(1946-10-10)10 October 1946 Camberwell, London, England
Died
29 November 1998(1998-11-29) (aged 52) Prestwich, Greater Manchester, England
Cause of death
Lymphoma
Spouse(s)
Rita Boylan
Children
3
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)
Giant Haystacks
Haystacks Calhoun
Loch Ness
Loch Ness Monster
Luke McMasters
Billed height
6 ft 11 in (211 cm)[1][2]
Billed weight
685 lb (311 kg)[2]
Billed from
Scottish Highlands (as Loch Ness)[3]
Debut
1967
Retired
1996
Martin Austin Ruane (10 October 1946 – 29 November 1998)[4] was a British professional wrestler of Irish parentage, best known by the ring name Giant Haystacks. He was one of the best-known wrestlers on the British wrestling scene in the 1970s and 1980s. He also worked in both Canada and the United States under the name Loch Ness Monster or simply Loch Ness.
Ruane was known for his massive physical size, billed as standing 2.11 m (6 ft 11 in) tall and weighing from 31 stone (430 lb; 200 kg) at the beginning of his career to 48 stone (670 lb; 300 kg) by the end of it; at his heaviest, he weighed 49 stone 13 pounds (699 lb; 317 kg).[5][6] In the 1970s he formed a heel team with Big Daddy. After Big Daddy turned face and the team broke up, the two engaged in a long-running, high drawing feud. During his career, Ruane held the European Heavyweight Championship and British Heavyweight Championship in the UK, and won the Stampede International Tag Team Championship in Canada, with the Dynamite Kid.
^"Giant Haystacks". Online World of Wrestling. 14 July 2023.
^ ab"Inside the Dungeon of Doom". WWE. 30 October 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
^Cite error: The named reference big was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Szreter, Adam (3 December 1998). "Obituary: Giant Haystacks". The Independent. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
^Cite error: The named reference ODNB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Giant Haystacks". The Herald. 4 December 1998. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
"GiantHaystacks". In summer 1975, he moved to Joint Promotions, where he formed a heel tag team with Big Daddy (also a heel at this point). Haystacks'...
fame in his home country as "GiantHaystacks", a modified version of Calhoun's gimmick. Ruane first wrestled as "Haystacks Calhoun", a direct copy of the...
appearing on television as a heel, he teamed with GiantHaystacks. After splitting with Haystacks, he became a fan favourite and the top star of Joint...
feud with the tag team of future mutual arch enemies Big Daddy and GiantHaystacks, as well as his December 1977 televised voluntary unmasking ceremony...
mid-1960s, making household names out of Adrian Street, Mick McManus, GiantHaystacks, Jackie Pallo, Big Daddy, Mark Rocco, Steve Veidor, Dynamite Kid, and...
bouncer at an on-campus pub while studying at Rutgers University. GiantHaystacks (Martin Ruane), British professional wrestler. Lenny McLean, British...
Those Magnificent Men and the multiple award-winning Big Daddy Vs GiantHaystacks. The author and illustrator Philip Reeve, a friend and collaborator...
from the United Kingdom: Kendo Nagasaki, Big Daddy, Mick McManus, and GiantHaystacks. Within Career Mode, a wrestler will be working for a specific promoter...
claimed to be the CWA version was contested between Kendo Nagasaki and GiantHaystacks at Fairfield Halls Croydon in 1991 before BBC cameras for the documentary...
formerly known as Luke McMasters, as new character GiantHaystacks. Originally called "Haystacks Calhoun", he was patterned after the similar American...
Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship on October 25, 1992, defeating GiantHaystacks. He then successfully defended the title against The Warlord at Euro...
officially became Kendo's new manager. In October 1991, he feuded with GiantHaystacks, and at one point was robbed of a World title (said to be the CWA World...
Brown, Ringo Starr, Barbara Bach, Linda McCartney, Philip Jackson, GiantHaystacks, Tracey Ullman, Ralph Richardson, George Martin, John Bennett, John...
were wrestlers (e.g., Dave Bautista, Road Warrior Animal, Rob Terry, GiantHaystacks and Rick Rude). Some, including Bautista, are also actors (e.g., Mr...
Big Daddy in 1975, Dave Taylor and Robbie Brookside both in 1988 and GiantHaystacks in 1991. Kendo Nagasaki (imposter)/ King Kendo (original) Joint Promotions...
Wembley Arena that year on the undercard of the famous Big Daddy versus GiantHaystacks grudge match, but this was cancelled after Lee returned to Japan due...
the largest crowd for a U.K. based promotion since the Big Daddy vs. GiantHaystacks match at Wembley Arena in 1981. It was larger than any TNA crowd in...
Laura (31 December 2016). "Wrestling legend Klondyke Kate reveals GiantHaystacks' heart of gold - and her own heartbreak". Mirror. Retrieved 14 June...
tour of the United Kingdom and faced Terrance Taylor, Jimmy Garvin, GiantHaystacks, and Oz (Kevin Nash). During this early period, he was billed as Steve...
them. Topics include The Grande Odalisque by Ingres, Marlon Brando, GiantHaystacks, celebrity, consumerism and dysmorphia; all reiterating the genius...
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