Ivan Putski
Ivan Putski
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| Ivan Putski | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | Józef Bednarski[1] |
| Born | (1941-01-21) January 21, 1941[1] Kraków, Poland[2] |
| Residence | Austin, Texas, United States |
| Children | Scott Putski |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Ivan Putski[1] Jim Bednarski[3] |
| Billed height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1] |
| Billed weight | 110 kg (243 lb)[1] 129 kg (284 lb)[1] |
| Billed from | Kraków, Poland[1] |
| Debut | 1968[3] |
| Retired | 1987[4] |
Józef Bednarski (born January 21, 1941) is a Polish-American former professional wrestler and bodybuilder, best known by the ring name Ivan Putski.[1] He was given the nicknames "The Polish Hammer" and "Polish Power".
Putski is a former WWF World Tag Team Champion with Tito Santana.[1] He had a famous feud with Superstar Billy Graham over the WWF Championship, which led to many pose-downs, arm wrestling bouts, and long matches between the two. Other rivals included The Iron Sheik, Ivan Koloff, and Jesse Ventura, who would refer to Putski as "Puduski" when commentating for the WWF. He was first Polish Wrestler to perform in WWF (now WWE).
Contents
1 Early life
2 Professional wrestling
2.1 Early career (1968–1974)
2.2 World (Wide) Wrestling Federation (1974–1987)
2.3 Other promotions (1981–1987)
2.4 Return to WWF (1995)
2.5 International Championship Wrestling (1996)
2.6 Retirement
3 Strongman career
4 Personal life
5 Championships and accomplishments
6 Notes
7 External links
Early life[edit]
Putski was born in Kraków and migrated to the United States at a young age.[3][2] He and his family arrived in Texas, where Putski began his professional wrestling career. He stood 5 ft 6 in and weighed around 225 lbs. In his earlier days, he was weighed in at the 250 lb mark.[2]
Professional wrestling[edit]
Early career (1968–1974)[edit]
Putski won the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship with Jose Lothario twice in 1973.[1]
Putski was a fixture on the Dallas-Ft. Worth wrestling scene and was one of its most popular personalities. He was routinely the feature act at The Sportatorium, a wrestling-only arena in an industrial section near Downtown Dallas. Putski's act consisted of being a happy-go-lucky, often aloof buffoon, who would "miraculously" pin his opponent. Putski was often introduced as a former concentration camp survivor, only adding to his sympathetic appeal to audiences of all ages.
In mid-1974, Putski worked with the American Wrestling Association.[1]
Prior to leaving the AWA, Ivan dropped most of his weight by getting into bodybuilding. Ivan kept himself fairly trim at the 215 - 220 pound mark.
World (Wide) Wrestling Federation (1974–1987)[edit]
Putski debuted in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) in 1974.[2] While in the WWWF, Putski feuded with many wrestlers, including Bruiser Brody, Stan Hansen and Ivan Koloff.[2] On June 25, 1976 at Showdown at Shea, Putski defeated Baron Mikel Scicluna.[1] Four years later on August 9, Putski was again victorious at the event's sequel, defeating Johnny Rodz.[1]
On October 22, 1979, Putski teamed with Tito Santana to defeat Johnny and Jerry Valiant to win the WWF World Tag Team Championship.[1] They held the title for six months before losing it to The Wild Samoans.[2]
Putski worked in the renamed World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the 1980s, primarily feuding with Roddy Piper and Sgt. Slaughter. He took a hiatus from wrestling in 1986. He soon returned to the independent circuit, also making occasional appearances in the WWF as a jobber to the stars. His last high-profile feud was in 1984 with Jesse Ventura. His final appearance was in 1987 teaming on television with Junkyard Dog and Superstar Billy Graham in tag team matches.
Other promotions (1981–1987)[edit]
He began to slow down his career in the 1980s.[2] He won his last tag team championship in May 1981, teaming with Wahoo McDaniel to defeat Dory Funk, Jr. and Larry Lane for the SWCW World Tag Team Championship.[1] In November 1985, Randy Savage defeated Ivan Putski in the opening round of the Wrestling Classic.[1]
Return to WWF (1995)[edit]
In 1995, Putski was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame class of 1995 by his son, Scott.[2] The father-and-son team returned in July 1997 to defeat Jerry Lawler and Brian Christopher on Raw is War, in what would be Putski's final match.
International Championship Wrestling (1996)[edit]
After his run in the WWF, several promotions, and his semi-retirement, Putski returned to the ring in the 1990s. In 1996, he joined International Championship Wrestling, as a face. He won several matches in the company, and he was billed as a tough guy. Although he never won a championship of ICW.
Retirement[edit]
After work for several wrestling promotions, mostly, from the independent circuit, Putski retired from full active competition in the decade of the 1990s. After his retirement from wrestling, he had a strongman career. Putski occasionally made appearances in the ring during the years.
In 2010, Putski appeared in a reunion event called "LegendsMania" and he was interviewed.
Strongman career[edit]
Aside from wrestling, Ivan Putski also competed as a strongman. He participated in the 1978 World's Strongest Man competition,[2] finishing eighth in a field of ten competitors.[5] He gained his remarkable leg strength by running up and down the stands at a football stadium near his home in Austin, Texas.
Personal life[edit]
Putski's son, Scott Putski, is also a professional wrestler,[1] having previously worked at World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling.[2] However, Scott did not share the same success that Ivan once had.
From 2000 to 2007, Putski worked as head security guard at Jack C. Hays High School in Buda, Texas.
On January 8, 2012, Ivan Putski was inducted into the Cloverleaf Radio Hall of Fame, Class of 2012.
Championships and accomplishments[edit]
Big Time Wrestling
NWA American Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jose Lothario[1]
NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Jose Lothario[1]
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
PWI Tag Team of the Year (1979) with Tito Santana
- PWI ranked him #170 of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003
- PWI ranked him #92 of the 100 best tag teams of the "PWI Years" with Tito Santana in 2003
Southwest Championship Wrestling
SCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Wahoo McDaniel[1]
World Wrestling Federation
WWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Tito Santana[1]
WWF Hall of Fame (Class of 1995)
Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
Readers' Least Favorite Wrestler (1984)
Worst Wrestler (1984)
Notes[edit]
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstu "Ivan Putski's profile". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-12-17..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ abcdefghij "Hall of Fame profile". WWE.com. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
^ abc Solomon, Brian (2006). WWE Legends. Pocket Books. pp. 138–141. ISBN 978-0-7434-9033-7.
^ "Ivan Putski Profile & Match Listing". IW Database. Retrieved 2011-10-29.
^ "The World's Strongest Man". Theworldsstrongestman.com. Archived from the original on 2008-08-25. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
External links[edit]
- WWE Hall of Fame profile
- Profile at Online World of Wrestling
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CategoryCategories:
- 1941 births
- American male professional wrestlers
- Living people
- Polish emigrants to the United States
- Polish professional wrestlers
- Polish strength athletes
- Professional wrestlers from Texas
- Professional wrestling trainers
- Sportspeople from Kraków
- WWE Hall of Fame (1995) inductees
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