Stan Kowalski (born Bert Smith; May 13, 1926 – October 20, 2017) was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

who was one half of the

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

Murder Incorporated with partner

Tiny Mills Henry W. Mittlestadt (December 7, 1912 to June 24, 1987), best known by his ring name, Tiny Mills, was a Canadian professional wrestler. He often teamed with his brother Al Mills as the tag team Murder Incorporated (Murder Inc.). Later on Stan "K ...

in the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The promotion was born out of the Minneapolis ...

(AWA) from 1960 to 1975.

Early life

Kowalski wrestled and played football at

North Community High School North Community High School, or simply North, is a four-year public comprehensive high school located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school has existed for over 120 years in several buildings all located on the city's northside. Minneapolis Nort ...

. At age 17, under an assumed name, he joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

on three submarines ( USS ''Plaice'', USS ''Bashaw'', and ) for three-and-a-half years as a

gunner's mate The United States Navy and United States Coast Guard occupational rating of gunner's mate (GM) is a designation given by the Bureau of Naval Personnel (BUPERS) to enlisted sailors who either satisfactorily complete initial Gunner's Mate "A" sch ...

. He enrolled at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

after the war. He joined the wrestling team, where he met local promoter Joe Pazandak, the University's unofficial assistant wrestling coach. He turned down a chance to play football for the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in 1950.

Professional wrestling career

Kowalski turned to professional wrestling, debuting as Buddy Marco for a NWA promotion run by Tony Stecher. He traveled to Los Angeles, where he trained with Sandor Szabo. In 1955, promoter

Jack Pfefer Jack Pfefer (also commonly spelled as "Pfeffer"; December 10, 1894 – September 13, 1974) was an American professional wrestling promoter during the early-to-mid twentieth century. He pioneered an earlier form of sports entertainment, as he was ...

changed his ring name to Krusher Kowalski; Kowalski was a family name. He later formed a

with Canadian wrestler

as Murder Incorporated. They wrestled together in Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. They won the Minneapolis version of the NWA World Tag Team Championships twice while working for the NWA Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club. When that promotion became the

(AWA) in 1960, Mills and Kowalski became the first AWA World Tag Team Champions. They also won the Canadian Open Tag Team Championship, defeating Billy "Whipper" Watson and

Ilio DiPaolo Ilio DiPaolo (November 7, 1926 – May 10, 1995), was an Italian professional wrestler and restaurateur who lived in the Buffalo, New York area. Professional wrestling career DiPaolo was born in Italy and lived there until he moved to Venezuela ...

in 1960. They lost the championship early in 1961. Later, he managed

Ivan Koloff Oreal Donald Perras (August 25, 1942 – February 18, 2017) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "the Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff, where he was billed from Russia and, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, ...

. In 1969, he has a brief appearance in an Ohio promotion, Ohio Wrestling Classics. Then, in 1970, he went to New York to wrestle in the

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was an American sports promotion company. Run by Vincent J. McMahon from the 1950s until the 1980s, the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing promotion and later became the holding company ...

(WWWF) as Krippler Karl Kovacs. In Pennsylvania, Kowalski and

Bruno Sammartino Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with the WWE, World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). Sammartin ...

set a record attendance and gate of $86,000.

Personal life

After retiring from professional wrestling, Kowalski owned a night club with wrestler Blackjack Daniels, worked as a police officer, union negotiator, and business agent. He resided in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, where he was active in charities, fundraisers, and speaking engagements. He volunteered with the

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

and helped homeless veterans. Kowalski was married to his wife Cleo since 1961 and had two children, a son Scott Smith, and daughter Stacy Smith. He lost part of his colon due to cancer in 2006. He died on October 20, 2017. Kowalski received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the

Improved Order of Red Men The Improved Order of Red Men is a List of civic, fraternal, service, and professional organizations, fraternal organization established in North America in 1834. It claims direct descent from the colonial era Sons of Liberty. Their rituals and ...

in 2016. In addition, the

Veterans of Foreign Wars The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States Armed Forces, United States war veterans who fought in wars, Military campaign, campaig ...

presents an award named in his honor.

Championships and accomplishments

50th State Big Time Wrestling 50th State Big Time Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Hawaii or Mid-Pacific Promotions) was a professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States that promoted professional wrestling matches throughout Haw ...

NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship The NWA Hawaii Tag Team Championship was the primary tag team title of 50th State Big Time Wrestling and was defended between 1952 and 1979 when it was phased out. The title was later revived by the current incarnation of NWA Hawaii in 2000. It is ...

( 1 time) – with

Cauliflower Alley Club The Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America. Established in 1965 by Mike Mazurki and Art Ab ...

**Honoree (2000) *

Maple Leaf Wrestling Maple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name of a Canadian professional wrestling promotion owned by Frank Tunney and based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the 1970s and 1980s. Founded in 1930, Maple Leaf was a territory of the National Wrestli ...

NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Championship The NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Championship was the top tag team professional wrestling championship (professional wrestling), championship in the Canada, Canadian professional wrestling promotion, promotion Maple Leaf Wrestling from 1952 through ...

( 1 time) – with

* NWA Minneapolis Wrestling and Boxing Club / American Wrestling Association **

AWA World Tag Team Championship The American Wrestling Association (AWA) World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in the American Wrestling Association from 1960 until the promotion folded in 1991. History When the NWA Minneapolis ...

( 1 time) – with

** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Minneapolis version)'' (

2 times "2 Times" is the debut single of English singer Ann Lee. It was released in Italy in December 1998 by X-Energy as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999), and was issued worldwide the following year. The single peaked at number tw ...

) – with

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kowalski, Stan 1926 births 2017 deaths American color commentators American male professional wrestlers American professional wrestling announcers Professional wrestlers from Minneapolis Sportspeople from Minnesota United States Navy personnel of World War II 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century American professional wrestlers AWA World Tag Team Champions NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Champions NWA World Tag Team Champions (Minneapolis version) University of Minnesota alumni United States Navy sailors