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Wrestle Reunion promoter Sal Corrente sent the following remembrances of the late Ed Wiskoski aka Col. DeBeers, among other ring names:
This weekend will be twenty years since the first WrestleReunion which was held in Tampa, Fl at the DoubleTree Hotel. The very first WrestleReunion match featured my friend Col. DeBeers (Ed Wiskowski). I heard today that he passed away at the age of 80.
I got to work with Ed years ago in January 1987 in Denver, Co. I was looking to work for the AWA in Denver, CO as a referee. I was recommended by my friend Sherri Martel. I was brought into the arena but due to a case of mistaken identity I wasn’t going to be used. I went to Jimmy Snuka and told him what was happening he told me to go see Nick Bockwinkel and that Nick would fix everything. Well, that’s exactly what happened. He sent me back to see Gagne who welcomed me to the company. I was told that I could referee a match, and they would watch me. I am not sure, but I think it was Earthquake Ferris vs Boris Zhukov with Adnan Al Kaissie. When I got to the dressing room I was asked to referee the main event so I figured I must have done well. I went to Ed and told him they asked me to do his match. He already knew because they had requested me. It was to be a Coal Miners Glove Match between Col. DeBeers and Jimmy Snuka.
It was going to be a complicated finish they were worried could be messed up. Well, we had the match I thought the match went great. When it was over due to cheating DeBeers was the winner Snuka was laid out and not moving. I had never experienced a crowd reaction like that before. When Snuka was “knocked cold” the crowd was silent it was a pretty good house but you could hear a pin drop.
When I got to back to the dressing room I asked Bockwinkel about the crowd going silent the way it did. He advised me that we were lucky we didn’t have a riot but that we were very close. It was strange to me but I’m sure Nick was right.
When it was time to book WrestleReunion I had the idea for a six-man tag team match. I wanted Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka to team up and after some discussion we got Jimmy Valiant in there with them. On the other side I wanted Bob Orton Jr with Col. DeBeers and Playboy Buddy Rose. I flew out to Portland to meet with Roddy Piper who I knew but wasn’t close to. After hearing what I had in mind and everyone that was on board he agreed. I then met with Ed and Buddy Rose and told them Orton wasn’t going to wrestle even if it meant he couldn’t make the event. It was Buddy Rose who told me to call Bob back and tell him what Buddy told me to tell him. I can’t even remember exactly what it was but Bob laughed and said ok I will do it.
So we had the six man tag and a magical reunion with Piper and Orton after DeBeers and Rose attached him and Piper made the save. It’s a good memory and who knows maybe one day the match will be seen if someone puts out the WrestleReunion tapes.
It’s hard to believe but 19 years and 51 weeks after the first WrestleReunion match The Polish Prince Ed Wiskowski is gone. The first match was on January 29th, 2005, I am told that Ed passed away on January 22nd, 2025, I did track him down and speak to him by phone a couple of years ago I am very glad that I did. I am sure I will think of him often.
His Gimmick would never be used in society today, and it was interesting for sure back then, but he worked it all the way. R.I.P. Col. DeBeers."
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