"Killer Kowalski Shoot: The Man Who Made Giants Tap Out 👊"

🔥 EXCLUSIVE: Wrestling's most feared heel tells all in this legendary lost interview! 💪 Hear how this 6'7" monster terrorized opponents and created the modern villain. ⚡ WARNING: Contains graphic details of real ringside violence that changed wrestling forever. 🤼 Never-heard stories about Andre The Giant, Bruno Sammartino, and golden era legends. 🎭 The real story behind the ear-ripping incident that shocked the world. 👑 Wrestling History Alert: When this man entered the ring, the terror was real. The interview that exposes pro wrestling's most dangerous pioneer. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Talking to one of the greatest wrestlers the entire world.
I always travel the world, and people knew me. I
meet to this day. Sometimes I meet somebody in the
restaurants or something like that, Hey you killer Kowalski, aren't you? Yes,
I am whow I used to watch you when I
was a kid. Thank you very much. So that's the
way it was. I'm so remembered from one place to another.

(00:29):
Our Western Australia we were doing taping and Australia and
saying their tapes to Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kowloon, and
then we go to wrestle those towns, and they knew
who I was, what I'm capable of doing, and I
was a spick star to al and everybody. So that

(00:49):
was the whole thing. Make the people on doors, shoeing
that ring. That was my whole average was doing. Make
the people thus me, not my opponent. I did exactly
that way. I kept on my pont and kept after
him and made him go, go go. And I had, guys, see,
I was a tremendous conditioning. Tremendous conditioning. Why because how

(01:11):
much auction is there in decay routing flesh zero, and
the foods I ate were highly auctionated while fruits and vegetables,
so I was getting My body was absorbing the oxygen
from these rough fruits and vegetables, so therefore I had
an abundant amount of auction in my system. I go
that ring, I go, go go. I was going to

(01:33):
increase the speed of wrestling. Even to this day, they
can't do it. Matches are too short, and I was
able to go. I remember one time Russell Loose says
ninety minutes in that match, go go go, and that
in my time I promoted, so everybody knew that I
can perform that ring. My opponent jumped out of the ring.
He was pooped, So what did I do? He referee's

(01:55):
going to count him out. So I climbed the top
turn buckled, frightening to jump down my ponet. Who's down
below me? So the referee's gonna calm me down instead
one two? So I jumped down at eight. When he'd say,
I jumped on back in the ring and I threatened
to punch the on the referee, is you touch me?
To have you suspended? You'll never wrestle again. By that time,

(02:16):
my opponent go was back in the ring because he
was so pooped so many he got tradition that goddamn
pull uck, she's almost sw up in that ring. That's
the way it was. I could go in there, performing
that ring and make the tea people notice me. When
I was wrestling for fittzach Man, I would dress for
him for one whole year. Then I go on the

(02:37):
road and other promotions will call up when is Coski leaving?
So he said, well he's not gone. It's bestly for
another promoter. So given a full number, and he called
it up the other promoters when how long is coss
from the stature? So he give me the time. So
I was booked a whole year ahead that. I went
back to Fittzick Mahon Senior and he had me booked again.

(02:58):
So for a whole year, girlther Monsoon and I were
tight team champions. And later on as I kept going.
When I when I in Australia, there for a whole
year traveling around throughout there. I go to Japan. I
seen Japan three four five months at a time. Why
because they knew I can perform. I performed against the

(03:19):
Japanese themselves. They all hated me because they want the
Japanese wrestlers. They're going there and beat the heck out
of me. Well, never worked out because I were Here's
what's happened any corps. One of the Japanese wrestlers, Antonio

(03:39):
Antonio and Ok, I'm leaving this the finite match in
his hometown of Soccer and Uh and I wrestled Baba
on Saturday Sunday, I fly home, fly out, so I'm
supposed to make him Antonio NOOKI win the match, fine,

(04:00):
So he puts me in a hold, gets me up
in the air, he drops me back on my head,
knocked me out for a tenth of a second. I
come out of it, and I was so angry at him.
He tried to pin me. I got out of the
pin because I knew of a hole that compared on
a guy. Get me off him, got him off for me,
and I threw me the ropes. I jumped up in
the air and both feets crashed into his head, knocked

(04:22):
his head back thoddy when he was unconscious. So he's
got he. I gotta put him over and win the
latches hometown. So I got up, pick picked them up,
picked up, I stood up with him holding him up.
I staggered around. I fell back. Every cat down one
two feet catted me down, so I pushed him off.
I staggered around to let the people know that was

(04:42):
really hurt. Staggered around with it. Come out of the ring,
staggered to the dutch room, come back to the up,
open the door, jut whore. I turned around. He's still unconscious.
Therefore he counted me out. But and Oaki was still unconscious.
He raised his arm. I was still laying there, so
I was able. When I rented that ring, I was

(05:02):
such tremendous condition in shape. I ran the whole match.
Sometimes I have to go to a new town or
something like that. I didn't know who wrestling. I never
spoke to my pond beforehand. For all the whole, my
whole career, thirty years I was wrestling, I never talked
to my pond beforehand. I just went in that ring
and did it. And if my pond was green, I

(05:24):
carried him through a match. That's the way it was.
If he was a I knew how much education, how
good he was in the ring, but the first few
moves he made, I carried the match. His hometown, I
was a real nice guy, and the promoted system. This
guy has to go over fine, and put him over

(05:46):
only if I wanted to. That's the way it was.
I controlled the whole thing. I ran the whole thing.
Then to California. I'm wrestling a guy I'm gonna retire
in a couple of years. So I'm sitting in a
dress room. All the other wrestlers are afraid of that
to me, the sitting way away from me. So I'm
sitting there and getting dressed. This Bodybuiller walks in, big

(06:08):
arms and chest, smile, waisted by what tremendous conditioning he
was in from arresting the kind of corner there, Oh,
give me a break. Two o'clock go. He's kind of old.
He's gonna be retiring, you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
So I told the refrage. I go and ring first.
Of course you going to ring first. People hated you.
As I walked in, people booed me, booed me, booed me,
booed me. So I walked in the ring, I stood

(06:30):
the corner. I stutched over. He starts walking, other people
start cheering him. Here's his big body, Buillers. Figure's gonna
beat the heck out of me. So we walk and
he he walks in the ring and the bell rings.
I go over and I grabbed him. I knew exactly
what they're doing, how to handle him, and four months
he's beating hard. So the timers I knocked him and

(06:54):
knocked him down. Spotty's kind of pick him up and
bout the round. Hit him again, walk them down again.
I kept him going, Fanny says referee, I could I carried.
I give up. I forgive him the match where you said,
referee blow, I'm not even warmed up yet. I grabbed
the guy up, kept them going, kept on going. Finny
had regarding about another five minutes. He's crawling on the

(07:15):
hands and heat. She's crawling, crawling, crawling, handed it to
the end of the ring, underneath it rope. He throws
him twice at the floor. So I pulled him back
and I grabbed pounded him. Referee says wall. He's turning blue,
so holding back of the guy's dying. So I put
my foot on the referee card him down. So I
started in the ring taunting the people. You skin up,
screaming at me. So the referees as the rest come out,

(07:38):
carried them back to the dressing room, and he his
his whole he couldn't breathe. He I guess his learners
are full of them, and he couldn't breathe. So no
doction in the system. He just passed out. He got
back to the dress room, he was he still alive.
So I walked out there and he said, I don't
know who you were, so you're gonna remember me for
the rest of your life. That's the way it was

(08:02):
when I wrested these guys. They remembered me all the
time because they knew I'm sitting in toled Ohio, sitting
in a dress room and a retresment followed the wrestlers,
and there I'm saying, what are you guys looking at her? Well,
we heard you were coming here four weeks ago, so
we all went to the gym to work out so
we could look half a distions against you in the ring. Well,
that's the where it goes. They knew I was in

(08:23):
tremendous conditioning turned the shape. So that's the way it was. Huh.
So I knew how to handle me and handle myself.
I was told by Luthez, who traveled the world. He
was my metro I I was. He was one of
the bosses in Sagros, Missouri. Se had me come down
there and he started training me and showed me. This

(08:45):
show me that over the years, whether you could be
tested to see how tough you really are. So he
showed me certain moves that were tremendous, and he he
talked the wrestling promoter and he tried and the bunch
of Canada he told me about this guy, so he
had me booked. I got booked there in Montreal, Canada,

(09:09):
and I'm I'm I'm wrestling around there, this, that and
the other thing, and I got that. I built up
my name pretty good there. They hated me because I
was in Polish Walter's Vladik Radak Kowalski, that's Walter in English.
So they promoted me as well. And he hated me

(09:31):
because I was a foreigner. So all they shad French guys,
French wrestlers. Even the crowd always hated me. So one
time I'm wrestling a guy by the name of Yu
Can't Eric, Yukon Eric. There was a big, big, heavy guy.
You know, he worked out a lot and uh here
he got punched around as big color flower ears. So

(09:52):
my finish in the matches were I slammed the guy,
knocked him down, climbed the top rope, leaped off the
top rope, come down, and my my shin bone show
right across this guy's chest here, almost crapped the historics.
And that's what I used to do things, and I
used to pin guys. So I had you a rescue
kind ark at the Mantua Forum and I slammed him.

(10:17):
He pulled him over to the corner, took his leg,
left the right leg over the second rope, his toe
on the bottom rope. They got him trapped in there.
I climbed the top turn buckle and then they got
deep over and come across this on his chest, but
the referee was underneath me trying to unhook his leg,
and I leaped over over the referee ukon act saw

(10:39):
me coming down, saw me coming down. He turned away.
My shame bow scraped his cheeks so tight. I ripped it.
He ripped aside of the whole ear off the side
of his head, rolled across them like a golf ball.
Referee pushed me back, pushed me back back, glowed down,
picked up the ear still throbbing. That's his ear. His
ear said, look over there, he's standing. The blood was

(11:01):
this person on the side of the head. Blood flowing blood.
Person person blood. Somebody threw a towel in it. He
put a towel over his head. Towels ex fuse. He
was soaked. He walked out of the ring, went back
to the dressing room where it was what I do,
what I do when I do raise my arm. I'm
the only one left raised my arm as the winner
of the match. So like that. This was a Wednesday night.
The following Wednesday, I went to get paid and the

(11:24):
office no, I was Friday when he get paid, And
so the promoter says he went to the hospital for
what what do you mean? Forward used to go ahead
and apologize to Yukh and Eric. Oh boy, I apologize ready,
But I heard a lot of guys in my career.
So it the rest of the office. Guy took me

(11:46):
across about two blocks where he walked over there, walked
it up the center floor and I looked down the
aisle with an open door, a bunch of people in there.
That says the room, I'm not going in there. So
he run the office. Guy runs over, so said the
doorway said Kolowski's out there. Uh boy. So I walked
out there and I stood the doorway. Here where I

(12:06):
saw was the Ukn't Eric sitting on the edge of
the bed, feet the floor, his boundaries around and around
and a round his foot toot. Thought came her mind
was Humpty dumpty sitting on the wall. So I start laughing.
So he smiled at me, and I walked out in
their rooms. There were people from television and people from newspapers.
Next day from the Montrealgres that killer the flood of

(12:31):
KOWASKI visit at in hospital and laughs at him. So
the following Wednesday, I'm wrestling in a Montreal form. I'm
walking towards the ring. People are throwing fist at me,
garbage at me, bottles at me, cracked head down like that,
and they're screaming at me. You on your master, your
artable animal, you are a killer. That's from that day

(12:54):
on that was my name, Killer Kowalski. I owe to
ukn't Act for having been giving me that name, and
from that time on a lot of people even know
it was Walter. I was Killer Kowalski. Two people and everybody.
They remembered me for what I was, for what I
did in the ring. So that's the way it was,
And to this day, I still I'm proud of the

(13:17):
fact that I was still am killer Kowalski. I talked
to people, I meet other people, and that's the way
it was. I proved myself in a ring too. One
time in Saint Louis, Missouri, an amateur wrestler supposed to
be one of the best amateurs around, supposed to supposed
to me, that tough guy. He challenged me, getaway, getaway.

(13:43):
So this other friend of mine, who was a nephew
of the promoter, Sam Muchnick, the promoter in Montreal in
a Saint Louis, and I said, come on, come on
with me. Well, come on over this crisp. So we
went over this guy's house in a basement, got mats down.

(14:05):
So he charged me and he's gonna call come after me.
I broke his leg. I knew how to do these things.
I broke his legs ended the right then and there
he is challenging. He does it another one. I always
walk the leg it twice in my whole career, and
shot him out of California. The same guy I unge
young guy. He got tough at me too. There like that.

(14:26):
So I said, well, I'm I'm gonna teach him a lesson.
I broke his leg too. He crawled on he's on
a floor. He broke my leg. He broke my leg.
He broke my leg. Referee says, we went to a
cut about. So he referee caught about the wave my arm,
Killer Kowalski. Well, I'm living up to my name, Killer Kowalski.

(14:47):
That's where it is, that's where it goes. Well, I'm
proud of the fact that who what I did all
the time, and what I can do to this day.
To this day, people challenge me. What do I do?
I apologize. I use the words of magic, you know,
using the words what I What's you? I train guys
at my school, at the school, what you think you become,

(15:08):
what your family become? You say become never never, they
mean yourself. Never look back. Always look up and shoot
for the moon. If you miss your way here to start,
so that way you keep on going and you become
what you think you become, and you make yourself. I
don't think of yourself as think well, I mean, I
can't do that. You can do anything and everything. Be

(15:29):
positive about yourself and you will make it. Like That's
what the guys can go to college. When they go
to college, they still study some of the things that
they did, things like that, wow, and they they slowly
they get a job and they prove to their bosses

(15:49):
and everything like that how good they are. Later on
become they just like coming a ladder they go up,
and the methods and anything like that. Where you're working at.
They proved to the bosses how good they are, how
much they can think, how smart they are too. That's
the whole thing. Even with wrestling. I tell the guys

(16:14):
think of it and prove it to yourself. Maybe you
can do something the first time, but to keep practicing.
When I had my school first, so when I taught
to Triple H Perry Shadon Prince Albert, I shot a
vcent things and he cut on and he did it
like per Triple H. I mean, you show up one time, boom.

(16:35):
We had it immediately. He was one of the fastest
learning guys I ever had my school. He was tremendous.
He was very very good. That's how it was. So
I'm proud of the fact I was able to do
it and prove it to the other people, to my
opponents and things like that. So I said, don't mean

(16:58):
one time. There's other rest in schools where I heard
the word about. And then they had a guy come
in and made him pay money. I had a time
two thousand dollars or so. They taught him how to
pick their nose, scratch the drawing or something like that.
You know, but in the ring they weren't. Fact they

(17:19):
didn't show him much, but they didn't know much. They
just the whole thing was to get the money off them.
I had a guy at my school come down one time.
Only he said forty dollars forty years old. I said, here,
I got the money. I'm gonna pay for it. And
I went to the training and show me and make
me become a fresh wrestler. That stop. Stop, just sit

(17:40):
down and watch the guys workout. So I had the
guys do this and do that. I had something, guys
do some flying in them, moved to crowd, this and
that and that. Then I after about an hour, I
walked over to the guy they used my my training.
With about two hours, I walked to the guy. I said,

(18:00):
do it. No, I can't do that, so I I
thank you. I never took his money, so he left
his So that was it. That was. I wasn't doing
my school. I wasn't training that did become rich. I
was there training to show people and prove to them
what I can do and what my t talents can

(18:23):
show and admit and what the other my h with
my seniors and my other athletes in my school can do.
That's why it was. But there's one time I was
I received a phone call from a guy and uh,

(18:45):
if your guy said he could do anything and everything, well,
I was wrestling at the time in Los Angeles, California.
There's one guy is a great, big powerful for guy
picked her arms, muscles and everything like that. I said, Jesus,
you will be How do you get like that? I

(19:07):
take alabolic? Said what down do the steroids? First time
I heard of it? And then said, uh, there's the guy.
I was wrestling. He's there's the guy, and say in Minneapolis, Minnesota,
he wants to use me. Then if you go up there?
Said yes, go up there and there they went up there.

(19:28):
He wrestling for Viggiane and uh, that's the way it was,
and Vincements band was when started to take over from
his father. He was traveling around picking up other wrestlers
and things like that, you know, and he was up
paying the Minneapolis Minnesota. He saw this that guy supposed

(19:48):
to have Billy Graham working out. He hired him. I'm
at home one time and uh, I well, anyway, there's
a lot of problems with steroids, like man had and

(20:10):
this guy Billy Graham, but because of his steroids, he
had hip replacement. He's walking with a cane, his knees
are bad. So I mean the guy that all from steroids,
the destroying his body. I come home one time, my
phone rings. He's showing you wit zuch Man for twenty

(20:32):
five million dollars. I picked up to my phone rings.
I picked up the phone. Yeah, and uh and who's this.
That's Killer Clowski. You're on the air now, I'm talking
whom I'm talking to, say gr Billy Graham. I says, oh,
I remember you with Graham. So you were the guy
that was on steroids and you're showing McMahon and you're

(20:53):
responsible for all the interest that you have. Try to
blame it on someone else. You're the responsible for you
are only you. All that information was on the air
went out. Finceac Man heard about it. And because I
mentioned that Billy Graham dropped out charges against Fence, McMahon huh,

(21:19):
so that was it. So I got a call from
Linda McMahon. So Waller, I let to talk to you
on Friday. The lawyer. I will be on one line.
My lawyerill be on another line. He's another city. I
will be talking to you. Start talking to me. While
they're talking. They want to want to hire me, Hire

(21:40):
me to help do the TVs. That's what it was.
They're doing the TV in the middle of the middle
of the month as Doinger TV. The first match to
do is a lie match I smacked down or whatever

(22:03):
it is, you know, the live at the big building.
The win the live match. Match number two was tape.
Number three was taped and number four was taped. So
he used to show the ship tapes as other at
the other matches for the for the other short under
taping different matches. So hey, and my job was to

(22:30):
scrutinize the matches. Match number one and I went to
comment to said this when this guy routled him as
the match stunk, I mean, and I made a comment
and the match was good, and made a comment and said,
this guy is terrific. He's w he was very very good,
and uh, the one went along like that. So we

(22:51):
we and he so. And the next night was another
another match that we do and I built up. We
got the three We had four matches, three matches for
that one too, and then one match was live. So
we're going to another another city, the same thing again
all over. That was all so, and then I went home.

(23:12):
So a month later, I fly plane down to the
next city we're going to. We did the whole thing
all over again for three days, and I was financially
being taken care of, being taken care of by bets
that man. So I got to knowing about these year things.
There's one time and one of my girl wrestlers, I'm

(23:34):
gonna uh she showed great promise. So I had one
of my other compressors who wrestling her and ring you
know some of my wrestling shows that was doing things
like that. I said, he well, then you have work
my next She she asked me, where where are your
next show going to? We're gonna go Tampa, Florida. We're
doing the t TV taping there. I have a friend
that lives in Miami says I'll i'll, I'll go down there,

(23:58):
and said we'll come to your show with the Tampa.
I said fine. So she did that and she showed
up at a show in Tampama. But she couldn't come
back in the back where the where the espresslers were,
so I wouldn't. I talked to Shane McMahon son. So
there's a girl out there, showed great promises. Now we're
not interested. So well, before I went out there, I

(24:20):
would sive a phone call. I'm on answering machine. In
the message while I heard you had a girl that
shows great promise, so give me her phone number. This
says a guy who was wresting for a w W
W c W turner. So I didn't call him back.
I'll see, I'll see what happens. So when I got there,

(24:44):
I told her I had the girl come up shoulder,
introduced her to Shane or Inns. So I mentioned about
the phone call I had. So but this, yes, she's
the probably they hide her right there, hide her right there,

(25:05):
and she's a big ahead of bitch. She denied everything
saying that she was responsible for talking to the common
and getting her if sh She didn't even give me
the credit for having hi her hired there. That's what's
the way it goes. Some people get become very big
ahead of it. So I've got that. So you see
what happens well where we go. So I kept on

(25:29):
going and kept on moving and things like that, you know,
and UH I kept I. I com went to UH
got a phone call from a Cartone promoter. Oh, I
make trips to Japan, constantly, make trips to Japan over
and over and over again. They knew I can perform
in that ring. So and the whole thing was, when

(25:51):
you go to Japan, wrestle Japanese only do not wrestle one.
And there's a sh through other American wrestlers they have
there and which I knew them, you know, but you
don't wrestle them. So for it es I brew a
summer two and I were together in Japan. We asked
the promoter each time that we go to ak calump
for find out there's a bodybuilding gym there, as we

(26:12):
like to work out there. So each time we went
to the colup ahead of time from the bodybuilding gym.
So when I went out to eight o'clock in the morning,
worked out for a couple hours, you know, the muscles
and things like that. And then so other times he said,
well this next time we're going to there's no gym there.
It's okay. So we worked out two days in a row,

(26:33):
so I missed a a day or two. Then over
are Allega working out four days a week, so we're
working out real real well. So Bruno Summatino where he
got to become the world's champion for the tach Man
and h I wrestled him when he was a champion,
I about this time and stopped him. I tried to

(26:54):
pin him. Here's the guy who bench pressed a five
hundred and sixty five pounds bench press that I get
on top of and get his hands out underneath me too,
shoot me off like I was a basketball clunk enough
he he was. I couldn't pin him, of course, not
the guy that powerful and not strong. He did it himself.

(27:15):
That's where it goes. I remember we got along very
very well, him and I together, so we were s
When I was at Australia, he sent down at US
in Australia him and I and they stayed stay there
for a couple of months and that finally before he left.
Every time we went to he put me over, he
let me win. So that's the guy. He got number

(27:36):
one man a Bruno so much, you know A one
time wrestling him and I were wrestling in the Madison
Square Guard in New York and we're going all out.
People hated me, screaming at me, showing a brua so much,
you know, on he was the world champion. So I
pounded him in the f knuckles like this, boom, scrape
his head and I I was baking his skin off

(27:58):
as any, beating my hair. Finally refree trying to stop
the match. Get out, stop stop, get out, you know
you call up. Other wrestlers come in, Chief Stakes, Trombo
comes in, I mean, start pushing us aside, even Bruno Summarine.
So the other wrestlers come in a ring too, and
finally got us aside. They shove me out of the ring.
People hated me, trying to kick me in that like that,

(28:20):
so I walked. We broke the match. Referee end of
the match as no contest, so there was no winner
for it. But that's the way it went. So I
I just I just kept on going. When I was
as wresting wrestling in South Africa, I got a phone
call for me to come down there. So camera down there.

(28:42):
I'm wrestling down there, pressing from me to oh, it's
one thing with me now. When I was traveling, I
traveled the camera. I took pictures of every price I went.
I took pictures I took about myself. So when I
was in the wrestling just outside of you Harnesburg, South Africa,

(29:03):
I the wrestling promoter. His son had a car and
then he said take TIKWASKI who had had day off.
So we went on to to the on the thing
at tour. I'm gonna take with the camera, take pictures
of animals and things like that. So we came to
a spot and I said, I said, I'm in the
back seat. Two backwardows were down. The guys were driving

(29:26):
the car in the front. So we stopped and there
they came to it. There was a guy the ranger.
He says, you no, can't come down this trail. Why
we're not allowed. He looked over and he saw me
in the back with my camera. What do you? I said,
I'm I'm from America. I came here to take pictures

(29:47):
and would tell the world what South Africa is like. Oh, okay, okay,
go ahead. So we moved down the trail stopped and
there's a all the head in the front out there
side of the car, the big big lion with a
bunch of cubs. Any there. I've had my window and
I turned on the on the pub I'm focusing, focusing, focusing, focusing.

(30:09):
I can't focus the thing. I looked up the line
were walking towards me. It was this far from me,
but as a holy mackler, took my camera off while
on my window. Up the rangels start laughing.

Speaker 2 (30:19):
That cat.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
So whenever when I when we drove Djia at that time,
it's called Rodija at the town now it's called the Babwe.
So I was walking along the trail there and I
saw an Ostrich. There was an Ostrich there was back
to me, holy Macarel. I'm gonna trying to get a
picture from the front of him. I crawled, went over
the reading and walking toward him, and he at the

(30:43):
corner of my Sami turned sammies come charging at me.
He was just much taller than me ostritch. He was tall,
big big thing, holy macrel. I thought's gonna he's gonna
kill me if I cruned back there, crawmed back over already,
I said, think I was trying walking with me. So
how's on? He's a that's an ostrich. He's our shepherd.
He's a shepherd. Yes, over here in this country as

(31:05):
a shepherds who looked down there down the hole lane
there the whole bunch of sheep there. Oh, he's watched.
He thought you were going down there to hurt the sheep,
so he chased you away out of there, the holy macro.
Imagine that. So when I was in Australia, there a
little puppy on the porch there. So he's marking his tail,

(31:29):
you know, smiling that the ped him, the guys that
pushed me back, stop him. Don't you touch that dog,
that puppy. Why he's a shepherd. What the thing like?
That's a shepherd. Yes, he's our shepherd. So I said,
where's where's he gonna So he took him out to
the other sheep were put him down, and they said,

(31:51):
a little shepherd, this is dog. Puppy jumped up on
the top of the sheep chumped up one sheep to
another to another again. Another sheep went the docks here today,
run all the way around the sheep. There see a
little puppy jump from one one to the other like that.
We're so we were on our trail this one time.
There's puppy was dining the sheep and they were stry

(32:14):
walking along the walk down to the end of a cliff.
So that's he he The little puppy stopped, so he
came back. Jump jump jump jump jump back. He started running.
All the sheep from running with him. They're all running
another wrestler. When I was standing, they're all running at us.
So I dumped down. The shoom over top of me,
over top of me, over top of me. The sheep

(32:34):
so the other west had let me. Both both dumped down,
and all the sheep didn't run into us. They jumped
over top of us. So we thought to wow. So
all these little things, you know, you come across you
see and like that, Wow, holy mackler for a lot
of good things like that. There's one time I remember
and retired from wrestling. Got I got a telephone car

(32:58):
from wrestling promoter. He says, uh, like you have you
to have you make a trip to Japan with us.
All right, that's who who's all going? So he mentioned
who's all going? I says, well, you you're all gonna
meet in Los Angeles. Had the Japanese Air je JE

(33:22):
the air Japanese airlines at there, so eight of us
all together, one of those Haystack Calfun and uh uh
another guy that there is one guy uh Pedocanner Pedocranno's
from uh New Zealand and the other other restlers and
things like that. So we all met there and we
all boarded the plane. And then because of it was

(33:46):
a wrestling the it was Japanese Airlines. It catered to
the wrestling office. Each wrestler had an aisle seat. The
two seats beside us were empty. There's at that time
the cause we fuel in j in Honolulu. It's a
six hour flight or five hour flight to Honolulu, Hawaii.

(34:07):
So you could take a nap, put the arms arms up,
you know, lay down, take a nap. So the heck
we that's why we did it. So one of the
other guy and the guy was it was a another guy,
a big fat guy who whose name at the time
was not Haystack Calhoun. They he was really using a
different name altogether. But uh, Haystack Calhoun's the name that

(34:28):
was given to him by fritzick Man. So we all
got on a plane and uh each Isle had arrested thing.
Whereas Haystack had a seat Isle seat, of course, but
he used two seats he was so he was this
big and they had two seats he sat. So finally

(34:49):
we landed at the airport. I lived in Hawaii for
a whole year one time, so I used to go
to Japanera, Sa Fuji Islands, you know things like that.
So f whole year I lived in Hawaii. I loved
it there at a wonderful time, so I knew what
the airport was like. So y'all got out, got out

(35:10):
with on one hour before we take off again for Tokyo.
So I as I sat, as I got off the airplane,
I got a bunch of magazines and I went to
the store there and we're ready to board. Hay stackoom
and said, boy, I could live here forever. I just
ask a quarter of go over juice, Just hake a
quart of papaya juice, said that a quart of Hawaiian juice. No,

(35:35):
my peep quarter month other juice, so I thought it
was the holy micro This guy can he he he
only goes to the crap for once a month holding maps.
This three coundd jews gonna go, we throw 'em. So
I boarded the plane. So I'm sitting there reading the
magazine and with my had bought my My seat was

(35:56):
behind the partition separating first class tourist class. We're on
tourist class, separating because I had the lead room. So
that's why they put my seat there to see if
you saw her empty. So I'm sitting there reading the magazine.
Pretty soon I see the stewardess screamed as she's running by,
passed me, running all the way down the aisle. I'm
watching in their cockpit, So what was going on? Then

(36:20):
she comes running back, running back again. Shoot, what what
will happen? There? Was? I turned around. Here's what I saw.
I saw the two wrestlers, each standing on a seat
on one side of the aisle, rest seat on the
other side of the aisle holding up a blanket. The
galley and the plane was in the back. That's where

(36:42):
the the counter was for you know, food and things
like that and other the men's room or the not.
The men were missed through. The rest room was in
the back of that, So that's what's going on. One
of the other guy says, Haystack hat like a shit.
So I says that he went over. His aim wasn't
that good. He was just big around and even an

(37:04):
airplane before the doorway is what that? Wise, you have
to turn, We have to turn sideways. I said, you'd
have the trouble get into the restroom on the airplane
with your size. So I says, how heck, they do
that pretty soon. Here's the two guys. Holy Marco, what
a stink. They dropped the banket down it with. Here's
what I saw standing there in a mail bag. Was

(37:27):
kn't Eric Haystack Calhoun nude? His one elbow was on
the counter. He holding the other side of the the
bag was hand. He crept into that he hasn't crept
for quite a quite a few weeks, and stunk to

(37:47):
high heaven. People at the back of the plane says,
oh my god, wanta stink. They they ran into first
class and my two tubile come past me, s screed me.
E screwed me. My two seats were gone, and they
saw the other the the carried people, people at the
back of the tourist at the back of the plane.
Show took off. And here's what happened from that by

(38:08):
Haystack Calhoun. He that's where he did emburst all the
rest of even so, someone said, what what what? What?
What will happened? What did they do? Well, they took
the mail bag, made it to at wresting office and
hu in Hong Kong and in Japan. I don't come
in Japan, mailed the resting office there. What the I

(38:30):
was gonna do? How I know what I was gonna
do with it? Stump enough. So that's what it was
with Haystar Calhoun. He just well, if they were to
feed him, let him eat what he wants, but don't
after he finished, he didn't leave. So that's the way
it goes. And Uh, for myself now, as I traveled,

(38:56):
I took care of myself. Never spoke in my life,
no alcoholic beverages whatsoever. Well, that's where it goes. I
went when I was in when when when I was
instill in Saint Louis working out cat a couple of
guy w we had wrestling office there all, but there's
four of us outside the office was turning around talking town.

(39:18):
One of god said, hey, two blocks down was a
p nice club. Theres a lot of girls there. Let's
go down there. And say, yeah, okay, come on, let's
go down. We all went down there and uh they
the guys went to the bar and take a beer.
So I never had beer before, says I'll take a beer,
So they give me a beer. I poured my glass,

(39:39):
taste like piss. I put the thing down and walked out.
They never tried beer again. First time you try to
drink beer tastes pretty weird. So to me, that was
the first time I tried. It was weird enough for
to stop that. They were tired that they try ever
tried beer again. So that's where it goes.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
You know.

Speaker 1 (39:59):
I learned they s things from my practicing with them,
and I learned how to wrestle in that ring, learn
how to take care of myself in that ring, and
you know exactly what goes on that ring, what I
do and what I do here. I'm sick, I'm retired
from wrestling and back home and uh I I got

(40:23):
a phone call. No I'm not back home. I'm on
the road. Yet I received a phone call from a
couple of kids. They have they have a they have
a wrestling school. They they bought a ring and put
it in the YMCA S and YMC and say in

(40:49):
Massachusetts and then it I said, well, we don't want to.
We told the promoter that give it a train. We're
trying to get to the train. So they told her
promote what my name was. Promoter was Polish. So I
gave her us a special room. They gave him under
lock and key. So I was like that, that's I
never had a school before. So I were down there.

(41:12):
I started the training as I first charted my wrestling school,
and uh I kept showing these guys this, showing that,
showing this, showing that, and pretty soon things just started
to pick up pretty good. I'm putting, you know, getting
some good wrestlers out of the whole thing. And uh

(41:35):
I got a phone call which I was the first
only wrestling school. And uh so I got a phone
call from some guy that couple. I heard you have
a school, wrestling school. So yeah, he's a he's in
New York. He said, well, like I under you interview

(42:01):
you by talking about yours school the fine. So what
they did is sent a crew down. They put they
pulled the weight where the ring was and uh, they
put a microphone in the corner of the ring. And
the couple is in the New York and he couldn't

(42:21):
get my message across, so they thought they sent the
c A guy in an airplane went across. They saw
the big, big uh s big building was blocking the signal.
So they called up to the guy who owned the
building and when he could put a transmitter up and there,
sure you can do it. That's what it was. I
was talking. I I had my restling school there, talking

(42:44):
to the wrestling and things like that. That couple was
talking to me, and the message goes to New York.
He's talking in New York and I'm talking there, and
on the same program that same night, or David Letterman
for Colonel when when I got through the whole thing
ted Coup of Fanny, when he quit tent, David Letterman

(43:05):
took over the whole show. And uh, if I've been
to the school for now, then for a while, and
I got a telephone call one time. What it was
David Letterman doing a show. He took over the whole
thing from the from the couple and doing the whole thing,

(43:27):
and that one of her guests called up earlier said
he's he can't make the show. So one of one
of the one of his uh uh guys who works there,
remembered me, remembered my name. So they called me up
eight o'clock in the morning. We'll let you have you
on on the on the couple of show, on the

(43:47):
David Letman Show this afternoon, late this afternoon, can you
come on down? Sure? I was left to remember and uh,
so I went to call went to the airport. Fo
fun called up airport, find out what plane is going
to New York. So I cut went down, made made

(44:10):
arrangements coming plane. Then the disk goes back to eighty
four or something. So I got on a plane, flew there,
got a receipt actually from the airline, and I got
took a cab, give him an address I want to go,
and uh he took me there, gave me a receipt,
I paid him, give me a seat, and uh. I

(44:31):
went up there and said my name, I kill im.
I'm Walter Killer Kowlowski and then go sure. But David
Lemons not talked to us beforehand. You gonna be cold
when you go on the air with him. It's okay.
So finally he goes on the air. Now he goes
on the air before. In other words, it's a tape show.

(44:52):
He shows the tape live on the air at that
late at night. So we were it was a l
middle afternoon and uh, we're on the air, we're talking,
we're talking about this. He he knew nothing about wrestling.
The god the guy told me he knows nothing about wrestling.
About photographs, Fine, bring a bunch of photographs with you.

(45:13):
So I did about a bunch of photographs with me,
and I explained some of the wrestlers to the the
you know, the h the what what the wrestlers do?
What can do you know? And what they're performing and
all the performances in the ring. That one after another,
one after another. Finally I show 'em a a photograph
photo of Ukin Eric. The only thing I'd left was
the lobe of his ear. I told him about Ukin'

(45:35):
and Eric, and then he said that, uh, one whole
thing was I felt bad about it because because what
I did to Ukin and Eric, I handicapped him. You did,
he shy Yeah, I handicapped him. How'd you do that? Well?
He only had one ear, good ear. We walking down

(45:55):
the road in the windy day, the windows catching us
good ear spin him around. So I had to stay
home on mondy days all the time. So the whole
crowd laughed like heck, and they were didn't want to
laugh because it was too embarrassing to do the whole thing.
So had imagination so that the program repeated around the world.

(46:18):
I paid every time for it.

Speaker 2 (46:19):
Wow, do you have any stories of uh with Andre
the Giant?

Speaker 1 (46:24):
Andre the Giant? When he first came from from Europe,
I'm and they mentioned that, right, he seemed to say, Montreal.
So I'm sitting he arrived there. I'm sitting at the
one end of the dressing room. There another the biggest

(46:44):
the lobby there, promotion promotional lobby, and all the other guys.
He's there talking to them, French, talking in French to
all the all the people there, wrestlers and everything. He knows.
Hey sees me. The other guy told him I was
k Kolowski. He walks over to me Kowalski. Yes, he

(47:06):
spoke to me in Polish. To this Adia Jack to
speak quite a few languages apparently, so we we became friends,
and uh we started wrestling all the towns around the
Quebec city and the all the towns around there. We're wrestling.
Him and I are wrestling one another and uh he

(47:27):
he And as he one of the more wrestled, the
more he was picking up because he he was kind
of green and he didn't know much about wrestling. So
we kept going going, and he doing this and doing that,
and uh, he said, so many ropes, I come off
the rope, he said, put your foot up, I crash
her that the f your foot, I'll go down. Just

(47:49):
laugh at me and he picks me up and then
does what he wants could but wa. So actually he
was picking up his learning quite a bit, and uh,
I kept that to myself at the time. That's the
way doors. So he under the giant become very very good.
At that time he was using another name Ferrari Ferris

(48:11):
Louise Ferris, something I used using his own real name
or something like that. So I wrestled him one time Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
and I climbed the top turn buckle and grabbed my
army throw across the ring, crashed down and I went, wow,

(48:31):
this comes a strong dry He's the guy weighs almost
four undred pounds and he's very very strong. He went,
he went to a restaurant one time, buffet. He start eating.
He almost emptied the whole the restaurant. But the pomler
comes up to his boat. Ever come back to here again,
he would. I think I emptied the restaurant with eating

(48:52):
so much. When I went wrestling, he said, body slam
me said about Befoam's pounds, the ballowing body slam me. Okay, okay.
I crouched him and did the whole thing himself, crockail
and everything, and down he went. People start cheering me.
I picked him up and slammed him. That same move
was done by Hulkholgan and and uh what's about Mania

(49:18):
three wres And he got the credit for being by
a staming him hours before him. The Giant did it
all himself under the giant angle was given to him
by that's not man.

Speaker 2 (49:31):
That's incredible, incredible when you were when you were a heel,
and a lot of the times back in the day,
fans were very, very very violent. They would throw things
at you that they had to use nets in the Boston,
the Boston Garden. You guys had to be protected very much.
Were you ever involved in dangerous situations where it's life

(49:51):
threatening or outside just you know, when you're not wrestling.

Speaker 1 (49:55):
In Ottawa, Canada, Ontario, Canada. Uh, and the people throwing
stuff at me and charbage at me like that, and
holy marbe everything, I'm all going crazy. And I tried.
I come out of the ring and I beat the
hell of my opportent things like that. So I had
to fight my way from the ring into my dressing room.

(50:20):
As I'm going down there, somebody threw so I picked
up a table threw it at me. I stepped aside
and missed me. Holy man, and uh they comp me
some people coming down and my arm trapped over the
the the b for a rating like that, I pulled
my arm out. I got so another guy come pick.

(50:41):
I picked up the table and another guy rammed it
into his chest and he crashed me through the wall
that was under him. I got back to a dressing room.
So one month later was coming back, and I don't
want to wrestle here anymore. You other people are crazy.
Everything's gonna be okay. Come back here. I come back there.
You had a he built. They built the whole trailing

(51:02):
at the at the dress room. I walked up the
steps and the thing goes all the way to the ring.
Was that high waiting train I was. I walked in
the middle, in the middle of whole trail, walked in
the ring, stepped over the rope and walked in. The
people couldn't touch me because I walked on there. So
then from there words out after and they had security people,

(51:29):
four security people watch work with me like I'm at
this one time horassing in the town and four security people,
the policeman. They put me the pain with money and
h They walked into the ring. I finished wrestling and
everything like time, walked out and I started walking back

(51:51):
to all beside me. There's one guy and I'm walking by.
It kicks me. Kicked before I put my niche together.
They kicked me between the knees. I grabbed in a boom,
punched him, hit him, smashed his nose. I kept on going,
waing to the back, back to their dress room. So
there's one guy come out as I'm a lawyer. He

(52:12):
says I'm gonna sue him from millions of dollars like that.
You're a lawyer. What's her name? The police said, oh yeah,
So I put the whole thing down, out and down
and like that, he says the guy. The cop said,
he will never have a door. I do your lawyer
thing again, or it puts you in jail and puts
you away. Oh, I drop outside and I drop up,

(52:33):
droptopdop dub dun drop drop top. So there the place
were on my side. This guy. The other guy dropped
everything too, and then the lawyer told him stop stop,
stop to put you in jail too. So everything was
all right. So I had like that. The lawyers and
things that might thing helped me out and many times

(52:54):
I had to have a thing like this. One time,
I remember messing, we're in wrestling in the town. Oh,
it's in the Montreal, Canada down there, Jonathan, I'm wrestling
him and we could only wrestle there during the summer.
There's a wintertime. The whole thing is frozen in and

(53:18):
there's there's ice from the whole building. The Monchak Canadians
owned the building. It's the hockey team, so it's all
ice then, So we can us out there in the
wintertime only in a summertime, and there's old building, no aircationing,
so it's very very hot in the place. Using down there,
Jonathan peagent to slam me. We're both sweating. I slipped

(53:40):
out of his arms down. I went sideways and my
whole spines snapped. Were still in the air. Are still
they're still taping off on my talking arm.

Speaker 2 (53:53):
Yes, yes, we're still taping yep.

Speaker 1 (53:55):
Okay, Now I went paralyzed from my waist down. I
was completely paralyzed. I larned the sideways my spine clip
clip clip clip, I can I felt like ild pinch
two or three four match, I'm paralyzed. So then he
taught me for the first four one, two three, and

(54:16):
then the security guys when not a stretchers stood over
to me. They rolled me on the stretcher and carried
me to the deck of the disk room, put me
on the table there with a big knock on the door.
I open. I'm a chiropractor. I know't come outter with him.
Come on in. He the chiropractor came over to me
and saw me laying there. But one leg was shorter

(54:38):
than the other. My whole hip was shifted. He turned
me here click, he turned me here, click, turn me here,
click click. I pinched my thighs. I could feel it.
So I come off. That will come off. I come
off the table. I can walk how much? Oh you're nothing,
you owe me nothing, he said. So I'm walking back

(54:58):
towards the ring. People holler fake, fake, fake, being carried
on the stretcher and I'm walking back. What the people
know about wrestling? Eh, I'm to holler, that's a fake.
The them. It's all of fakes the way girls, I
wonder what any getting down there, Jonathan. We had a
big match. We'd beat the heck at each other Sastway girls.
So I had episodes like this, you know, in my

(55:18):
whole career like that, and uh, I'm wrestling with someone else.
I forget who some of the names. My knee goes out,
just okay, it's whipped, and said, okay, I need my
It's it's a whole whole legg has shifted over the
other times. I remember one time my shoulder popped out
in the match and it was hanging there. I put

(55:42):
it in, but I I give me one night off
the next time I have to wrestle again. But usually
in your shoulders like that, you can't raise your arm
for two or three weeks. But I went in the
ring and knew exactly what to do how to hide
my injuries. Why, I'm gonna show you how what I did.

Speaker 2 (55:59):
Yes, show me, Please get up.

Speaker 1 (56:00):
Stand up, now, stand back to Now we come up
like this, don't we call an elbow? Okay? Yeah, okay, sorry, okay, ready,
I'll go. I bat shoulder and I still did it
to you, yep, I said. When I got back in

(56:21):
there in the dress room, and your shoulders all right,
you went and put your arm out there like I
t I say, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know what
I did, either did you? I can't raise my arm.
Here's what I did.

Speaker 2 (56:32):
You threw it on top of me.

Speaker 1 (56:33):
I threw my own arm.

Speaker 2 (56:34):
Up like that.

Speaker 1 (56:35):
I mean, I'm up here paid because it's both arms
were together. People didn't spot it. So how they hurt
my injuries? I was to hide my injuries that way.
I'm smart enough, and uh I'm when I scream at
the people, I put my good leg forward like that,
I drive the leg and there's hard as like people
like that ride my bad leg. I try to go

(56:55):
across the ring that way. So I was able to
hide my injuries in that the ring. Hide it the
way I knew how to hide it. So see here,
watch I can't touch my shoulder. I can't watch. But
both my elbow have been dislocated and popped. Both my
knees have been this almost three times. This was three times. Here,

(57:17):
reach full of feel here feel that Yep, that shoulder
was proof that that shoulder was dislocated. Yeah, because of
the blump, the lump there. So all these your injuries.
I had these injuries at one time, but I meant
to hide it. I had a back injury. I could
stand on my feet. I can walk, but not for
too long a distance because I'm back my back injuries.

(57:38):
I can sign and accumulated. Now for all these year
years of injuries I had. So all you hear, people,
you'll get injuries. You'll do it yourself. I did my own,
and I lived with it. Ladies and gentlemen, you've hurt me.
I try to do my best to catch your up.

(58:00):
You enthusiastic about the whole thing. But remember me, killer Kowlowski.
I'm not looking at