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Kowalski, Walter "Killer"
(1927 - 2008)

by Tom Tarapacki

Goodbye, "Killer"

The sports world lost one of its legendary figures recently, when Walter "Killer" Kowalski died at the age of 81. Kowalski became one of professional wrestling's biggest stars and most-hated villains when wrestling became a national sensation in the early years of TV.

Despite his nickname - and his reputation in the ring - Killer's widow remembered him as "a wonderful man, never drank, never smoked, and he was a vegetarian for almost 60 years."

Born in Canada, he was studying electrical engineering in college while working at the Ford plant in Detroit to help pay his way. With his size (6-7, 275-lb.) and athletic ability, he soon found the wrestling ring as a good way to make a few bucks. He rose to the top of the wrestling world rather quickly.

Kowalski turned villain after hurting Yukon Eric during a match in Montreal in 1952. Kowalski accidentally ripped off a part of Yukon Eric's ear while performing a knee drop. Eric's ears were already badly cauliflowered from his many years in the ring. Killer visited his opponent in the hospital, and the pair began laughing at how silly the bandages looked. However, newspaper reports stated that Kowalski showed up at the hospital and laughed at the injury he caused, and that helped cement his reputation as a villain.

After a long and successful career, Kowalski retired in 1977, and opened a wrestling school in Malden, Mass. His students included WWE star Triple H. Chyna, and Chris Nowinski. He sold the business in 2003.

Kowalski was inducted into several wrestling halls of fame, including the WWF Hall of Fame and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum. It was also good to personally see Killer get inducted into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

Source: Polish American Journal, November 2008, Vol. 97, No. 11.

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