Early career (1958–1965) Stipich trained in
Montreal, making his debut in 1958. He initially wrestled as "Emile Koverly" for the
Calgary, Alberta–based
Big Time Wrestling promotion. He also wrestled at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto which included a match with Gino Morella, who was later known as
Gorilla Monsoon. in October 1960, he wrestled in the United States for the
St. 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 from
sepsis. By 1961, Stasiak was dividing his time between Canada and the St. Louis Wrestling Club. In June 1961, he won his first
championship in the
Maple Leaf Wrestling promotion, teaming with
Man Mountain Campbell to win the
NWA 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 the
Minneapolis, Minnesota–based
American Wrestling Association in May 1962. In late 1963, he had a stint with the
Amarillo, Texas–based
Western States Sports promotion, where he challenged
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz.
Stampede Wrestling (1964–1968) From 1964 to 1968, Stasiak appeared regularly with the
Calgary, Alberta, Canada–based
Stampede Wrestling promotion. He held the
NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship on four occasions between 1965 and 1967 and the
Stampede Wrestling North American Heavyweight Championship on three occasions in 1968.
Pacific Northwest Wrestling (1965–1971) In 1965, Stasiak began appearing regularly with
Pacific Northwest Wrestling, where he adopted the fictional "Buzzard Creek, Oregon" as his hometown. He won the promotion's flagship title, the
NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship, five times in 1965, 1966, 1968, and 1971. He also won the
NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship four times between 1965 and 1969, teaming with Haru Sasaki, the Mad Russian, Mighty Ursus, and
Tony Marino.
International Wrestling Enterprise (1969) In April and May 1969, Stasiak toured Japan with the
International Wrestling Enterprise promotion as part of its "World Selection Series". During the tour, he regularly teamed with
Dory Dixon and
Tank Morgan in
tag team matches and
six-man tag team matches. On April 12, 1969, a
two-out-of-three-falls match pitting Stasiak and Morgan against
Thunder Sugiyama and
Toyonobori 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 and
Rusher Kimura defeated Morgan and Stasiak to win the vacant titles. On April 22, Stasiak unsuccessfully challenged
Billy Robinson for the
IWA 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.
San Francisco (1969–1970) In November 1969, Stasiak began wrestling for the
San Francisco, California, United States–based
Big Time Wrestling promotion. He quickly formed a tag team with
The Gladiator and began feuding with
Peter Maivia and
Ray Stevens, repeatedly unsuccessfully challenging them for the
NWA World Tag Team Championship. In August 1970, he formed a short-lived tag team with
Pat Patterson. Stasiak left San Francisco in September 1970.
World Championship Wrestling (1970) In October 1970, Stasiak wrestled in Australia for the
World Championship Wrestling promotion. In his debut match, he defeated
King Curtis Iaukea in the
Festival Hall in
Melbourne to win the
IWA World Heavyweight Championship - his first
world heavyweight championship. He lost the title back to Iaukea the following month.
World Wide Wrestling Federation (1971–1972) In August 1971, Stasiak debuted in the
northeastern United States–based
World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). In his debut match, he challenged
WWWF Heavyweight Champion Pedro Morales in
Madison Square Garden in
New York City, New York. Over the following months, he faced opponents such as
Gorilla Monsoon,
Arnold Skaaland,
Víctor Rivera, and
Chief Jay Strongbow throughout the northeastern United States. In September 1971, he unsuccessfully challenged
Bobo Brazil for the
WWWF 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 with
Jimmy Valiant. Valiant left the WWWF later that month.
Texas (1972) In March 1972, Stasiak began appearing with the Texas-based
Big Time Wrestling and
Houston Wrestling promotions, facing opponents such as
Bull Curry,
Johnny Valentine, and
Toru Tanaka. In June 1972, Stasiak defeated
Red Bastien to win the
NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship at the
Big Time Wrestling Parade of Champions event in the
Texas Stadium. His reign lasted until October 1972 when he lost to
José Lothario in a
cage match in the
San Antonio Municipal Auditorium. He also briefly held the
NWA Brass Knuckles Championship. Stasiak left Texas in December 1972, with his final appearance being a loss to
Fritz Von Erich in a
Texas death cage match in the
Dallas Sportatorium on
Boxing Day.
All Japan Pro Wrestling (1973) In February 1973, Stasiak appeared in Japan with the recently founded
All Japan Pro Wrestling promotion. Wrestling as "Crusher Stasiak", he participated in the "Giant Series Total War" tour. His opponents included
Motoshi Okuma, Munenori Higo, and
Thunder Sugiyama. During the tour, he occasionally teamed with American wrestler
Harley Race. In his final match, he and Race defeated
Giant Baba and
Samson Kutsuwada in a
two-out-of-three-falls match.
World Wide Wrestling Federation (1973–1974) Stasiak returned to the WWF in August 1973, adopting the
Grand Wizard as his
manager. 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 faced
André the Giant in a series of
six-man tag team matches. On December 1, 1973, in the
Philadelphia Arena, Stasiak defeated Morales for the WWWF Heavyweight Championship, ending Morales' nearly three-year long reign. The match ended when Stasiak applied a
full 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; journalist
Dave 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 a
road 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 the
Eastern 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 wrestler
Frank Dusek, the WWWF wanted to make
Bruno 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 a
transitional 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". During his brief reign, Stasiak had a single successful title defense, wrestling
Chief Jay Strongbow to a no contest on December 7, 1973. Stasiak faced Sammartino in a rematch in January 1974, but failed to regain the title. In March 1974, Stasiak teamed with
Larry Hennig to unsuccessfully challenge
Dean Ho and
Tony Garea for the
WWWF Tag Team Championship. Stasiak continued regularly appearing with the WWF until October 1974.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1974) In April and May 1974, Stasiak toured Japan with
New Japan Pro-Wrestling, competing in its inaugural
World League round-robin tournament. On the first day of the tournament, he wrestled
Antonio Inoki to a time limit draw in an exhibition match held in
Korakuen Hall in
Tokyo. 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.
St. Louis Wrestling Club (1975) In February 1975, Stasiak began wrestling for the
St. Louis Wrestling Club, where he regularly appeared on its television show
Wrestling at the Chase. His repeat opponents included
Pat O'Connor,
Édouard Carpentier, and
Red Bastien. In October 1975, Stasiak unsuccessfully challenged visiting
WWWF Heavyweight Champion Bruno Sammartino. Stasiak left St. Louis in December 1975, with his final match being a loss to
Terry Funk in the
Kiel Auditorium.
Maple Leaf Wrestling (1974–1978) In July 1974 he began to wrestle for
Frank Tunney's Ontario promotion,
Maple Leaf Wrestling, he fought
Tiger Jeet Singh for the Asian title at
Maple Leaf Gardens. During the match
The Sheik attacked Singh causing Stasiak to lose. From there Stasiak went into a series of matches with The Sheik for the
NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. Stasiak's popularity rose as fans discovered that he was indeed a Canadian. Later on he fought
Jack Brisco for the
NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1975,
Terry Funk for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1976,
Superstar Billy Graham WWWF Heavyweight Championship in 1977 and
Nick Bockwinkel for the
AWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1978.
Georgia Championship Wrestling (1976) In January 1976, Stasiak began wrestling for the
Atlanta-based
Georgia Championship Wrestling promotion. He regularly teamed with other
heels such as
Abdullah the Butcher,
Moondog Mayne, and
The Spoiler. In March 1976, Stasiak defeated
Dick Slater to win the
NWA Macon Heavyweight Championship. He lost the title to
Mr. Wrestling II the following month. In September 1976, Stasiak and
Killer Brooks unsuccessfully challenged The Black Bombers for the
NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship. Stasiak left Georgia Championship Wrestling in October 1976.
World Wide Wrestling Federation (1975–1979) 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 challenged
Billy White Wolf and
Chief Jay Strongbow for the
WWWF Tag Team Championship, with his partners including
Baron Mikel Scicluna,
Baron von Raschke, and
Tor Kamata. Throughout spring 1977, Stasiak repeatedly unsuccessfully challenged Sammartino. During the remainder of 1977 and early 1978, Stasiak's regular opponents included
Gorilla Monsoon,
Ivan Putski,
Larry Zbyszko, and
Peter Maivia. In April 1978, Stasiak unsuccessfully challenged
Bob Backlund, who had recently won the WWWF Heavyweight Championship. Over the following months, he teamed with a series of partners including
Butcher Vachon,
George Steele, and
Johnny Rodz to challenge WWWF Tag Team Champions
Dino Bravo and
Dominic 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 and
Tony Garea. Stasiak left the WWWF in March 1979.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (1979) 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 to
Riki Choshu, was broadcast on
TV Asahi. During the tour, Stasiak faced opponents such as
Antonio Inoki,
Riki Choshu,
Seiji Sakaguchi, and
Tatsumi Fujinami. On several occasions, he teamed with fellow Canadian wrestler
Tiger Jeet Singh and with the Japanese wrestler
Masa Saito.
Late career (1979–1984) 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. In mid-1980, Stasiak appeared with the
Louisiana, United States–based
Mid-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 the
NWA Texas Tag Team Championship and the
NWA Brass Knuckles Championship. Stasiak retired from professional wrestling in 1984. == Retirement ==