Paul Oswald Zygowicz, better known by his ring name of Steve Stanlee, was an American professional wrestler from the late 1940s through the 1960s.
20 Facts About Steve Stanlee
1.
2.
Steve Stanlee was the younger brother of professional wrestler Gene Stanlee.
3.
From 1947 to 1948, Steve Stanlee wrestled under the ring name Paul Steve Stanlee for Georgia Championship Wrestling.
4.
Steve Stanlee competed against such wrestlers as Tom Mahoney and Bobby Roberts, winning the majority of these matches.
5.
Gene and Steve Stanlee did train together and had a couple of runs as a tag team, but the two generally stayed on separate career paths.
6.
Notably, Steve Stanlee wrestled Lou Thesz for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship on October 27,1950, two full years before his brother faced Thesz.
7.
Steve Stanlee worked as a jobber, putting over other wrestlers, such as Al Korman and Pat Flanagan.
8.
Steve Stanlee then traveled to California, where he wrestled in the mid-1950s.
9.
Steve Stanlee later returned to wrestle for Capitol Wrestling in the New York area in the late 1950s.
10.
Steve Stanlee did have a longer career in the ring and may in fact be the better known brother among fans of 1960s wrestling.
11.
Steve Stanlee wrestled both as a singles competitor and as part of a tag team, "The Stanlee Steamers", with a kayfabe third "brother", Bob Stanlee.
12.
Unfortunately, Steve Stanlee won few high-profile matches either way and is generally regarded to have been a "jobber to the stars" for much of his career.
13.
Steve Stanlee did win the National Wrestling Alliance's Ohio Heavyweight Championship on July 1,1961, by defeating Frankie Talaber.
14.
Steve Stanlee dropped the belt back to Talaber in a rematch later that year.
15.
Steve Stanlee helped train Buddy Bison, who wrestled for Georgia Championship Wrestling for several years.
16.
From 1964 to 1966, Steve Stanlee wrestled for the World Wide Wrestling Federation.
17.
Steve Stanlee lost the majority of his matches, but he did get victories over Arnold Skaaland and "Baron" Mikel Scicluna in 1965.
18.
Steve Stanlee then returned to Georgia Championship Wrestling, putting over the other talent in that promotion as well.
19.
Late in life, Steve Stanlee appeared in an interview in the Icons Of Wrestling documentary series.
20.
Steve Stanlee died in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, on July 2,2010.