Deaths on August 30

Killer Kowalski, Canadian-American wrestler and trainer (b. 1926)

Walter Kowalski (born Edward Władysław Spulnik; October 13, 1926 – August 30, 2008), known professionally as Killer Kowalski, was a Polish-Canadian professional wrestler.

Kowalski wrestled for numerous promotions during his career, including the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE), and was a known villain professional wrestler. He held numerous championships including the WWWF World Tag Team Championship with Big John Studd billed as The Executioners and managed by Lou Albano.

After retiring in 1977, Kowalski started a professional wrestling school in Malden, Massachusetts and trained many professional wrestlers, including Studd, Triple H, Chyna, Eddie Edwards, Kofi Kingston, Damien Sandow, Fandango, Brittany Brown, April Hunter, John Kronus, Perry Saturn, and Tommaso Ciampa.

In the 1960s, Kowalski claimed to be the only vegetarian professional wrestler.