Martin Ruane
| Giant Haystacks | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Birth name | Martin Austin Ruane |
| Born |
10 October 1947 Camberwell, London, England |
| Died | 29 November 1998 (aged 51) Prestwich, Greater Manchester, England |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Giant Haystacks Loch Ness Loch Ness Monster Luke McMasters |
| Billed height | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) |
| Billed weight | 48 st 13 lb (685 lb; 311 kg) |
| Billed from | Scottish Highlands (as Loch Ness) |
| Debut | 1967 |
Martin Austin Ruane (10 October 1947 – 29 November 1998) was an English professional wrestler. Best known by the ring name Giant Haystacks he was one of the most well known wrestlers on the British wrestling scene in the 1970s and 1980s. He also worked in both Canada and the United States under the name "Loch Ness Monster" or simply "Loch Ness".
Ruane was known for his massive physical size, billed as standing 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) tall and weighing 48 stone 13 lb (685 lb; 311 kg) at his heaviest. In the 1970s he formed a heel (those that portray the bad guys) team with Big Daddy and later had a long-running, high drawing feud with Big Daddy as the team broke up. During his career he held the European Heavyweight Championship and British Heavyweight Championship in the UK and won the Stampede International Tag Team Championship twice, with Dynamite Kid and Bret Hart.
Ruane was born in Camberwell, London, weighing 14 lb 6 oz (6.5 kg). His parents were from County Mayo, Ireland. When he was three years old, in 1949, Ruane and his family moved from London to Broughton in Salford, Lancashire, which remained his home. He worked as a labourer and a nightclub bouncer before a friend suggested he take up professional wrestling as a career.
Ruane began wrestling in 1967, initially for the independent WFGB as Luke McMasters (later incorrectly reported as being his legal name). In the early 1970s, Ruane worked for Wrestling Enterprises (of Birkenhead), where he was billed as Haystacks Calhoun, after the American wrestling star William Calhoun who had wrestled under that name in NWA: All-Star Wrestling and the World Wide Wrestling Federation. Ruane's name was subsequently modified to Giant Haystacks.
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