Hans Schmidt

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This week’s column is dedicated to the memories that I had, for the pat 40 years, with the sometimes-called "Blitzkrieg from Berlin," or the "Teutonic Terror," depending on where he was wrestling.

His given name is Guy Larose, and he is originally from Quebec in Canada. He was born February 7, 1925, and, throughout his career, he was at 250 pounds and stood 6'4".

He was given the name “Hans Schmidt" by a promoter in Boston by the name of Paul Bowser. The promoter thought he looked the part of a German and made him an overnight sensation wherever he went. It wasn't long afterwards that he shaved his head and remained that way until he retired.

Schmidt lived the character 24/7 and often faced a huge amount of rejection by restaurants, hotels and other places of business he tried to enter. The Second World War had not been over too long, and there was still a lot of animosity over the treatment of troops that had been captured in battle and also the concentration camps that Hitler set up to eradicate some nations.

Schmidt was a very good amateur wrestler before turning professional in the early 1950's. His start was in the Montreal area, where wrestling would draw around 10,000 fans each week into the ice hockey arenas.

It wasn't long before word got out what a tough individual he was. He would literally take a hold on a guy and beat him to the mats and sometimes break bones in the process.

As he told Slam wrestling, "In those days, it's not like today," explained Schmidt. "Today anybody can be a wrestler if they're big and full of muscles. But in those days, it was harder. You had to have had a background of some kind, like an amateur wrestler because there were a lot of old-timers that were hard to get through.

“They would take you and grind you up like a pound of ground beef. Then, while you were laying on the mats, bleeding and totally exhausted, they would ask if this is really what you want to do for a living.

“Most of the boys would just give up and go get regular jobs. I stuck with it and began to face some of the big names in the business.”

Matches with Verne Gagne, Edouard Carpentier, Whipper Billy Watson and Johnny Powers were classics at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Bulldog Brower, Hans Herman and Fritz Von Erich were great tag partners with him.

Lots of riots erupted during, and sometimes after, matches. Schmidt had three cars totally destroyed in the parking garages before the R.C.M.P. could contain the rioting fans.

When Hans went to Chicago, he had to be brought in by police car to the old Marigold Gardens arena because of fans throwing things like rocks and bricks at his car. They even tried to set fires under it.

Schmidt had some memorable matches there as well. One that stands out was when he took Dick "the Bruiser" as a tag partner against the Volkoff Brothers. It ended up with the Bruiser and Schmidt beating the snot out of each other and inciting a riot going back to the dressing room.

A week later, they came back against each other and completely sold out the building. People were actually cheering for the Bruiser over Schmidt.

Hans had a big feud with Yukon Eric in Buffalo and another with Chief Don Eagle in Chicago. In St. Louis, he fought Pat O'Connor for the NWA belt on a couple of cards. In Detroit, he feuded with Bobo Brazil and Fred Curry.

Schmidt is also an accomplished scuba diver, something he prides himself in doing. He told me a story of how, once, he went into the water feet first and ended up stuck in mud up to his waist before he could stop the plunge. It took him almost all his air tank to get loose and get back to the boat some distance above him.

He toured Japan and a lot of Europe before he retired to north of Montreal in the late 70's. When asked what he was doing now, he shouted out, "NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I am up in the hills in the Laurentians, taking life very easy and doing a lot of skiing.”

A lot of the guys he wrestled will tell you how hurting those high top boots of his were when they got kicked by him. One time that I wrestled him on TV in Dayton, Ohio in the late 60's, I got taught a wrestling lesson. It was all about respect and humility for an old timer. I could tell you the size of those size 15 boots for almost a week later as I had their print on my chest for that long.

I am glad that he and I are both retired. Continue to enjoy life as citizen … Guy Larose ... a/k/a Hans Schmidt.

Percival A. Friend, Retired
The Epitome of Wrestling Managers

2003 BWC Hall of Fame Inductee
2004 CAC Hall of Fame Inductee
2006 LWA Hall of Fame Inductee