So many Polish wrestlers either changed their names to become the "every man" sort (like Steve O, Crusher), or they became total stereotypes (like Ivan Putski or Mighty Igor). Was there any particular reason why you stuck with the Wiskoski name and never capitalized on it, other than occasionally referring to yourself as The Polish Prince?

I would say I did not know any difference. The promoter who asked me to work in the business thought Ed Wiskoski was a good name with good recognition in the Midwest. Everyone knew the toughest defensive lineman to emerge out of Northwest Missouri State University was a Pollack from St. Joseph, Missouri named Ed Wiskoski.

I did not want to look like nor was I built like either Ivan or Igor, Besides these were Pollocks from the inferior side of Poland who were short in stature (under 5'8") and could never measure up to my physical standards. It is a good thing they and their short families escaped prior to the Germany invasion otherwise both them would have been a part of "Sophie's Choice" or exterminated in one of the Polish extermination camps.

Let’s not forget, too, that my Polish language skills were limited to Dobra (a.k.a. "Dobcha") and other obscenities that were not appropriate for prime time. My parents forbid the language to be spoken except at large family gatherings, which happened twice a year. Both my parents spoke broken English, and most Pollocks tried to cover their tracks by changing there name. I did not know my grandfather’s real name until I was sixteen, as he was always introduced as Fred Wilkens. When he died I discovered he was really Stanislaus Wis(alphabet), which was too much for would-be employers to spell. He changed his name to Wilkens so as not to be a Pollock. I suppose this had some impact on my keeping my name intact. But as Popeye says, "I am what I am." I “was what I was”: a high school football player who, like most other Polish kids, got a kick out of hearing his name over the loud speaker and radio in that Midwestern town.

When that promoter (who was Greek) anointed me with the same name I was called betwixt 1 and 23 it worked for me just fine, but not too well for the pro wrestling community. That name did not draw one dime. When I got back to the Central States (as wrestling historians like to call Bob Geigel’s old territory), Geigel decided that I was going to be called "Easy Ed Wiskoski" because of my easy-going nature and interview style. Also I did not bitch about the payoffs, so I was easy to fuck over as well.

Even though your name is Wiskoski, it was spelled and mispronounced as "Wiskowski." How did this change come about?

I suppose by ignorance and the inability to pass on information in plain English. But it truthfully all started at Ellis Island so many years ago, where the illiterate, non-Polish bastards at the intake point were not able to understand a Slavic language. Instead of trying to find out the correct way to spell a name they simply gave the person a name spelled in their version of Hooked on Phonics. I had three uncles: Darrell Wiskowzski, Darrell Wiscowzski and then there was Darrell Witcowzkit, What my great aunt lacked in imagination the Ellis Island crew made up for with vivid spelling inaccuracies.

As I said, It was big Bob Geigel who gave me the name of "Easy Ed Wiskoski" because I did not bitch when getting fucked in Memorial Hall on the payoff each week. I have a whole story on Memorial Hall fuckings, but it will have to wait ‘till the death of some or the release of my book, whichever comes first.

There was a guy named Bill Kersten who worked his way up from usher at the Memorial Hall to ring announcer all the way to being The Voice of All-Star Wrestling (Central States version). This guy had the ability to absolutely butcher anyone’s name. He was a genuinely nice guy, but when you work for the KCPL (Kansas City Power & Light) and All-Star Wrestling at the same time maybe it does things to your ability to pronounce names correctly.

It was Bill Kersten who coined the great wrestling phrase, "Get those good tickets early because that’s where you get those good tickets.” When he said that during an interview with the Oates Brothers I thought they would shit themselves on TV.