It’s going to be one ‘Killer’ of an auction

SAUGUS – Wrestling fans rejoice. Or better yet, break out your wallets, because Walter “Killer” Kowalski’s personal effects will be hitting the auction block today at Tonya A. Cameron Auctions in Saugus.Cameron will be auctioning off more than 300 lots including everything from Kowalski’s robes and boots from his wrestling days to news clippings, trading cards and action figures.”That’s a real Superman physique,” said owner Tonya A. Cameron as she held an old black and white photo of Kowalski. “It’s way cool. To me these are the fun things. They didn’t have steroids back then. That’s why I can’t get excited about sports today because everyone’s on something.”But while Cameron expects his old wrestling memorabilia to be hot-sellers, there will also be a host of personal items up for auction.Kowalski was an avid pilot and photographer in his free time, and his old pilot log book along with his old Hasselblad and Pentax camera equipment will be up for auction along with vases, dishes and Louis Vuitton suitcases that belonged to him and his wife Theresa.”The robe and the boots, maybe the watch and some of the jewelry, I expect the memorabilia is what the people will go for,” said Cameron.But Cameron said it’s anyone’s guess as to how much some of the items will sell for.”It’s such an emotional business and an unpredictable business,” said Cameron, who has owned the auction house for 12 years. “It’s an unreserved auction. You have to fill your audience. It depends on who’s here so it’s hard to say.”Kowalski, who was born Edward Spulnik in 1926 in Ontario, blazed a trail of destruction through the ranks of the professional wrestling world. Known primarily as a villain, or “heel,” Kowalski wrestled in his first professional match in 1948, and gained a reputation as being a mean and merciless opponent, with the Kowalski Claw becoming his main finishing move.”Now (wrestlers) are making a huge amount of money,” said floor manager Ruth Anne Zanti. “He didn’t make that much money. They were trailblazers. They were the real thing. They didn’t smoke or drink and they took all kinds of holistic healing medications.”In the 1960s and ’70s, Kowalski gained notoriety as fellow wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino’s main nemesis in what was then known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation (now the WWE). After retiring in 1977, he started a wrestling school in Malden, which helped launch the careers of Chyna and Triple H, who, according to Cameroan, is rumored to be interested in Kowalski’s robe and boots.Kowalski worked in real estate in and around Boston after his wrestling days, and after spending his entire life as a bachelor, married Theresa Ferrioli in 2006 at the age of 80. On August 8, 2008, Kowalski suffered a heart attack, and later died on August 30 in Boston.Zanti said she wasn’t a big wrestling fan growing up, but has taken a new appreciate for the hard work wrestlers like Kowalski put in.”I was familiar with the name,” said Zanti. “You’d hear that name. But it was an instant lesson in wrestling. These guys were in serious good shape. There wasn’t all this power and drugs back then.”