Legendary wrestling ‘bad guy’ Wladek ‘Killer’ Kowalski dead at 81.
Kowalski first entered the ring in 1947 as Tarzan Kowalski and grappled for the next 26 years in over 6,000 matches.
The son of Polish immigrants in Windsor, Ontario, Kowalski worked in the auto industry before heeding the siren song of wrestling.
It was during a historic 1954 match with Yukon Eric in the Montréal Forum that Kowalski earned his murderous nickname. Kowalski knee-slammed Yukon Eric to the mat, accidentally severing a chunk of his already decaying cauliflowered ear. The move horrified even the most blood thirsty fans and a legend was born.
His unapologetic attitude and unabashed gore fests made him the most hated man in the early era of televised professional wrestling.
During the 1960s, Kowalski was the main antagonist of good guy Bruno Sammartino in the fledgling World Wrestling Foundation.
In 1976 Killer partnered with Big John Studd as the masked Executioners and claimed the WWF World Tag Team Championship. The following year he retired to open his wrestling school in New England where he trained such proteges as Triple H and Chyna.
Kowalski died of a massive coronary after being removed off life support.
So long, Killer.
