| Stan "The Man" Stasiak | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Stasiak in 1977 | |
| Birth name | George Emile Stipich |
| Born | (1937-04-13)April 13, 1937[1] Arvida, Quebec, Canada[1] |
| Died | June 19, 1997(1997-06-19) (aged 60) Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | Two, includingShawn Stasiak |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Crusher Stasiak Emile Koverly Stan Stasiak |
| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)[2] |
| Billed weight | 270 lb (122 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | "Beaver Creek, Oregon, United States"[3] "Buzzard Creek, Oregon, United States"[2] |
| Debut | 1958[2][1] |
| Retired | 1984 |
George Emile Stipich (April 13, 1937 – June 19, 1997) was a Canadianprofessional wrestler, better known by hisring name,Stan "the Man"Stasiak. He is best known for his appearances with theWorld Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in the 1970s, where he won theWWWF Heavyweight Championship in 1973. He was inducted into the Legacy wing of theWWE Hall of Fame Class of 2018.
George Stipich was born in the village ofArvida, Quebec. He became a fan of wrestling as a youth, attending shows inChicoutimi. Stipich and his friends became known for throwingsucker punches at wrestlers; on one occasion, wrestlerDon Leo Jonathan blocked Stipich's punch and knocked him unconscious. As a young man, Stipich worked in analuminium mill while playingice hockey in theQuebec Amateur Hockey Association but became known for his lack of discipline, with his final coach encouraging him to switch to professional wrestling.[1][4][5]
Stipich trained inMontreal, making his debut in 1958.[1] He initially wrestled as "Emile Koverly" for theCalgary, Alberta–basedBig Time Wrestling promotion. He also wrestled at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto which included a match with Gino Morella, who was later known asGorilla Monsoon. in October 1960, he wrestled in the United States for theSt. Louis Wrestling Club, where he adopted the ring name "Stan Stasiak", taking it from another wrestler named Stanley Stasiak (real name Ignacy Josef Stasiak) who had died in 1931 fromsepsis.[5][6]
By 1961, Stasiak was dividing his time between Canada and the St. Louis Wrestling Club. In June 1961, he won his firstchampionship in theMaple Leaf Wrestling promotion, teaming withMan Mountain Campbell to win theNWA International Tag Team Championship. They held the titles until September 1961. Stasiak continued to wrestle in Canada and the United States throughout the early 1960s, including making a handful of appearances with theMinneapolis, Minnesota–basedAmerican Wrestling Association in May 1962. In late 1963, he had a stint with theAmarillo, Texas–basedWestern States Sports promotion, where he challengedNWA World Heavyweight ChampionLou Thesz.
From 1964 to 1968, Stasiak appeared regularly with theCalgary, Alberta, Canada–basedStampede Wrestling promotion. He held theNWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship on four occasions between 1965 and 1967 and theStampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Championship on three occasions in 1968.[3][5][7]
In 1965, Stasiak began appearing regularly withPacific Northwest Wrestling, where he adopted the fictional "Buzzard Creek, Oregon" as his hometown.[5] He won the promotion's flagship title, theNWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship, five times in 1965, 1966, 1968, and 1971. He also won theNWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship four times between 1965 and 1969, teaming with Haru Sasak, the Mad Russian, Mighty Ursus, andTony Marino.[3][4][5][8]
In April and May 1969, Stasiak toured Japan with theInternational Wrestling Enterprise promotion as part of its "World Selection Series". During the tour, he regularly teamed withDory Dixon andTank Morgan intag team matches andsix-man tag team matches. On April 12, 1969, atwo-out-of-three-falls match pitting Stasiak and Morgan againstThunder Sugiyama andToyonobori for the Trans-World Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship ended in a controversial manner, resulting in the titles being vacated; on April 20, Sugiyama andRusher Kimura defeated Morgan and Stasiak to win the vacant titles. On April 22, Stasiak unsuccessfully challengedBilly Robinson for theIWA World Heavyweight Championship. Stasiak wrestled his final match with IWE on May 5, 1969, teaming with Dixon and Morgan in a loss to Sugiyama, Toyonobori, and the Great Kusatsu.[9][10]
In November 1969, Stasiak began wrestling for theSan Francisco, California, United States–basedBig Time Wrestling promotion. He quickly formed a tag team withThe Gladiator and began feuding withPeter Maivia andRay Stevens, repeatedly unsuccessfully challenging them for theNWA World Tag Team Championship. In August 1970, he formed a short-lived tag team withPat Patterson. Stasiak left San Francisco in September 1970.[11][12]
In October 1970, Stasiak wrestled in Australia for theWorld Championship Wrestling promotion. In his debut match, he defeatedKing Curtis Iaukea in theFestival Hall inMelbourne to win theIWA World Heavyweight Championship - his firstworld heavyweight championship. He lost the title back to Iaukea the following month.[1][3][13]
In August 1971, Stasiak debuted in thenortheastern United States–basedWorld Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). In his debut match, he challengedWWWF Heavyweight ChampionPedro Morales inMadison Square Garden inNew York City, New York. Over the following months, he faced opponents such asGorilla Monsoon,Arnold Skaaland,Víctor Rivera, andChief Jay Strongbow throughout the northeastern United States. In September 1971, he unsuccessfully challengedBobo Brazil for theWWWF United States Heavyweight Championship. He went on to unsuccessfully challenge Morales for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship on a number of further occasions. In February 1972, he formed a short-lived alliance withJimmy Valiant. Valiant left the WWWF later that month.[14]
In March 1972, Stasiak began appearing with the Texas-basedBig Time Wrestling andHouston Wrestling promotions, facing opponents such asBull Curry,Johnny Valentine, andToru Tanaka. In June 1972, Stasiak defeatedRed Bastien to win theNWA Texas Heavyweight Championship at theBig Time Wrestling Parade of Champions event in theTexas Stadium. His reign lasted until October 1972 when he lost toJosé Lothario in acage match in theSan Antonio Municipal Auditorium. He also briefly held theNWA Brass Knuckles Championship. Stasiak left Texas in December 1972, with his final appearance being a loss toFritz Von Erich in aTexas deathcage match in theDallas Sportatorium onBoxing Day.[15]
In February 1973, Stasiak appeared in Japan with the recently foundedAll Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. Wrestling as "Crusher Stasiak", he participated in the "Giant Series Total War" tour. His opponents included Motoshi Okuma, Munenori Higo, andThunder Sugiyama. During the tour, he occasionally teamed with American wrestlerHarley Race. In his final match, he and Race defeatedGiant Baba andSamson Kutsuwada in atwo-out-of-three-falls match.[16]
Stasiak returned to the WWF in August 1973, adopting theGrand Wizard as hismanager.[4] In his first match, he unsuccessfully challenged WWWF Heavyweight Champion Pedro Morales; he went on to challenge Morales in multiple subsequent matches. In November 1973, he facedAndré the Giant in a series ofsix-man tag team matches.
On December 1, 1973, in thePhiladelphia Arena, Stasiak defeated Morales for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship, ending Morales' nearly three-year long reign. The match ended when Stasiak applied afull nelson to Morales and both wrestlers fell backwards in a position where they both had their shoulders on the mat, only for Stasiak to lift his shoulder as the referee made the count. Following the match, ring announcer Buddy Wagner did not announce Stasiak as the new champion, instead asking the audience to applaud Morales; journalistDave Meltzer suggested that this was intended to prevent the audience from rioting. Stasiak was given little notice that he would be winning the title. According to him, he was sitting in the dressing room in Philadelphia Arena when aroad agent came to discuss the match. Stasiak considered this a formality as he had been having the same discussion, nearly verbatim, in every major city on theEastern Seaboard for the past two months. However, this time it was different, as the agent told Stasiak that he was to win the championship. According to fellow wrestlerFrank Dusek, the WWWF wanted to makeBruno Sammartino champion again, but did not want Sammartino to defeat Morales in the process, so they needed a heel wrestler to win it. Stasiak was used as atransitional champion, holding the WWWF Heavyweight Championship for just nine days before losing it to Sammartino on December 10, 1973, in Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, United States. Stasiak described his title reign as "the happiest nine days of [my] life".[1][14][17][18] During his brief reign, Stasiak had a single successful title defense, wrestlingChief Jay Strongbow to a no contest on December 7, 1973.[14]
Stasiak faced Sammartino in a rematch in January 1974, but failed to regain the title. In March 1974, Stasiak teamed withLarry Hennig to unsuccessfully challengeDean Ho andTony Garea for theWWWF Tag Team Championship. Stasiak continued regularly appearing with the WWF until October 1974.[14]
In April and May 1974, Stasiak toured Japan withNew Japan Pro-Wrestling, competing in its inauguralWorld Leagueround-robin tournament. On the first day of the tournament, he wrestledAntonio Inoki to a time limit draw in an exhibition match held inKorakuen Hall inTokyo. Stasiak scored 5.5 points in the first round of the tournament, but did not progress past the second round. The tournament was ultimately won by Inoki.[19]
In February 1975, Stasiak began wrestling for theSt. Louis Wrestling Club, where he regularly appeared on its television showWrestling at the Chase. His repeat opponents includedPat O'Connor,Édouard Carpentier, andRed Bastien. In October 1975, Stasiak unsuccessfully challenged visitingWWWF Heavyweight ChampionBruno Sammartino. Stasiak left St. Louis in December 1975, with his final match being a loss toTerry Funk in theKiel Auditorium.[20][21][22]
In July 1974 he began to wrestle forFrank Tunney's Ontario promotion,Maple Leaf Wrestling, he foughtTiger Jeet Singh for the Asian title atMaple Leaf Gardens. During the matchThe Sheik attacked Singh causing Stasiak to lose. From there Stasiak went into a series of matches with The Sheik for theNWA United States Heavyweight Championship. Stasiak's popularity rose as fans discovered that he was indeed a Canadian. Later on he foughtJack Brisco for theNWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1975,Terry Funk for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1976,Superstar Billy Graham WWWF Heavyweight Championship in 1977 andNick Bockwinkel for theAWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1978.
In January 1976, Stasiak began wrestling for theAtlanta-basedGeorgia Championship Wrestling promotion. He regularly teamed with otherheels such asAbdullah the Butcher,Moondog Mayne, andThe Spoiler. In March 1976, Stasiak defeatedDick Slater to win theNWA Macon Heavyweight Championship. He lost the title toMr. Wrestling II the following month. In September 1976, Stasiak andKiller Brooks unsuccessfully challenged The Black Bombers for theNWA Georgia Tag Team Championship. Stasiak left Georgia Championship Wrestling in October 1976.[23]
On September 13, 1975, Stasiak wrestled Bruno Sammartino who was WWWF Heavyweight Champion to a double disqualification in Steubenville, Ohio.
In November 1976, Stasiak began regularly wrestling for the WWWF once more. In his first match back, he challenged WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino in Madison Square Garden, winning by count-out. The following month, he lost to Sammartino in a"Sicilian stretcher" match. In early-1977, Stasiak repeatedly challengedBilly White Wolf andChief Jay Strongbow for theWWWF Tag Team Championship, with his partners includingBaron Mikel Scicluna,Baron von Raschke, andTor Kamata. Throughout spring 1977, Stasiak repeatedly unsuccessfully challenged Sammartino. During the remainder of 1977 and early 1978, Stasiak's regular opponents includedGorilla Monsoon,Ivan Putski,Larry Zbyszko, andPeter Maivia.[14] In April 1978, Stasiak unsuccessfully challengedBob Backlund, who had recently won the WWWF Heavyweight Championship. Over the following months, he teamed with a series of partners includingButcher Vachon,George Steele, andJohnny Rodz to challenge WWWF Tag Team ChampionsDino Bravo andDominic DeNucci, but was unable to defeat them. Beginning in December 1978, he again teamed with a series of partners to challenge new WWWF Tag Team Champions Larry Zbyszko andTony Garea. Stasiak left the WWWF in March 1979.[14]
Stasiak once again toured Japan with New Japan Pro-Wrestling from February to April 1979 as part of its "Big Fight Series". His first match, a loss toRiki Choshu, was broadcast onTV Asahi. During the tour, Stasiak faced opponents such asAntonio Inoki,Riki Choshu,Seiji Sakaguchi, andTatsumi Fujinami. On several occasions, he teamed with fellow Canadian wrestlerTiger Jeet Singh and with the Japanese wrestlerMasa Saito.[19]
In spring 1979, Stasiak returned to Pacific Northwest Wrestling, where he became a mainstay. He won the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship twice more in 1979 and the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship four more times. In the early 1980s, he did commentary there and also worked as a photographer.[1][3][24][25] In mid-1980, Stasiak appeared with theLouisiana, United States–basedMid-South Wrestling promotion. In the latter half of 1980, Stasiak competed in Texas once more, appearing with Big Time Wrestling and Western States Sports. During this time, he won theNWA Texas Tag Team Championship and theNWA Brass Knuckles Championship. Stasiak retired from professional wrestling in 1984.[4]
After retiring in 1984, Stasiak worked for KellumDatsun inGladstone, Oregon, as a car salesman. After a short time at the Datsun dealership, he moved to Toronto, where he worked as a security guard. When his health began to decline, he relocated back to Oregon in 1994.[1][5] He was inducted into theStampede Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1995,[26][27] and (posthumously) into theWWE Hall of Fame in 2018.[28]
For most of his career, Stasiak portrayed a "menacing"heel known for his "rulebreaking tactics". Early in his career he used the nicknames "Crusher" and "the Assassin of Arvida" and abear hug for a finishing move. Later, he adopted the nickname "The Man" and began using theheart punch - "a stiff shot to his opponent's chest, sold as if it could stop the organ from pumping were Stasiak to land his fist just right" - as his finishing move.[1][4][5][7][28] He was a "large, powerful, bruising" wrestler.[3] Although hailing from Canada, for most of his career Stasiak was billed from the (fictitious) towns of "Beaver Creek" or "Buzzard Creek" in Oregon in the United States.[2][3]
Stipich died ofcongestive heart failure on June 19, 1997, while awaiting aheart transplant. Fellow wrestlerTony Borne gave the eulogy at his funeral, describing him as "a very good natured-individual" and "a real trooper" [sic].[5][29]
Stipich had two children: a daughter, Brittany, and a son, Shawn, who also wrestled professionally asShawn Stasiak. He was survived by his widow Kimberly Stasiak. Stipich was ofCroatian descent.[5]
,Wrestlingdata.com,Internet Wrestling Database