the feud had run out of steam several years later, Yukon Eric joked to Kowalski about the small size of an audience, "Shit, that's a lousy house. I might have to sacrifice another ear."

Kowalski also gained some notoriety in Boston for an incident in late June 1958 when he was wrestling Pat O'Connor. The guest referee was former boxing great Jack Dempsey, who suffered a kick to the diaphragm and had to be hospitalized. Dempsey did not blame Kowalski, and both said it was an accident, but this further cemented the Killer's reputation as a villain.^[11] In 1967, the top-rated Australian television talk show host Don Lane irritated Kowalski during an apparently friendly interview and was attacked with the Kowalski claw hold.^[12]

Also in the late 1950s, Kowalski fought what was supposed to be a best two out of three match in Fall River, Massachusetts against Mr. Moto. Just before the bell starting the first fall, Kowalski had his back turned to Moto while doing some stretches in his corner. Moto raced across the ring and hit Kowalski over the head with one of the clogs with which he had walked into the ring. Of course, the referee did not see this happen. The bell rang and a seemingly dazed Kowalski staggered around the ring and was quickly pinned by Moto. Kowalski was billed as the heavyweight champion at that time (at least in eastern Massachusetts) and, as such, was not supposed to lose the match. Just after the second fall started, Kowalski was hit in the right eye with a pea or bean shot by someone in the audience using a pea shooter. Semi-blinded and genuinely stunned, Kowalski staggered around the ring covering his eye with his right hand. Moto did not know what to do. Finally, he approached Kowalski, bumped into him and fell to the mat. Kowalski reached down, applied the claw hold and Moto was not only counted out, but deemed by the referee too hurt to continue. The two raced out of the ring to a chorus of boos from the audience and dodged various objects being thrown at them. As a side note, the two had arrived 45 minutes late for the match. The Fall River Herald News reported in its next day morning edition that these two "mortal enemies" were late because the car in which they had ridden together to the match had broken down on the way.

In December 1972, Kowalski became the first wrestler to pin André the Giant in North America, in what was billed as a "Battle of the Giants." Photographs from the Quebec City match helped to establish André's reputation in American wrestling magazines, since they showed him towering over the better-known Kowalski. Kowalski had done much the same to boost Giant Baba's fame in Japan, with a televised 1963 match.

World Wide Wrestling Federation[link]

Kowalski became the main antagonist of Bruno Sammartino in the World Wide Wrestling Federation in the 1960s and 1970s. On May 11, 1976, Kowalski won the WWWF World Tag Team Championship with Big John Studd.^[13] Both men wore black masks and tights and called themselves "The Executioners". However, they were stripped of the championship, following the interference of a third Executioner during a title defense against Chief Jay Strongbow and Billy White Wolf. The Executioners lost a match for the vacant title on December 6 to Strongbow and White Wolf and never regained the championship.^[13]

Retirement and training[link]

After his WWWF retirement in 1977,^[9] Kowalski started a professional wrestling school in Malden, Massachusetts.^[3] Due to his health, he ceased to be involved with it in 2003, and the school subsequently moved to North Andover, Massachusetts.^[14] Among the alumni of this school are Triple H,^[1][3] Chyna,^[1][3] Perry Saturn,^[1][3] John Kronus,^[4] and Brittany Brown. Kowalski also trained Big John Studd,^[4] Damien Kane, Killer Kowalski Jr, Ron Zombie, Chris Nowinski,^[1] A-Train,^[1][3] April Hunter, Ace Andrews, Frankie Kazarian, Nikki Roxx, Cadillac Joe D., and Kenny Dykstra. Kowalski continued to wrestle on independent shows into the early 1980s, and worked only sparingly after that. His last match took place in 1993, when Kowalski was 66 years old.

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.

On June 14, 2007, Kowalski was inducted into The National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame.^[15]

Personal life[link]

Kowalski married for the first time to Theresa Ferrioli on June 19, 2006.^[16] He had known her since 1998, and she was surprised when he proposed, since he had been known as a life-long bachelor.^[17]

He became a vegetarian in the late 1960s and claimed to be the only one in professional wrestling.^[18] He would not drink milk or alcohol, and he did not smoke. He would not even drive with wrestlers who smoked, which limited his traveling options. He was a popular speaker in the local Boston Vegetarian Society and Boston area vegetarian restaurants, where he discussed both wrestling and his vegetarian values, and appeared on Malden's cable TV station, MATV, where he also shared anecdotes about vegetarian values and his more humorous wrestling experiences and observations.

Death[link]

Kowalski began experiencing escalating health problems in the time leading up to his death.^[17] The Sun received the report on Kowalski from his friend, another wrestling legend, Bruno Sammartino, that Kowalski had to go to a rehabilitation center in Everett, Massachusetts, where he was recovering from a knee injury.^[19] It seemed he was getting better, until he suffered a heart attack on August 8, 2008. According to Slam! Sports, the Quincy Patriot Ledger, and other sources, Kowalski's family was apprised that he would not recover. When Kowalski was taken off life support on August 18, subsequent news reports erroneously stated that he had died. Just before he passed, he was living in Sydney, NSW Australia, before returning to Boston which was the location of his death. Kowalski died on August 30, 2008.^[5]

In wrestling[link]

• Finishing Moves
  • Diving knee drop^[2]
  • Kowalski Claw (Vice grip applied to either the opponent's stomach or head)

• Signature Moves
  • Dropkick
  • Piledriver

Championships and accomplishments[link]

• Atlantic Athletic Commission
  • AAC World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[20]

• Cauliflower Alley Club
  • Iron Mike Mazurki Award (2002)^[21]

• Central States Wrestling
  • NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[22]
  • NWA Central States Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Bulldog Austin^[23]
  • NWA Iowa Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Ripper Daniels^[24]

• Championship Wrestling from Florida
  • NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Florida version) (1 time)^[25]

• International Wrestling Federation
  • IWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[26]
  • IWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Johnny Valiant^[26]

• Montreal Athletic Commission
  • MAC World/International Heavyweight Championship (12 times)^[27]

• NWA Mid-Pacific Promotions
  • NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Hawaii version) (1 time)^[28]

• NWA All-Star Wrestling
  • NWA Pacific Coast Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (2 times) - with Ox Anderson (1) and Gene Kiniski (1)^[29]

• NWA Hollywood Wrestling
  • NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)^[30]
  • NWA Americas Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Kinji Shibuya^[31]

• NWA San Francisco
  • NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time)^[32]
  • NWA Pacific Coast Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version) (1 time) - with Hans Herman^[33]

• New England Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2008

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI Tag Team of the Year (1976) - with Big John Studd^[34]
  • PWI Stanley Weston Award (2010)

• Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
  • (Class of 2003)^[35]

• Southwest Sports, Inc. / Big Time Wrestling
  • NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Texas version) (1 time)^[36]
  • NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time)^1[37]

• Stampede Wrestling
  • NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship (Calgary version) (2 times)^[38]
  • NWA International Tag Team Championship (Calgary version) (2 times) - with Jim Wright^2[39]

• United States Wrestling Federation
  • USWF Tag Team Championship - with Ox Baker

• World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
  • IWA World Heavyweight Championship (5 times)^[40]
  • IWA World Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Skull Murphy (2), Bill Miller (1), and Mark Lewin (1)^[41]

• World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation
  • WWWF United States Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Gorilla Monsoon^[42]
  • WWWF World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Big John Studd^[13]
  • WWF Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)^[43]

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996)^[44]

¹Defeated Duke Keomuka and Danny Hodge in a handicap match to win the title.
²Wrestled under the name of the Masked Destroyer when winning this title.

References[link]