The Walter "Killer" Kowalski Memorial Show was a
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...
memorial event co-produced by the Big Time Wrestling (BTW) and United States Wrestling Federation (USWF)
promotion
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
s, which took place on October 26, 2008, at the Irish American Club in
Malden, Massachusetts
Malden is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 66,263 people.
History
Malden, a hilly woodland area north of the Mystic River, was settled by Puritans in 1640 on la ...
. The event was held in honor of
Walter "Killer" Kowalski, who had died August 30, 2008, a little over three weeks after suffering a heart attack on August 8, 2008. All proceeds from the show were donated to the Walter "Killer" Kowalski Memorial Fund" to help pay for his medical bills; A wrestling memorabilia raffle was another attraction, and which included gift baskets (some filled with WWE t-shirts and DVDs), a broken autographed guitar by
The Honky Tonk Man
Roy Wayne Farris (born January 25, 1953), better known by the ring name The Honky Tonk Man, is an American retired professional wrestler. He previously wrestled for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE ...
, and autographed Killer Kowalski action figures and photographs donated from wrestlers all over the world. Fans were also able to bid on memorabilia from Kowalski's wrestling career including an original pair of wrestling tights, boots and his mask. In all, over $7,000 was raised.
Attendees
![Ox Baker](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Ox_Baker.jpg)
Among those in attendance included Richard Byrne,
J. J. Dillon
James Morrison (born June 26, 1942) is an American retired professional wrestler and manager, better known by his ring name, J. J. Dillon.
Professional wrestling career
J. J. Dillon had an extensive wrestling career. He broke into wrestling at th ...
and Kowalski's former tag team partner
Ox Baker
Douglas Albert Baker Sr. (April 19, 1934 – October 20, 2014) was an American professional wrestler and actor, better known professionally as Ox Baker. He was famous for his distinctive eyebrows and finishing move, the Heart Punch, sometimes c ...
, who each delivered speeches during the 30-minute opening ceremony, as was Walter's widow Theresa who performed a song entitled "When Polish Hearts Are Smiling" (sung to the tune of the Irish folksong ''
When Irish Eyes Are Smiling
"When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" is a lighthearted song in tribute to Ireland. Its lyrics were written by Chauncey Olcott and George Graff, Jr., set to music composed by Ernest Ball, for Olcott's production of ''The Isle O' Dreams'', and Olcott s ...
''). Also scheduled to appear were
Nikolai Volkoff
Josip Hrvoje Peruzović (October 14, 1947 – July 29, 2018), better known by his ring name Nikolai Volkoff, was a Yugoslav-American professional wrestler best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Although Volkoff often p ...
and
Tito Santana
Merced Solis (born May 10, 1953), better known by the ring name Tito Santana, is a retired American professional wrestler and middle school teacher.
Santana has stayed a babyface his entire career and he is best known for his appearances with ...
, however, both were later forced to cancel at the last minute with Santana suffering from
strep throat
Streptococcal pharyngitis, also known as streptococcal sore throat (strep throat), is pharyngitis (an infection of the pharynx, the back of the throat) caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a gram-positive, group A streptococcus. Common sympto ...
. A number of wrestlers from
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment.
Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promot ...
and
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and va ...
, as well from the
Northeastern
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indie circuit is the collective noun, collective name of independent professional wrestling promotions which are smaller than major televised promotions. It is roughly analogous to a minor lea ...
, were also present at the event to pay their respects as many of the attendees were either taught or mentored by Kowalski at some point in their career. A few wrestlers who had wanted to be at the show, most notably
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as ...
, were unable to do so due to WWE holding a pay-per-view,
Cyber Sunday
WWE Cyber Sunday (originally known as WWE Taboo Tuesday) was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. Established in 2004, ...
, in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
that same night. Eight
professional wrestling matches
Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...
were featured on the event's
card Card or The Card may refer to:
* Various types of plastic cards:
**By type
***Magnetic stripe card
*** Chip card
*** Digital card
**By function
***Payment card
****Credit card
**** Debit card
****EC-card
****Identity card
****European Health Insur ...
, with three including championships.
Main event
The
main event
In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...
was a twenty-person
battle royal
Battle royal (; also royale) traditionally refers to a fight involving many combatants that is fought until only one fighter remains standing, usually conducted under either boxing or wrestling rules. In recent times, the term has been used in a ...
, including two female wrestlers, which was won by Tubby Muffin after eliminating Ron Zombie. There were two other two-semi main events. The first was a
standard wrestling match for the BTW Heavyweight Championship between the champion,
R. J. Brewer, accompanied by manager
Johnny Fabulous, and the challenger,
Aaron Stevens, in which Stevens won the championship due to outside interference by
Frankie Kazarian
Frank Benedict Gerdelman (born August 4, 1977) is an American professional wrestler and musician currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), performing under the ring name Frankie Kazarian. In addition, Kazarian also performs for Impact Wrest ...
, and the second, a match between
Justin Credible
Peter Joseph "PJ" Polaco (born October 16, 1973) is a retired American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Justin Credible. He ...
and
Spike Dudley
Matthew Jonathan Hyson (born August 13, 1970) is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as Spike Dudley. Prior to WWE, Hyson began performing as Spike Dudley in the 1990s with E ...
. Another featured match was Jack Maverik and AJ Mtrino, managed by J. J. Dillon, against Eric Ego and Tony Delfonzo, which Maverik and Mtrino won.
Doink the Clown
Doink the Clown is a professional wrestling persona originally and most popularly portrayed by Matt Osborne, who debuted the Doink persona in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1992. Doink is a clown (or evil clown) wearing traditional clo ...
defeated Mr. TA, Tre Smooth successfully defended the BTW Gangsta Championship against Jimmy Jact Cash, and Dukes Dalton and Mike Hallow defeated The French Connection (Antoine Roy and Roberto Rush) to win the BTW Tag Team Championship.
Results
Notes
References
{{Reflist
External links
Killer Kowalski Memorial Pro Wrestling Show!
on Myspace
Walter "Killer" Kowalski Memorial Show at CJCoons.com
Professional wrestling memorial shows
2008 in professional wrestling
2008 in sports in Massachusetts
Professional wrestling in Massachusetts