Michael Stanco (August 2, 1968 – August 21, 2014) was an American

professional wrestler 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 or ...

, better known by his ring name Maximum Capacity, and is billed in many independent promotions as the "World's Largest Athlete".

Wrestling career

Born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.WWF preliminary wrestler

Rusty Brooks Kurt Koski (February 7, 1958 – February 11, 2021) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Rusty Brooks. He competed in several North American independent promotions, including International World Class Championship W ...

. Billy Fives also played a large role in training Max. He taught him many of grappling and submission moves that Fives was famous for in Japan. Max used to work as a bodyguard and bouncer at many of South Florida's finest nightclubs. Capacity gave up this line of work when he was involved in a very dangerous bar incident and took up wrestling. Capacity began working for the now defunct

Future of Wrestling Future of Wrestling was an American independent wrestling promotion based in southern Florida starting during the late 1990s. Founded by Bobby Rogers, the promotion was a predecessor of Full Impact Pro, Independent Pro Wrestling and NWA Florida a ...

in January 2001. He quickly became their number one heel. During his time in FOW, Max faced the likes of

Jerry "The King" Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "The King" Lawler, is an American color commentator and professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, although he has not performed as a full-time commentator since Ap ...

Barry Horowitz Barry Horowitz (born March 24, 1959) is an American professional wrestler, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Early life Horowitz attended Florida State University, where he studied sports nutrition and wrestled. ...

and

Hacksaw Jim Duggan James Edward Duggan Jr. (born January 14, 1954), better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE on a Legends contract. His best-known character is that of an American patriot, which ...

. Max was defeated for the FOW Hardcore Title by Horowitz in 2002. Max worked against

Chris Raaber Chris Raaber (born September 6, 1981) is an Austrian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Bambikiller (occasionally spelled Bambi Killer). He runs his own promotion European Wrestling Association. Raaber is a former one time (Ze ...

for the EWA World Heavyweight Championship in

Leoben Leoben () is a Styrian city in central Austria, located on the Mur river. With a population of about 25,000 it is a local industrial centre and hosts the University of Leoben, which specialises in mining. The Peace of Leoben, an armistice betwee ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in November 2003. After taking 2½ years off due to injuries, Capacity returned to the ring for

Pro Wrestling ZERO1-MAX (stylized as Pro Wrestling ZERO1), formerly known as Pro Wrestling Zero-One and Pro Wrestling Zero1-Max (stylised in all capital letters) and often referred to simply as Zero1, is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded in 2001. ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in October 2006. He did a 10 match tour throughout

. During this tour he faced the likes of

Masato Tanaka is a Japanese professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) in Japan where he was a one-time FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion and a one-time WEW World Heavyweight Champion and in Ext ...

Shinjiro Otani is a semi-retired Japanese professional wrestler and the current acting president of Pro Wrestling Zero1 (Zero1). He is currently inactive from pro-wrestling competition due to a cervical spine injury substained in April 2022. A product of the N ...

and

Takao Omori is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently working for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), where he is a one-time Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion and seven-time World Tag Team Champion. He is also part of the All Japan Board of Directors. He ...

. After his return to the United States, Max began working for D1PW in Davie, FL. D1PW has thus since begun an invasion angle with a

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

based company called WCEW. Maximum Capacity defeated Tommy Vandal on July 21, 2007 for their Extreme Title.home
Max just completed another overseas tour. Wrestling in Tuggen, Switzerland on May 23, 2009 vs Jamie Gardner for the WWPW Heavyweight title. Max was diagnosed with Colorectal Cancer on December 29, 2011 and was forced to retire against his wishes. He worked his final retirement match for Frank Goodman's PWX promotion at PWX-A Wrestling Odyssey in Orlando, FL on January 28, 2012. Although he fought hard to battle his illness and make one final return to the ring, his cancer continued to worsen, making any return impossible.

TV and movie career

Maximum Capacity did a very successful episode of ''

The Jerry Springer Show ''Jerry Springer'' is an American scripted syndicated tabloid talk show that aired from September 30, 1991 to July 26, 2018. Produced and hosted by its namesake, Jerry Springer, it aired for 27 seasons and nearly 5,000 episodes. The television ...

'' in 2001 called "3 Pigs and A Trailer". This has since gone on to become a Springer classic. Max has also appeared on numerous TV wrestling shows throughout Europe, Asia and America. Max has also appeared on Germany's largest TV station RTL, when they did a featured story on him in 2003 when he wrestled in Austria. Max made his feature film debut in 2009's ''Death Print''. Max was involved in the ''Celebrity Boxing 25'' show at the Hard Rock Casino Passions nightclub where

Jose Canseco José Canseco Capas Jr. (born July 2, 1964), nicknamed Parkway Jose, Mr. 40-40 and El Cañonero Cubano (The Cuban Cannon), is a Cuban-American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and designated hitter. During his time with the Oaklan ...

sent his brother Ozzie instead. Max wrestled the opening match vs. Jordan Rayner on March 26, 2011.

Death

After a nearly 3 year battle with colorectal cancer, Max was admitted to the hospital on August 19, 2014 and succumbed to his illness on August 21, 2014 in Sunrise, Florida.

Championships and accomplishments

FOW Hardcore Championship The FOW Hardcore Championship was a professional wrestling title in American independent promotion Future of Wrestling. The title was created when "Mr. Extreme" Pat McGuire won the title in Oakland Park, Florida on October 8, 1998. It was defended ...

( 1 time)Wrestling Information Archive - Future of Wrestling Title Histories
*World Class Extreme Wrestling :*WCEW Extreme Championship (1 time)

References

External links