Stan "The Crusher" Stasiak
(George Stipich)
Stan "The Crusher" Stasiak
(George Stipich)
Stan Stasiak laughing at the thought of Ray Stevens defeating him. They had a long series of Standing Room Only matches in several cities in the territory. Hank Renner looks a little worried about standing so close to such a bully
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Stan "The Crusher" Stasiak was on the first Big Time Wrestling TV show I saw. He was also in the main event of the first house show I saw. I remember thinking he had to be one of the worst people alive and used to lose my voice screaming at him as a kid. The first time I spoke to him I was shaking. He also turned out to be one of my favorite people, too, when I started taking pictures of the matches. He was big, loud, and seemed like he was always after Ray Stevens, either going after the NWA U.S. Heavyweight title, or against Stevens and Peter Maivia with various partners for the NWA World Tag Team title.
Before I started taking pictures and printing the programs I had started the Stan Stasiak Fan Club which was mentioned once in awhile in Don Wilson's Fan Club Column in Wrestling Revue magazine. I had a great time printing the newsletters about Stan and he mailed me letters occasionally to let me know what he was doing. I wish he had been in our area longer after I discovered Big Time Wrestling.
Stan Stasiak started wrestling in 1958 after leaving a big-league hockey career in Canada. He took his name from a well known wrestler from the 1920s and 1930s. While Stan was the WWWF World Champion in 1973, his match against Bruno Sammartino at Madison Square Garden was the first wrestling gate to break $100,000. (They actually pulled in $103,000.00) I still have the letter somewhere that he wrote telling me about it.
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Stan Stasiak's finishing move was the potentially deadly "Heart Punch" which he executed by jumping high into the air and slamming his fist down into his opponent's heart as hard as he could. No one was ever left standing after one of those. In this picture, he had just punched Larry Williams, who was also a referee for Roy. Very early in his career (1958), Stan's finishing move has the bearhug, which is where he got his nickname, The Crusher.
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Stan Stasiak is preparing to slam Gerry Monti's face into the ring apron as Referee Bob Beedle tries to get Stasiak to back off.
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Stan "The Crusher" Stasiak waits to do an interview with Hank Renner after a match on Big Time Wrestling. He always said he hated the tank towns and stupid people in this territory. When I first started watching wrestling I lost my voice every week yelling at him. If you had told me then that I would end up being his friend I would have thought you were insane!
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The Portland Oregonian wrote a very nice story about Stan Stasiak's life and his funeral. You can read it on Scott Teal's site, 1wrestlinglegends.com.
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ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
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ROY SHIRE, HANK RENNER, MIKI GARCIA, Pro Wrestling pictures photos history NWA WWE WWF Portland Pacific Northwest Stan "The Man" Stasiak