This report was sent to us by Mike Aldren, Editor-In-Chief
[email protected]  

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 a brain tumor in Lisowski this past May. In addtion to the brain tumor he was battling stomach cancer. 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.

We here at WrestlingFigs.com want to send our condolences to the family, friends and fans of The Crusher.