Józef Bednarski (born January 21, 1941) is a Polish/American former

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

and

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the practice of progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's muscles via hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. It is primarily undertaken for aesthetic ...

, best known by the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

Ivan Putski. He was given the nicknames the "Polish Hammer" and "Polish Power". Putski is a former WWF World Tag Team Champion with

Tito Santana Merced Solis (born May 10, 1953), better known by the ring name Tito Santana, is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, Professional wrestling school, trainer, and retired school teacher. Solis has stayed a Face (profession ...

. He had a famous feud with Superstar Billy Graham over the

WWF Championship The WWE Championship, also referred to as the Undisputed WWE Championship since April 2024, is a men's professional wrestling World championship (professional wrestling), world heavyweight championship created and promoted by the American profe ...

, which led to many pose-downs, arm wrestling bouts, and long matches between the two. Other rivals included

The Iron Sheik Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri (; March 15, 1942 – June 7, 2023), better known by his ring name the Iron Sheik, was an Iranian-American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and actor. To date he is the only Iranian-born champion in WWE histor ...

Ivan Koloff Oreal Donald Perras (August 25, 1942 – February 18, 2017) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "the Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff, where he was billed from Russia and, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, ...

, and

Jesse Ventura Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, political commentator, actor, media personality, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), he ...

, who would refer to Putski as "Puduski" when commentating for the WWF. Putski was the first Polish wrestler to perform in the WWF (now WWE).

Early life

Putski was born in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

in Poland and immigrated to the United States at a young age. He and his family arrived in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, where Putski began his professional wrestling career. He stood 5 ft 10 in and weighed around 225 lbs. In his earlier days, he was weighed in at the 250 lb mark.

Professional wrestling

Early career (1968–1974)

Putski won the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship with José Lothario twice in 1973. 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 the early 1970s, Putski worked for the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The promotion was born out of the Minneapolis ...

(AWA), where he was a fan favorite. It was during this time in the AWA that Putski also first clashed with Superstar Billy Graham, with the two feuding over who was the strongest wrestling in the AWA;. During "Polish Power" Ivan Putski's time in the AWA, anti-Polish phrases where also a mainstay of lead American television series ''

All In The Family ''All in the Family'' is an American sitcoms in the United States, sitcom television series that aired on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979, with a total of 205 episodes. It was later produced as ''Archie Bunker's Pla ...

's'' patriarch

Archie Bunker Archibald "Archie" Bunker is a fictional character from the 1970s American television sitcom ''All in the Family'' and its spin-off '' Archie Bunker's Place'', played by Carroll O'Connor. Bunker, a main character of the series, is a World War II ...

against his Polish-American son-in-law

Michael Stivic Michael Casimir "Mike" Stivic is a fictional character played by Rob Reiner on the 1970s American television sitcom ''All in the Family''. He is the live-in son-in-law of the series' lead character, Archie Bunker, who frequently calls him "Meath ...

. 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 / World Wrestling Federation (1974–1987)

Putski debuted in the

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was an American sports promotion company. Run by Vincent J. McMahon from the 1950s until the 1980s, the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing promotion and later became the holding company ...

(WWWF) in 1974. While in the WWWF, Putski feuded with many wrestlers, including

Bruiser Brody Frank Donald Goodish (June 18, 1946 – July 17, 1988) was an American professional wrestler who earned his greatest fame under the ring name Bruiser Brody. He also worked as King Kong Brody, the Masked Marauder, and Red River Jack. Over the year ...

Stan Hansen John Stanley Hansen II (born August 29, 1949), best known as Stan "the Lariat" Hansen, is an American retired professional wrestler. Hansen is known for his stiff wrestling style, which he attributed to his poor eyesight, and for his gimmick a ...

and

. On June 25, 1976, at Showdown at Shea, Putski defeated Baron Mikel Scicluna. Four years later on August 9, Putski was again victorious at the next Showdown at Shea, defeating Johnny Rodz. He also resumed his feud with Superstar Billy Graham. On October 22, 1979, Putski teamed with a young rookie

to defeat

Johnny Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John (given name), John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly ...

and Jerry Valiant to win the

WWF World Tag Team Championship WWF may refer to: Computing and games *WWF (file format), a campaign for unprintable PDF documents *Windows Workflow Foundation, a software component of the .NET Framework *''Words with Friends'', a mobile computer game franchise Non-profit orga ...

. They held the title for six months before losing it to

The Wild Samoans The Wild Samoans were the professional wrestling tag team of Afa Anoaʻi and Sika Anoaʻi in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). They held 20 tag team championships around the world. Gimmick The Wild ...

. Putski worked in the renamed World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in the 1980s, primarily feuding with

Roddy Piper Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for his work with the Wo ...

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

. In November 1985, Putski lost to

Randy Savage Randy Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler and professional baseball player, best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation ( ...

in the opening round of the Wrestling Classic. His final appearance was in 1987 teaming on television with

Junkyard Dog Sylvester Ritter (December 13, 1952 – June 1, 1998) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and NCAA football, college football player, best known for his time in Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts), Mid-South Wre ...

and Superstar Billy Graham in tag team matches.

Late career (1987–1999)

Putski began to slow down his career in the 1980s. He won his last

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

championship in May 1981, teaming with Wahoo McDaniel to defeat

Dory Funk, Jr. Dorrance Earnest Funk (born February 3, 1941), known professionally as Dory Funk Jr., is an American professional wrestler and wrestling trainer. The son of Dory Funk (Dorrance Wilhelm Funk) and brother of Terry Funk, he was the promoter of the ...

and Larry Lane for the SWCW World Tag Team Championship. He worked for International World Class Championship Wrestling from 1986 to 1988. He then retired from the sport. After his run in the WWF, several promotions, and his semi-retirement, Putski returned to the ring in 1991. Putski made an appearance for International World Class Championship Wrestling teaming with his son, Scott to defeat the Masked Iraqis. Also made an appearance for Global Wrestling Federation in 1992 teaming with Gary Young against Tom and Mike Davis in a no contest. In 1995, Putski was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame class of 1995 by his son, Scott. 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. The father-and-son team returned in July 1997 to defeat

Jerry Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "the King" Lawler, is an American retired color commentator and professional wrestler signed to WWE under a Legends contract. Prior to joining the World Wrestling Federati ...

and

Brian Christopher Brian Christopher Lawler (January 10, 1972 – July 29, 2018) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best remembered for his career in the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), where he performed as "Too Sexy" Brian ...

on '' Raw is War''. Putski wrestled his last match for NWA New Jersey as he defeated

King Kong Bundy Christopher Alan Pallies (November 7, 1955 – March 4, 2019) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, stand-up comedian and actor better known by his wrestling gimmick and ring name, King Kong Bundy. Under this gimmick, he ...

by disqualification on February 27, 1999. After his retirement from wrestling, he had a

strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...

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.

Other media

Video games

Strongman career

Aside from wrestling, Ivan Putski also competed as a

. He participated in the 1978 World's Strongest Man competition, finishing eighth in a field of ten competitors.

Personal life

Putski's son, Scott Putski, is also a professional wrestler, having previously worked at

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

and

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

. From 2000 to 2007, Putski worked as head security guard at Jack C. Hays High School in

Buda, Texas Buda ( ) is a city in Hays County, Texas, United States. The population was 15,108 in 2020, an increase over the figure of 7,295 tabulated in 2010. Buda is part of the Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metropolitan statistical area and is one of Au ...

. On January 8, 2012, Ivan Putski was inducted into the Cloverleaf Radio Hall of Fame, Class of 2012.

Championships and accomplishments

* Big Time Wrestling **

NWA American Tag Team Championship The WCWA World Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area–based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally introduced as ...

( 1 time) – with Jose Lothario ** NWA Texas Tag Team Championship ( 2 times) – with Jose Lothario *''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

'' ** PWI Tag Team of the Year (1979) with

**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 Southwest Championship Wrestling (SCW) was a professional wrestling promotion that was owned by Joe Blanchard and based in San Antonio, Texas, from 1978 to 1985, when it was purchased by Texas All-Star Wrestling and absorbed into that company. ...

/ Texas All-Star Wrestling ** SCW World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Wahoo McDaniel **SCW Heavyweight Championship **Texas 6 - Man Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Big Bubba and Scott Casey *

** WWF Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with

** WWF Hall of Fame ( Class of 1995) *''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Wee ...

'' ** Readers' Least Favorite Wrestler (1984) ** Worst Wrestler (1984)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Putski, Ivan 1941 births American male professional wrestlers Living people Polish emigrants to the United States Polish professional wrestlers Polish strength athletes American male bodybuilders Professional wrestlers from Texas Professional wrestling trainers Sportspeople from Kraków WWE Hall of Fame inductees 20th-century male professional wrestlers World Tag Team Champions (WWE, 1971–2010) WCWA World Tag Team Champions 20th-century American sportsmen