Remembering “Killer” Kowalski
Being a lifelong wrestling fan, one of the unfortunate things that come with the business is witnessing a lot of former ring veterans pass away at such a young age from drug abuse, health problems, and other sad circumstances as the Chris Benoit tragedy showcased last year. I feel a little redeemed when I see a wrestling great actually manage to live up to their life expectancy. Last week, wrestling legend and WWE Hall-of-Famer Walter “Killer” Kowalski died at the age of 81 after suffering a massive heart attack a few weeks prior.
Kowalski retired from the ring well before I became a wrestling fan; before I was even born actually. WWE does a commendable job at paying tribute to (most) of its former stars, and as I watched wrestling throughout the 90s I recall him being inducted into the 1996 (then) WWF Hall-of-Fame. When his induction was announced, I remember it being accompanied with a montage of clips from classic matches of his, along with interview snippets from his peers remembering his signature style in the ring known as “hooking,” where a wrestler would apply maximum force on his submissions until the point where it would cause serious, long lasting pain.
There are a couple other memories I have of the Killer. Speaking of the nickname, he earned it by legitimately severing the ear of one of his opponents, Yukon Eric, mid-match after a move didn’t go as planned. The fans took a hating for his lack of public remorse and they started calling him “Killer” and the name stuck. Killer had a lengthy career of nearly thirty years from his debut in the late 1940s until finally retiring in 1977. His career highlight had to be winning WWE’s tag team titles with the late Big John Studd as the masked Executioners tag team. In retirement he founded a wrestling school and was responsible as the trainer for arguably one of the most popular wrestlers of this decade, Triple H.
I remember always hearing Kowalski’s name brought up in numerous Triple H matches of being the man who trained “The Game.” I felt a little guilty he wasn’t around when I became a fan. However a couple months ago I finally was able to watch some of his matches off WWE’s superb video-on-demand service, WWE 24/7. Each week they produce a retrospective on one of many past wrestling legends and throw in a couple of his memorable matches and interviews from past friends and foes. Even though the matches that aired from his career were in black and white from the 50s and 60s and it was a completely different style as seen on television today, I made sure to get a glimpse of one of the most feared combatants to step in the squared circle.
It felt good to a get a chance to see some of his past work before he passed on, kind of like how you get to visit a family member during their final years. RIP, Killer. May you forever be ripping the ears off of your rivals.
