Stan Stasiak
| Stan Stasiak | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Birth name | George Emile Stipich |
| Born |
April 13, 1937 Arvida, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | June 19, 1997 (aged 60) Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Cause of death | Heart failure |
| Family | Shawn Stasiak (son) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Stan Stasiak |
| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Billed weight | 270 lb (120 kg) |
| Billed from | Buzzard Creek, Oregon |
| Debut | 1958 |
| Retired | 1984 |
George Emile Stipich (April 13, 1937 - June 19, 1997) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Stan Stasiak. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in the 1970s, where he won the WWWF Heavyweight Championship in 1973.
Born George Stipich, Stasiak made his wrestling debut in Quebec, Canada. He used the nickname "Crusher" early in his career and used a bear hug as a finisher. Later on in his career, he adopted the heart punch as his finishing move.
During his stay with World Wide Wrestling Federation from 1971-1979, Stasiak would get one of the biggest opportunities of his career, as he won the WWWF Heavyweight Championship on December 1, 1973, defeating Pedro Morales, who held the championship for nearly three years. Unlike wrestlers today, Stasiak was given little notice about winning the title before it took place. According to him, he was sitting in the dressing room in Philadelphia and the 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 last two months. However, this time it was different, as the agent told Stasiak that Morales was to give him a belly to back suplex and as the ref makes the count, Stasiak raises his shoulder up after two, while Morales' shoulder stays down, thus Stasiak would win the championship. According to friend and fellow wrestler Frank Dusek, the company wanted to make Bruno Sammartino its champion again, but did not want Sammartino to defeat then champion Morales in the process, so they needed a heel wrestler to win it. Stasiak was used as a transition champion, defeating Morales for the championship belt and holding it for just nine days before dropping it to Sammartino on December 10, 1973.
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