My Take On 8.30.08: Remembering Walter Killer Kowalski

Posted by Larry Csonka on 08.30.2008

Today we remember one of the greats…


(October 13, 1926 - August 29, 2008)

It is always a sad day when fans of a sport have to mourn a person that helped shape the sport that they love, and that is what we are here to do today. Walter "Killer" Kowalski passed away Saturday morning at 2:15am. Kowalski had been taken off life support nearly two weeks ago after he suffered a massive heart attack on August 8th, and after a long battle finally left this world at the age of 81. While it is a sad day to be sure, we can be thankful that Kowalski lived a full life.

While I am not an expert in the career of Mr. Kowalski and cannot say that I have seen the bulk of his work, today I would like to take the chance to remember the man and maybe together, we can learn more about this man that is considered a legend.

Many wrestling historians consider the time around World War II to be the first true golden age of professional wrestling. At a time where the networks only produced 12 hours of television maximum, wrestling had it's hour of time, and during that era the man known as Killer Kowalski was one of the biggest stars.

He was born Wladek Kowalski on October 13th 1926 in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The man was destined to be a dominant athlete as he would eventually grow to be 6'7, and weigh in at nearly 300-pounds. The Canadian born wrestler was mean, feared, and became one of the truest villains the sport had ever seen. With the persona of Wladek "Killer" Kowalski, he was well known during this golden age and after the time of World War II. One incident that secured his aura of evil was in a match against Yukon Eric in 1952. It was in this match that Kowalski ripped off a part of Yukon Eric's ear with a knee drop. Yukon Eric's ears were actually badly cauliflowered and the knee drop injury was a complete accident, but in 1952 when everyone believed whet they saw was real, this legitimized Kowalski as a true bad ass.

Success came early for Kowalski as he would first become dominant in 1950. At age 24 he would win the NWA Texas Heavyweight title from another well known world champion, The "Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers. After adding the Texas Tag Team Titles to his list of accomplishments, he went onto dominate the Mid-West territory, defeating "Whipper" Bill Longson for the Central States Heavyweight title. Kowalski's size was not his only advantage, as for a big man he was extremely agile. He dominated the singles ranks as well as the tag ranks as he and tag team partner Hans Herman won the NWA Pacific Coast Tag titles as well as many others during the 1950's.

The Canadian born Kowalski would earn true acclaim as a Canadian superstar between the years of 1952-1962 as he won the AWA/IWA (Montreal) World Heavyweight title an amazing 8-times. During this time Kowalski dominated several of the sports best, some now considered legends along with Kowalski. Several names that fell to Kowalski during this time were Verne Gagne, Eduard Carpentier, Don Leo Jonathon and Pat O`Conner.

With Kowalski now established as the conqueror of Canada, he would return to the United States and his reputation followed. He once again turned to the tag team ranks, now teaming with another hated monster known as Gorilla Monsoon. Together they would win the then WWWF United States Tag Team titles in 1963.

After a successful run on the east coast, Kowalski would travel to Hawaii and have another successful run there. Scaring the fans and brutalizing the good guys while taking home the promotions version of the US Title. Not one to stay in one place too long Kowalski went back to the sight of his first success in wrestling, the wrestling hotbed of Texas. It was in 1970 that he won the Texas Brass Knuckles championship, that's a MAN'S title right there kids. Kowalski would then travel to California and capture the NWA America's Heavyweight title, defeating a man known as a wrestling legend in the Los Angeles territory, John Tolos. Kowalski would also add another notch to his belt so to speak with another new tag team partner as he won the NWA America's Tag Team title with Kinji Shibuya.

Later in another run with the WWWF, during 1976, Kowalski won the WWWF World Tag Team Championship with Big John Studd. They were under the hoods and called themselves The Executioners. Studd was a trainee of Kowalski, and one can only imagine the pride Kowalski had as he and his protégé, who would be groomed for years to come as a dominant big man, won those titles together. Nearly 30-years after his debut, the 1970's ended and so did the active in ring career of Killer Kowalski. He had over 21 title runs to his credit, including tag titles with TWELVE different partners: Bulldog Austin, Ripper Daniels, Skull Murphy, Bill Miller, Mark Lewin, Ox Anderson, Gene Kiniski, Kinji Shibuya, Hans Herman, Jim Wright, Gorilla Monsoon and Big John Studd.

Kowalski truly had a Hall of Fame wrestling career, filled with numerous title runs and accomplishments. But when that career was finished he was not done with the wrestling business. He spent time working with many independent promotions, and was also known for his career after active wrestling as a trainer. Kowalski trained a number of stars such as Perry Saturn, John Kronus, Triple H, Chyna, Luna Vachon, Big John Studd, Damien Kane, Chris Nowinski, A-Train, April Hunter, Frankie Kazarian, Nikki Roxx, and Kenny Dykstra.

All too often we have to look at a life that ended way too soon. Lives ruined by poor choices, drugs, steroids, or accidents; what ever it may be these lives can end way too soon. It can sometimes make it hard to remain a fan of this business, one that can simultaneously be the greatest and worst business I know. In a way I suppose it is refreshing to write about a man that had the chance to live a full life. A man that had a full career, a successful career and also had the chance to give back to the very same business that gave him everything he had by working with the later generations of that business. Kowalski was a man respected by his fans, his peers and seemed to be a man that wanted to leave the wrestling business a bit better than he found it. That's a legacy that should not be soon forgotten.

On behalf of 411 I would like to extend our sincere condolences to the family, friends and fans of Mr. Kowalski. May he rest in peace.