Reggie "The Crusher" Lisowski, 79, Pro Wrestling Legend
Ed Varner
Reggie Lisowski a/k/a The Crusher passed away last night in Milwaukee,
WI. He was 79. Lisowski was one of the greatest brawlers and most
popular personalities in the history pro wrestling. He was a 3-time AWA
World Heavyweight Champion who had notable feuds with Ray Stevens,
Blackjack Lanza, Larry Henning, Nick Bockwinkel, Fritz Von Erich, Verne
Gagne, Bobby Heenan and Jesse " The Body" Ventura. We hope to have more
on his passing tomorrow. His family says doctors found found a brain
tumor in Lisowski this past May. Our condolences to his family and
friends.
Reggie Lisowski began his pro wrestling career in 1949 at the Paris
Ballroom, located at 12th and Mitchell streets on Milwaukee's south
side. According to legend, he wrestled for several years by night while
working stints as a brick-layer and factory worker by day. Matches he
fought during those years at Chicago's Rainbo Arena eventually caught
the eye of promoter Fred Kohler, who snatched Lisowski up from relative
obscurity, aired some of his bouts on the Dumont TV network, and sent
him on the road. It was just the beginning of a long and illustrious
career that would see Lisowski become one of America's premier
wrestlers
and box office draws.
Initially, Lisowski worked as a dark-haired babyface, an all-American
type who entered the ring wearing a star-spangled jacket. But by the
mid-1950's, Lisowski had transformed himself into a beefier,
bleached-blonde rule-breaker, and together with Art Neilson and later
Stan Holek (who wrestled as Reggie's "brother" Stan Lisowski), had
become one of the nation's most despised villains. For the better part
of seven years, Reggie was co-holder of the National Wrestling Alliance
World's Tag Team Championship (with Art Neilson and Stan Lisowski), the
NWA United States Tag Team Championship (Stan Lisowski), and the
Canadian Open Tag Team Championship (Stan Lisowski and also reportedly
Yukon Eric). However, in the fall of 1959, after many classic brawls
with Verne Gagne and Wilbur Snyder, Dick the Bruiser and Hans Schmidt,
the Brunettis, and the Shires, among many others, Lisowski all but
abandoned his tag team days for a singles career.
As Crusher Lisowski, he enjoyed great success, appearing in Canada,
Texas, and the east coast. But he always found his way back to the
Midwest, where he would become a wrestling legend. Lisowski twice
defeated Verne Gagne in 1963 to claim the American Wrestling
Association
(AWA) World's Heavyweight Championship. Though his reigns were short,
he
captured the title for a third time in 1966 from the man who eventually
would become his arch-rival, Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon. The Crusher also
re-established himself as a great tag team wrestler, this time with
Dick
"The Bruiser" Afflis at his side. Claiming to be cousins, they became
the most successful team in AWA history, winning the World's Tag Team
Championship an unprecedented five times while drawing huge crowds and
gates wherever they appeared.
In matches against the likes of the Kalmikoff Brothers and the upstart
team of "Pretty Boy" Larry Hennig and "Handsome" Harley Race, both The
Crusher and The Bruiser found themselves being cheered instead of
booed.
Although neither "cousin" had mended his ways and still preferred their
hard-hitting barroom-brawling style, the promotion took advantage of
the
situation and began matching them against opponents who were hated even
more than they had been. Although The Crusher himself maintained a
villainous persona during appearances in the World Wide Westling
Federation (WWWF) and in the St. Louis-Kansas City area, for all
intents
and purposes his days as a monster heel were over.
Through the late 1960s, The Crusher's popularity continued to rise and
by the early '70s, after a 4 month absence from the ring due to injury,
many of his main event matches were selling out at their respective
venues, sometimes a week or two in advance. He became particularly
popular in his hometown of Milwaukee where, despite a lack of official
recognition, he became one of the city's most famous exports as well as
a genuine folk hero. And while it was true that Verne Gagne was the
reigning heavyweight champion during this time, it was The Crusher who
became the man to beat. Ivan Koloff, Dusty Rhodes, Superstar Billy
Graham, Shozo Kobayashi and many other international stars fell victim
to the might of The Crusher.
Several times during the '70s The Crusher reunited with Dick the
Bruiser, teaming with him in the AWA as well as for Bruiser's own
Indiana-based World Wrestling Association (WWA). He also surfaced
unexpectedly in National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) stronghold Georgia,
capturing that state's tag team championship with Tommy "Wildfire"
Rich.
While The Crusher enjoyed great popularity in the Peach State, he soon
journeyed back to the AWA, where he spent the next year and a half. The
Crusher unofficially retired in July of 1981 after supposedly suffering
nerve damage in his right arm during in a match with 450-pound Jerry
Blackwell. However he spent the next two and a half years quietly
rehabilitating the arm until he had regained back most of the strength.
Then in December 1983, after Hulk Hogan suddenly departed the AWA for
Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWE), it was The Crusher
who
was called upon to fill Hogan's shoes.
By 1985, The Crusher, though still in great shape at nearly 60 years
old, was slowing considerably. The AWA, beginning to lose ground to the
WWF, began a youth movement and abandoned its most beloved performer.
Ironically, the WWF was more than happy to use The Crusher on their
shows, especially in cities where the fans were familiar with him from
his AWA days. The Crusher wrestled for the WWF sparingly for several
years, finally competing in his last match in 1989, 40 years after his
amazing career had begun.
Mike Aldren, Editor-In-Chief
thee...@wrestlinggroupie.com
-------------------
photos of the Crusher:
http://www.obsessedwithwrestling.com/gallery/c/crusher.html
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/sports/gen/img/feb04/1crush225.jpg
James Neibaur
RIP
JN
deb...@comcast.net
the '80s), actually made the top 100 in 1964!
Raaaiiid! Do the hammer lock, do the hammer lock
Do the hammer lock you turkey neck
Do the hammer lock, do the hammer lock you turkey necks everybody's
doing it
Do the eye gouge, do the eye gouge you turkey neck
Now do the eye gouge do the eye gouge you turkey necks, everybody's
doing it
Alright you turkey necks, I wanna teach you how to do the crusher, and
if you don't learn it now, I'm gonna getcha in the ring!
Now first you take your fist and you put it on your waist, then you
squeeze your partner's head until she's blue in the face!
Yeah do the crusher, do the crusher, do the crusher you turkey necks
Do the crusher you turkey necks, everybodys doing it!
William Barger
Bill
MWB
"William Barger" <hoos...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:14845-435...@storefull-3173.bay.webtv.net...
> The Crusher and Dick The Bruiser were the best!
> Bill
>
Stan "The Man" Staziak with the heart punch and Professor Toru Tanaka with
the salt in the eyes.
Mark
Hoodoo
Barger) wrote:
>The Crusher and Dick The Bruiser were the best!
I agree!
-------------
The Crusher dead at 79
SLAM! Wrestling
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2005/10/23/1275272.html
Listen up, you turkeynecks. One of the most memorable characters ever
in wrestling has died. Or more correctly, gone to the big beer hall in
the sky to start raising hell again with Dick the Bruiser. All praise
The Crusher, dead Saturday at age 79.
The Crusher -- Reggie Lisowski to a few -- was a true American
original. Promoted as "The Wrestler Who Made Milwaukee Famous," he'd
brag about running along the Lake Michigan waterfront with a keg of
beer on each shoulder so he could get in shape to polka all night with
the town's many Polish barmaids.
In July 1999, The Crusher made an appearance at a racetrack in
Kenosha, WI. Some of his comments perfectly sum up who he was and what
he meant to wrestling.
"These turkeyneck bums they got wrestling, some of them couldn't shine
Crusher or Bruiser's shoes," the gravelly-voiced, cigar-chomping tough
guy said. "I come up the hard way. I had all these cage matches. I
wrestled in the cage more than any other rassler in the history of
rasslin.' I got all the scars to prove it. The time I wrestled Mad Dog
[Vachon] in the cage, I had to go to the hospital, and he had to go to
the veterinarian to get sown up.
"I had a lot of tough, rough matches through my life, but the only
thing that kept me going is the way I built my body up. Just like you
build a building brick by brick, I built this body up muscle by
muscle! I been knocked down, I been hit with bar stools, I've been hit
with chairs, I've been hit with bar maids, I've been hit with bar
rags, but nobody ever knocked The Crusher down [for good]."
Best known for his time in the American Wrestling Association out of
Minnesota, The Crusher was feted in a 1964 song by The Novas, from
Edina, MN, titled imaginatively The Crusher. Some of the lyrics:
Do the hammer lock! a-Do the hammer lock!
Raid! Do the hammer lock, you turkey necks!
Yeah, do the hammer lock! a-Do the hammer lock!
Everybody's doing it
Raid!
Do the eye gouge! Yeah, do the eye gouge!
Raid! Do the eye gouge, you turkey necks!
Yeah, do the eye gouge! a-Do the eye gouge!
Everybody's doing it
Raid!
Born in 1926 in South Milwaukee, the 6-foot, 250-pound Lisowski was a
fullback on his high school football team. While stationed in Germany
with the Army, he was schooled in a little wrestling. After the war,
he furthered his wrestling training with Ivan Racy and Buck Tassie at
Milwaukee's Eagle's Club, and had his first match in 1949.
His working class hero persona was no act-he had been a bricklayer and
worked at a meat packer. Lisowski attracted the eye of Chicago
promoter Fred Kohler and was thrust onto TV on the old Dumont network.
"Kohler was impressed by what he saw in the dark haired, muscular
Lisowski and signed Reggie to a contract," Jim Zordani wrote on
Kayfabe Memories.com. "Fred gave Lisowski television exposure on the
Dumont Network and eventually sent Reggie on the road to other
wrestling cities to gain some seasoning."
By 1954, he started working as a heel, with bleached blond. "His lean
but still very muscular physique had morphed into a barrel-chested
look making Reggie appear even more powerful. His new finishing
maneuver was the full nelson," wrote Zordani.
Lisowski's first big success came as a newly bleached blond villain
with Art Neilson, and then as a partner to Stan Lisowski (Stan Holek,
who would later become Stan Neilson as a championship team with Art).
"The last time I saw him was at the Cow Palace in San Francisco maybe
20 years ago. I walked in the dressing room and he looked at me like,
'Who in the heck's this guy?' Then he recognized me. We had a good
chat," recalled Holek, who thought a great deal of Lisowski during
their two-year pairing. "He was pretty knowledgeable about everything.
He was sharp. He was a businessman. He knew if he had to speak up, he
certainly would. I had a lot of respect for him. Him and I got along
pretty good."
In August 1956, Gene Kessler of the Chicago Tribune wrote about the
Lisowskis pairing. "No vaudeville team presents a more impressive, or
probably more dramatic show, according to publicitor Dick Axman. And
none ever was quilted with more slapstick. Axman presented two photos.
One showed the Lisowskis flexing bulging muscles beside a
weightlifting trophy won in Milwaukee at a time when their hair was
dark brown. The other pictures the matured showmen, wearing glistening
silk jackets and bleached curls."
Indeed, for his entire career, Lisowski took great pride in his
physique. It is unfair to compare his body to the stars of today, with
their easy access to supplements and diet aids to get in shape. The
Crusher earned his body with hard work. (The beer belly later in his
career was well earned too!)
In 1959, Lisowski made the transformation to Da Crusher, and his
catchphrase became "How 'bout dat?" Teaming with former football
player Dick Afflis, who worked as Dick The Bruiser, created the Number
13.greatest team of all-time according to The Pro Wrestling Hall of
Fame: The Tag Teams. Both in the AWA, and in the Bruiser-owned
Indianapolis promotion, they were headliners. They became good
friends, and their careers were interlinked right until Bruiser died
November 10, 1991 in Largo, Florida while working out.
In an August 1974 story in Wrestling Revue story on Dick the Bruiser,
he praised The Crusher. "He was a great tag team partner. He knew
exactly what I was going to do in the ring and I felt the same way
about him. The Crusher is a powerful man and a great wrestler."
Rene Goulet shared his recollections of Bruiser and Crusher. "If
you're talking about drawing a lot of people, and all that, to me they
were great. They were not the greatest workers in the world. But for
what they were doing, they were the greatest at it," Goulet said.
"Nobody would draw more money than those two guys. They were built up
into two bullies, streetfighters, bar fighters. They were both great
interviews, and when they got into the ring, they drew a lot of money.
Bruiser and Crusher drew a lot of money in the Midwest, Chicago,
Indianapolis, Minneapolis."
The epic matches Bruiser and Crusher had with Mad Dog and Butcher
Vachon in the AWA has resulted in both teams being inducted into
Amsterdam, New York's Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. "Them
Vachons were always chewin' on me," Crusher told the Chicago Sun-Times
in 1987.
Mad Dog Vachon knew they were "a big draw" because the people believed
that the bout pitted "four of the toughest guys in the business"
against each other.
"They made us famous," admitted Butcher Vachon. "They were very tough.
Whenever you were in there, the people knew that they were going to
get a streetfight, and so did we. We came ready for that."
"The Bruiser and Crusher were the first characters to wrestle where
everybody loved them no matter what they said or did," Jimmy Valiant
told Crusher historian George "CrusherBolo" Lentz. "This opened the
door for myself, Dusty [Rhodes], Superstar Graham and Jesse the Body.
We all became character good guys. Crusher was a master at interviews
and he was a very great and kind man. I loved him."
As a singles wrestler, there aren't many that The Crusher didn't
tangle with, his anything-goes-style straddling the babyface-heel line
with ease. Da Crusher held the AWA World singles title for three short
reigns. He beat Verne Gagne twice in 1963 for the title, and later
beat Mad Dog Vachon for the title in 1966.
He officially retired in 1981, but one would never know it. When Hulk
Hogan jumped to the WWF in 1983, AWA promoter Verne Gagne called his
old nemesis. Nerve damage to his right arm, suffered when Jerry
Blackwell jumped off the top rope, forced him to sit out most of 1982
and part of 1983. "You gotta be able take the pain, I'll tell you
that," Crusher told the Milwaukee Journal in 1985. "You know, I got
200, 300 stitches in my body. And you got to go to the doctors
yourself. There's nobody to baby you. Some football player breaks a
toenail, he's got 100 guys looking at him."
In 1983, Crusher had one last run in the spotlight, teaming with Baron
von Raschke to beat Jerry Blackwell and Ken Patera for the AWA World
Tag Team titles, only to lose them in August 1984 to the Road
Warriors. Two bouts that the Bruiser and Crusher had with the
ascending Road Warriors in 1984 (one title, one non-title) signified
the changing of the guard in pro wrestling probably more directly than
any other bout in AWA history. Though Bruiser and Crusher were
traditionally huge draws in Chicago and Milwaukee, the Roadies no-sold
much of the matches, and neither match lasted more than 10 minutes.
With the AWA going into a slow, inevitable decline (but still
employing Crusher's son Larry in promotions), The Crusher was taking
independent bookings. In January 1987, he worked Chicago's Rosemont
Horizon in a WWF match, teaming with Davey Boy Smith (whose partner
Dynamite Kid was out injured) against the Hart Foundation. "I'm gonna
take Davey Boy to all my favorite joints in Chicago," Crusher promised
the Chicago Sun-Times. "I'll take him up and down Clark Street and
Halsted Street and over to Greektown. He likes his beer, just like I
do. But I'll tell ya somethin.' We may be goin' out of one joint and
into another all night long, but we ain't gonna drink and drive.
That's somethin' even I ain't crazy enough to do." The Crusher would
work on and off, often in WWF rings, until 1989, capping a remarkable
40-year career. At the WWF's Over the Edge pay-per-view at the
Milwaukee Arena on May 31, 1998, The Crusher and Mad Dog Vachon went
to the ring to be honored, and were mocked by Jerry Lawler, but got
their revenge.
For the last decade, Lisowski and his wife Faye were content to a
quiet family life to their four children, nine grandchildren and one
great-grandchild. Faye died in March 2003, and friends said that The
Crusher was never the same. He went through two hip replacements, a
knee replacement and multiple heart bypass surgeries.
Funeral information will be forthcoming.
---------
Photo addresses and captions:
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2005/10/23/crusher-dart.JPG
The Crusher in action.
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2005/10/23/stan-reggielisowski.jpg
Stan, left, and Reggie Lisowski.
Hoodoo
Anthony DeBlasi
WRESTLING-NEWS.com
http://www.wrestling-news.com/artman/uploads/crusherstevens72.jpg
One of my favorite all time feuds, The Crusher vs Crippler Ray
Stevens. This shot is from the August 1972 issue of Inside Wrestling
Legendary Wrestler The Crusher (Real Name Reggie Lisowski) Passes
Away At 79
Mike Aldren, Editor of Wrestling 365 Newsletter, is reporting the
unfortunate passing of Wrestling Legend, The Crusher. He was 79 years
old and had been suffering from Stomach cancer. Everyone here at
Wrestling-News.com sends our condolences to the family and friends of
The Crusher.
Here's the report we received from Mike Aldren, which offers a great
synopsis of his career.
Bob Feigel
proffered:
Anyone know who invented the term, "you pencil necked geeks" ... and
when?
"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James Neibaur
>
> Anyone know who invented the term, "you pencil necked geeks" ... and
> when?
Fred Blassie?
JN
James Neibaur
> The Crusher and Dick The Bruiser were the best!
> Bill
You said it, Bill!
ahh memories....
JN
MWB
"James Neibaur" <jnei...@wi.rr.com> wrote in message
news:BF816EC8.63970%jnei...@wi.rr.com...
Classy Freddie Blassie.
Mark
Bob Feigel
magnanimously proffered:
>from the wrestling 365 newswire:
>
>Reggie Lisowski a/k/a The Crusher passed away last night in Milwaukee,
>WI. He was 79. Lisowski was one of the greatest brawlers and most
>popular personalities in the history pro wrestling. He was a 3-time AWA
>
Anyone know how James "Lord Blears" (aka Lord 'Tally Ho' Blears) is
doing these days. I wonder if he's still surfing up there in Hawai'i
(his kids are)? He must be pretty old by now.
Ed Varner
Bob Feigel wrote:
> Anyone know how James "Lord Blears" (aka Lord 'Tally Ho' Blears) is
> doing these days. I wonder if he's still surfing up there in Hawai'i
> (his kids are)? He must be pretty old by now.
>
>
Here is a good article and recent photo on Blears from the Honolulu
Star Bulletin from 2001:
http://starbulletin.com/2001/03/29/features/story1.html
Ed
James Neibaur
> Anyone know how James "Lord Blears" (aka Lord 'Tally Ho' Blears) is
> doing these days. I wonder if he's still surfing up there in Hawai'i
> (his kids are)? He must be pretty old by now.
I think he's on topic, actually
JN
James Neibaur
> Here is a good article and recent photo on Blears from the Honolulu
> Star Bulletin from 2001:
>
> http://starbulletin.com/2001/03/29/features/story1.html
Ok, maybe he is still around
JN
James Neibaur
> Here is a good article and recent photo on Blears from the Honolulu
> Star Bulletin from 2001:
>
> http://starbulletin.com/2001/03/29/features/story1.html
That was an excellent story, Ed
JN
Ed Varner
Good News. He is definitely still alive. I checked the wrestling
legends and cauliflower alley websites. Both would have had him
included in their obituaries section if he had passed away.
This website has some nice articles and photos of pro wrestling
legends. Their organization has annual reunions where they honor the
stars of yesteryear.
http://www.caulifloweralleyclub.org/
Ed
Bob Feigel
magnanimously proffered:
>
Wow! What a tale!
He's obviously aged (don't we all) but doesn't look all that different
from the last time I saw him - around 55 years ago. I would have been
around nine and Lord Blears around 27. I wish I still had the monocle
he gave me.
Bob Feigel
<b...@surfwriter.net.not> magnanimously proffered:
>On 23 Oct 2005 16:01:27 -0700, "Ed Varner" <Ed.V...@gmail.com>
>magnanimously proffered:
>
>>
>>Bob Feigel wrote:
>>
>>> Anyone know how James "Lord Blears" (aka Lord 'Tally Ho' Blears) is
>>> doing these days. I wonder if he's still surfing up there in Hawai'i
>>> (his kids are)? He must be pretty old by now.
>>
>>Here is a good article and recent photo on Blears from the Honolulu
>>Star Bulletin from 2001:
>>
>>http://starbulletin.com/2001/03/29/features/story1.html
>>
>>Ed
>
>Wow! What a tale!
>
>He's obviously aged (don't we all) but doesn't look all that different
>from the last time I saw him - around 55 years ago. I would have been
>around nine and Lord Blears around 27. I wish I still had the monocle
>he gave me.
He's wearing my shirt!
King Daevid MacKenzie
>>The Crusher and Dick The Bruiser were the best!
>
>
>
> Stan "The Man" Staziak with the heart punch and Professor Toru Tanaka with
> the salt in the eyes.
...WWWF stars of the '70s. Kobayashi pulled the salt-in-the-eyes bit in
the AWA circa '71-'72, and I'm sure some West Coast NWA folk did before
that...
...my personal favourite still remains Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon. Worked
with him once in my year as a pro wrestling announcer. Incredibly nice
guy when a ring and a microphone weren't around. ;-) ...
--
--
King Daevid MacKenzie, WLSU-FM 88.9 La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
heard occasionally at http://www.radio4all.net
"Rarely can we applaud the majority." JAMES NEIBAUR
James Neibaur
> ..my personal favourite still remains Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon. Worked
> with him once in my year as a pro wrestling announcer. Incredibly nice
> guy when a ring and a microphone weren't around. ;-) ...
Most of the heels were nice guys when not working in character. But back
then it was taboo to break kayfabe in a public place.
JN
Hoodoo
> Dr. Demento (aka, Barry Hansen) plays weird songs (such as 'Pencil Neck
>Geek') on his demented radio show in Los Angeles.
> I've never been able to hear his syndicated show where I live, drats!
Here is the playlist for this weekend's program. Check out the website
mentioned at the bottom to learn all about the show and a list of
radio stations and websites that broadcast the show.
--------
playlist courtesy of The Dr. Demento Show
The Dr. Demento Show #05-43 - October 23, 2005
Special Topic: Halloween part 1/2
Haunted House - Gene Simmons
Whatever Happened To Eddie? - Butch Patrick (Eddie & The Monsters)
Dark Shadows theme
Reaper Rhyme - Nick Noxious & The Necrophiliacs
The Mummy - Bob McFadden & Dor
Midnight Stroll - The Revels
Mr. Ghost Goes To Town (2005 remix) - The Jon Schwartz Project
We Are Dead - Dale Gonyea
Zombie Jamboree - Rockapella
Demented Boos With Whimsical Will
Happy Birthday (Placebo E.P. version) - "Weird Al" Yankovic
My Son, The Vampire - Allan Sherman
Mysterious Mose - Harry Reser & His Radio All-Star Novelty Orchestra
(f/ Dick Robertson)
Skeleton In The Closet - Louis Armstrong
The Fly - Dr. Elmo
Vampire Bat - Wesley Willis
Boris The Spider - The Who
Halloween - Stephen Lynch
Halloween Spooks - Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
Carmen Miranda's Ghost (Dr. Demento's Hits from Outer Space version) -
Leslie Fish
The Ghoul From Ipanema (excerpt) - The Necro Tonz
Monster Rap (edit) - Bobby (Boris) Pickett f/ Bobby Paine
Comin' Back For More - C.W. McCall
The Addams Family (Main Title) - Vic Mizzy
Brain Worms - Nick Noxious & The Necrophiliacs
I Hold Your Hand In Mine (original studio version) - Tom Lehrer
Cemetery Girls - Barnes & Barnes
#5 I Want My Baby Back - Jimmy Cross
#4 Werecow - Flippy T. Fishead & The Mighty Ground Beeves
#3 With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm - Stanley Holloway
#2 The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati - Rose & The Arrangement
#1 Grim Grinning Ghosts - Thurl Ravenscroft
next week: Halloween part 2/2
This playlist courtesy of the rec.music.dementia
homepage at http://mypage.iu.edu/~jbmorris/
Hoodoo
The Crusher's villain act won over fans
Oct. 23, 2005
http://www.jsonline.com/news/nobits/oct05/365218.asp
An icon in professional wrestling circles who was considered a man of
the people because of his blue-collar Milwaukee roots, Reggie "The
Crusher" Lisowski has died, losing his final bout to a non-cancerous
brain tumor, his son said.
Lisowski, 79, died Saturday night, having never fully recovered from
surgeries to remove the tumor at the base of his brain stem, David
Lisowski said Sunday.
The two surgeries affected The Crusher's ability to swallow and left
him partially paralyzed. The brawny brawler had to be fed through a
feeding tube for several months.
But the operations never crushed Lisowski's spirit, David Lisowski
said.
Through it all, the Crusher kept on working out.
"He worked out on his last day. That's how he wanted to go," said
David Lisowski, of Delafield. "He did concentration curls and triceps
work. He just had to work out every day. . . . In his mind, he never
thought he was old."
Lisowski, who played fullback for South Milwaukee High School, learned
to wrestle while in the Army in Germany during World War II, old
newspaper stories about him say.
The Crusher came back from the war and played semi-pro football, his
son said.
Then one night, Lisowski, went to a carnival in town. There, someone
had set up a ring and was urging people to step up. If you could beat
the guy in the ring, you would get a $1.
"Well, he stepped into the ring and beat him, and he got a buck,"
David Lisowski said. "He did this for a couple of days and beat
everybody. That's how he got interested in wrestling."
From there, he learned that some wrestlers worked out at the Eagles
Club, so he joined. Eventually, he hooked up with a Chicago promoter,
who got Lisowski matches at a small armory in Chicago, where the
wrestler earned $5 a night.
In Chicago, Lisowski drew the attention of a promoter who booked
wrestlers from all over the nation. That promoter, according the news
reports, put Lisowski on national television and took him on the road.
At one point, according to a 1952 news article, Lisowski drew 8,000
people to a bout in Buffalo, N.Y.
Lisowski and his family lived for a time in Canada and in Texas while
he pursued wrestling full time, David Lisowski said. Eventually, they
returned to the Midwest and Wisconsin, where the cigar-chomping,
beer-drinking Crusher quickly became the people's favorite.
"The Crusher was a mainstay in professional wrestling for so long,"
promoter Frank DeFalco said of Lisowski's more than 30-year career,
which spanned from the 1950s to the 1970s. "He sold out the Milwaukee
Auditorium and Arena on a number of occasions."
A promoter along the way once said of Lisowski that the wrestler "just
crushes everybody," David Lisowski noted, and that's how the name "The
Crusher" began.
Though he began his career as a bad guy, people took to the
barrel-chested wrestler. "He never really changed his style. He was a
villain, but for some reason people started liking him more," David
Lisowski said.
DeFalco says that was because The Crusher was just a good
"old-fashioned wrestler."
In 1985, a reporter asked The Crusher why he was so popular in
Milwaukee. "I think the working people identify with me, because years
ago I worked when I wrestled, too. I worked in a packing house. I
worked at Ladish, Drop Forge, Cudahy Packing House. I was a
bricklayer. But finally, I got away from punching the clock," he said.
The flamboyant American Wrestling Association brawler became known as
"the wrestler who made Milwaukee famous."
Some of the ads promoting wrestling, might have helped, too. DeFalco
remembers one in which The Crusher had a barrel of beer on his
shoulder and said he was going to kick "The Weasel's" butt all over
Milwaukee and then "we'll have a party, take all the dollies down
Wisconsin Avenue and go dancing." The Crusher was referring to Bobby
"The Brain" Heenan.
In another commercial, The Crusher bent a tire in half. "Not many
people can do that," David Lisowski said.
The Crusher teamed up with William "Dick The Bruiser" Afflis and won a
number of tag-team titles.
Lisowski also participated in what people said was the first cage
match ever, in which The Crusher took on Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon. At
one point, Vachon was kicking The Crusher, and "some woman was
climbing the cage to save The Crusher," DeFalco said.
David Lisowski said his dad won the battle - Mad Dog ended up in the
hospital, but The Crusher was a mess, too. "He came out really beat
up. His head was cut up. He had a busted eardrum. The whole right side
of his body was bruised. But the next day, he went to Green Bay to
wrestle," David Lisowski said.
In 1985, The Crusher, still a favorite son, battled seven others for a
different title - best amateur conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony
Orchestra. Billed as the "Battle of the Batons," The Crusher took
third.
Although flamboyant, The Crusher took professional wrestling
seriously.
In 2001, after fellow wrestler Jack Wilson died, a Wisconsin Public
Television reporter wanted Lisowski's number to interview the wrestler
for a special on professional wrestling.
The Crusher wanted no part of it.
"People make a joke out of it," he said of wrestling. "But it wasn't a
joke to me. It was a living."
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday and 9:30 to 10:30 a.m.
Friday at Molthen-Bell & Sons Funeral Home, 700 Milwaukee Ave., South
Milwaukee. Funeral Mass will be at 11 a.m. Friday at Divine Mercy
Catholic Church, 1304 Manitoba Ave., South Milwaukee.
- - -
The Crusher
Reggie ("The Crusher") Lisowski in 1985.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/oct05/crusher102405.jpg
The people’s champ: "The Crusher" in 1986.
http://graphics.jsonline.com/graphics/news/img/oct05/crusher2102405.jpg
Quotable
I think the working people identify with me, because years ago I
worked when I wrestled, too.
- Reggie “Da Crusher” Lisowski
He worked out on his last day. That’s how he wanted to go.
- David Lisowski, his son
James Neibaur
> Lisowski also participated in what people said was the first cage
> match ever, in which The Crusher took on Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon. At
> one point, Vachon was kicking The Crusher, and "some woman was
> climbing the cage to save The Crusher," DeFalco said.
I was at that show. 1969 in Milwaukee
JN
MWB
"King Daevid MacKenzie" <echoes...@charter.net> wrote in message
news:2WX6f.15592$RG4....@fe05.lga...
I liked the bad guys.
Baron Mikel Scicluna from the Isle of Malta, "The Master of the Hidden
Foreign Object" was another one of my favorites. I didn't know he was from
Canada.
http://www.garywill.com/wrestling/canada/scicluna.htm
From Parts Unknown
Mark
Scott Brady
My dad attended their 1969 Christmas Night cage match in Minneapolis
(or was it St. Paul?). I've never forgiven him for not taking me.
King Daevid MacKenzie
> My dad attended [Crusher Lisowski and Mad Dog Vachon's] 1969 Christmas Night cage match in Minneapolis
> (or was it St. Paul?). I've never forgiven him for not taking me.
...I only recall Verne Gagne holding his AWA cards at the St. Paul Civic
Center, but then again I didn't start paying attention until '71.
Crusher and Mad Dog went at it in the cage yet again in Green Bay circa
'72. Made the Ice Bowl look like a teeter-totter at the park in June...
Scott Brady
King Daevid MacKenzie wrote:
> ...I only recall Verne Gagne holding his AWA cards at the St. Paul Civic
> Center, but then again I didn't start paying attention until '71.
The Civic Center didn't open until 1973. Before that the AWA used to
rotate between the old Minneapolis and St. Paul (now Roy Wilkins)
Auditoriums.
Speaking of St. Paul, here's a 1965 newspaper photo of the Crusher
meeting a 100-year-old fan:
My all-time favorite Crusher photo, which I could not find online,
shows him competing in a home run-hitting contest at Metropolitan
Stadium--in wrestling trunks, naturally, along with his ever-present
cigar!
Mark Mathu
> Crusher and Mad Dog went at it in the cage yet again in Green Bay circa
> '72. Made the Ice Bowl look like a teeter-totter at the park in June...
I saw the Crusher take on Nick Bockwinkel in Green Bay about that same time.
Bockwinkel had the upper hand until Crusher grabbed a cup of beer out of the
audience and threw it in Nick's face. It was all "Da Crusher" from that
point on!
When I read of his passing, it hit me like a "bolo punch" to the heart.
Rest in peace, Crusher.
Hoodoo
wrote:
>Speaking of St. Paul, here's a 1965 newspaper photo of the Crusher
>meeting a 100-year-old fan:
>http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/play/slideshow.php?feature=2004%2F12%2F10_cunninghamg_millettbook&slide=6
I found that photo online about a year or more ago and thought it was
quite amusing.
Here is a direct link to it and the caption for it:
http://www.startribune.com/images/21/107346.html
MINNEAPOLIS - ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA
Aug. 15, 1965: All that Mary Kowalski wanted for her 100th birthday
was to meet her idol, pro wrestler Reggie “Crusher” Lisowski. After
reading about her request in the St. Paul Dispatch, her hero obliged,
stopping by her house to drink beer and talk Polish. Kowalski was
believed to have been St. Paul’s oldest resident at the time of her
death in November 1972.
Buzz Magnuson
Pioneer Press/ Borealis Books
Published December 8, 2004
2005 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
James Neibaur
>> I was at that show. 1969 in Milwaukee
>
> My dad attended their 1969 Christmas Night cage match in Minneapolis
> (or was it St. Paul?). I've never forgiven him for not taking me.
Dad used to take me all the time. He didn't like wrestling, but got into
the spirit of it because I liked it so much. I started watching it back in
the mid sixties and was immediately hooked. That it was fake didn't bother
me. I also knew Redford and Newman didn't really jump off a mountain in
Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. Showbiz.
I don't watch the WWE, but this new NWA Total Nonstop Action league is good.
It is more like the old school rasslin.
JN
King Daevid MacKenzie
> King Daevid MacKenzie wrote:
>
>
>>...I only recall Verne Gagne holding his AWA cards at the St. Paul Civic
>>Center, but then again I didn't start paying attention until '71.
>
>
> The Civic Center didn't open until 1973. Before that the AWA used to
> rotate between the old Minneapolis and St. Paul (now Roy Wilkins)
> Auditoriums.
...okeh. Like I said, I didn't start watching AWA stuff until I first
started watching the late KFIZ-TV, Channel 34 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin,
in 1971. Fond du Lac, of course, is on the other side of the state from
the St. Croix Valley, from where one can stand in Hudson and see the
then-KDWB towers...
> Speaking of St. Paul, here's a 1965 newspaper photo of the Crusher
> meeting a 100-year-old fan:
>
> http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/play/slideshow.php?feature=2004%2F12%2F10_cunninghamg_millettbook&slide=6
...Great item. Interesting that the fan's last name was Kowalski -- one
of Crusher's main adversaries around that time was Stan "The Big K"
Kowalski. Wonder if Mary was related...
King Daevid MacKenzie
> I found that photo online about a year or more ago and thought it was
> quite amusing.
>
> Here is a direct link to it and the caption for it:
>
> http://www.startribune.com/images/21/107346.html
>
> MINNEAPOLIS - ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA
>
> Aug. 15, 1965: All that Mary Kowalski wanted for her 100th birthday
> was to meet her idol, pro wrestler Reggie “Crusher” Lisowski. After
> reading about her request in the St. Paul Dispatch, her hero obliged,
> stopping by her house to drink beer and talk Polish. Kowalski was
> believed to have been St. Paul’s oldest resident at the time of her
> death in November 1972.
...further interest: the caption specifies that Crusher read the St.
Paul Dispatch (eventually absorbed into the modern-day St. Paul Pioneer
Press), while the site that the photo is on is that of the Minneapolis
Star-Tribune ;-) ...
King Daevid MacKenzie
> I don't watch the WWE, but this new NWA Total Nonstop Action league is good.
> It is more like the old school rasslin.
...I particularly like TNA's use of the six-sided ring, which they
lifted from the Mexican AAA promotion. Now if they'd take a page out of
the Mexican CMLL promotion's book and revive the Shocker/Emilio Charles
Jr. feud of four years back or so, they'd have it made ;-) ...
bal...@hotmail.com
Yeah, the Crusher was fun to watch for sure, really gonna miss him.
Baron Mikel Scicluna and his wife live in the North Hills area of
Pittsburgh, and travel back to Malta usually twice a year for
vacations. Really nice guy. A couple years ago he was our guest on our
cable tv show, "Pro Wrestling Newz 'n Viewz" on Armstrong Cable.
Pat Gallagher
Scott Brady
King Daevid MacKenzie wrote:
> ...further interest: the caption specifies that Crusher read the St.
> Paul Dispatch (eventually absorbed into the modern-day St. Paul Pioneer
> Press), while the site that the photo is on is that of the Minneapolis
> Star-Tribune ;-) ...
The photo was featured in a recent book called "Strange Days, Dangerous
Nights," which chronicled the sensational news photography of the Speed
Graphic era. The author is a former Pioneer Press reporter and
compiled the photos from the Pioneer Press and Dispatch files. The
Star Tribune ran an article on the book.
It's worth checking out some of the other images: