Walter "Killer" Kowalski, a name synonymous with wrestling villainy, left an indelible mark on the world of professional wrestling. Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, including the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE), and was a known heel. This article delves into his life, career, and lasting legacy.
Early Life and Entrance into Wrestling
When he entered college, his major was electrical engineering. There are several stories of how Spulnik became a wrestler. The most common one is that while attending the University of Detroit (some sources say Assumption College in Windsor), he heard that there was an opportunity to make good pay by wrestling.
Early Career and Nicknames
When he first wrestled professionally, he was known as "Tarzan Kowalski". 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 to 1951. 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.
Wrestling Style and Notoriety
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. On October 15, 1952, in a match in Montreal versus Yukon Eric, Kowalski ripped off a part of Yukon Eric's ear while performing a knee drop. 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. 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, "God, that's a lousy house."
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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. 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.
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.
Killer Kowalski vs. Yukon Eric (01/15/1954)
WWWF Career and Tag Team Success
Kowalski became the main antagonist of Bruno Sammartino in the World Wide Wrestling Federation in the 1960s and 1970s. Kowalski formed a tag team with fellow heel Gorilla Monsoon and took Red Berry as his manager; Monsoon and Kowalski held the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship, winning the belts in two straight falls from Skull Murphy and Brute Bernard on Washington, D.C. television, and later losing to The Tolos Brothers in two straight falls in Teaneck, New Jersey in December 1963.
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On May 11, 1976, Kowalski won the WWF World Tag Team Championship with Big John Studd. 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.
Wrestling School and Later Career
After his WWWF retirement in 1977, Kowalski started a professional wrestling school in Malden, Massachusetts. Due to his health, he ceased to be involved with it in 2003, and the school subsequently moved to North Andover. Among the alumni of this school are Triple H, Chyna, Perry Saturn, John Kronus, Brittany Brown, Big John Studd, Damien Kane, Christopher Nowinski, Matt Bloom, April Hunter, R. J.
Kowalski returned to wrestling on independent shows in 1982, and worked only sparingly after that. In 1992 he fought John Tolos to a no-contest for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling in Japan. His last match took place in 1993, when Kowalski was 66 years old losing to Baron Von Raschke at the Maccabiah Mania fundraiser show in Livingston, New Jersey. Kowalski would remain a fixture on the Northeast independent wrestling scene taking autograph and personal appearances.
Post-Retirement Appearances and Health Problems
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. Kowalski began experiencing escalating health problems in the time leading up to his death. The Sun received the report on Kowalski from his friend, wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino, that Kowalski had to go to a rehabilitation center in Everett, Massachusetts, where he was recovering from a knee injury. 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.
Here is a summary table of Kowalski's championship achievements:
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| Championship | Times Won | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| WWWF United States Tag Team Championship | 1 | With Gorilla Monsoon |
| WWF World Tag Team Championship | 1 | With Big John Studd as The Executioners |
| NWA Texas Brass Knuckles Title | 1 | |
| NWA Texas Tag Team Title | 1 | With Duke Keomuka |