Every hero needs their supervillain, which was ideal because Giant Haystacks was the only wrestler who could match up to the superstar that was Big Daddy.
While Shirley Crabtree (Big Daddy’s real name) was the king of wrestling in Britain, he would have been nothing without his former partner and longtime rival Giant Haystacks in the opposite corner to bump bellies with.
The 48-stone, six-foot-eleven monster terrified children all over the children and made even the most manly of men shriek in fear. He was as close to a real-life monster as any wrestler ever was, even towering over Andre The Giant during their match against one another.
However, the man behind the gimmick was anything but. The real Giant Haystacks was a smart man, one who loved to talk the ears off of anybody who would listen about the time he met Beatles legend Paul McCartney.
He Wrestled As Luke McMasters Before Becoming Giant Haystacks
Every supervillain has their origin story and Giant Haystacks was no different. Before he donned the famous moniker, he was born Martin Ruane, a 14lb and 6oz baby born to an English mother and Irish father.
There were rumours he had an Irish grandfather who stood seven feet five inches tall, but that is likely a myth.
While originally born in London, the family moved up to Salford when he was just three years old. This mixed national identity would become a key part of his character going forward, stoking the Irish/English tensions that existed in the 20th century. (Finlay also did this with his character in the 1980s when he fought William Regal).
He was always a large lad and school did not agree with him, although the other wrestlers always noted how intelligent Giant Haystacks was.
Robbie Brookside in The Wrestling noted how the pair would talk for hours about topics like religion or politics, something you wouldn’t expect from a man like Haystacks. He was also a pacifist and only saw wrestling as a way to express himself artistically, growing to love the sport by the end of his career.
He left school at 14 to build motorways, while also using his size to his advantage while bouncing in bars. It was during Haystacks’ time working the doors that he was convinced to make the move into professional wrestling.
This occurred during a chance meeting with Billy Graham – not to be confused with the American wrestler “Superstar” Billy Graham. He convinced him to get into the business in 1967 and join the Wrestling Federation of Great Britain.
He didn’t spend long there before his massive size got him noticed. While his actual wrestling ability was minimal, Brian Dixon saw money in the man who was now going as Luke McMasters and claiming to be Irish.
Dixon took inspiration from American wrestler Haystacks Calhoun, who had a similar build to his British counterpart. He took on the name wholesale before changing it slightly, becoming known as Giant Haystacks for the first time.
He spent a few years with Brian Dixon and became a big draw, touring the country as the new monster heel for All Star Promotions. No footage of these matches exists, due to Joint Promotions‘ monopoly on TV wrestling until the late-1980s.
Big Daddy vs Giant Haystacks Dominated Wrestling & British Culture
Giant Haystacks’ career on TV was intertwined with Big Daddy, right until the end.
He was brought into Joint Promotions by Max Crabtree in 1974, working live events up and down the country and becoming a big draw as a top heel.
This earned Giant Haystacks his first televised opportunity but as the tag team partner of his future rival. He teamed with Big Daddy on his TV debut in Southport in June 1975, as the new monster tag team defeated The Saints in a quick, dominant match.
By this time he was “just” 28 stone and in good shape, although his weight would go up and up until the end of his career. Daddy wasn’t in great shape though and was already in his fifties, and had spent some time out of the ring after winning the British Heavyweight Championship in the 1960s.
The pair became a dominant duo but the fans quickly picked their favourite from the team. Big Daddy, the former Battling Guardsman whose brother Max booked the promotion, was cheered by the fans (even getting cheered when he unmasked Kendo Nagasaki in 1977) and eventually turned babyface to begin feuding with Giant Haystacks.
They wrestled numerous times, including at the famous battle at Wembley Arena in 1984 that was said to have drawn 10s of millions of viewers. Their rivalry catapulted wrestling back into the mainstream and made huge stars of both men.
British wrestling continued to enjoy both these men for another decade as they butted bellies up and down the country. The pair wrestled more than 30 times in singles and tag matches all the way up to 1988, although each bout came with diminishing interest and match quality.
By the time their 1981 clash came about, Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks were a spent force. Their star power was at an all-time high but in the ring, there wasn’t much there.
Their match lasted less than three minutes and ended via countout. This may sound terrible, and you would be right, it was. It also helped kill the perception of wrestling as a sport in Britain, although fans still turned out in droves to see these huge fat men battling it out on a regular basis.
You can read our in-depth article about the Big Daddy vs Giant Haystacks feud and its impact on British culture here.
Alongside Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks Became A Massive Wrestling Superstar
Following their clash at Wembley Stadium, Giant Haystacks continued to battle Big Daddy in many more matches, albeit with diminishing returns.
As the years wore on, both men got worse and worse in the ring, yet their stardom grew even bigger. They would continue to wrestle each other all the way throughout the 1980s until ITV cancelled the wrestling in 1988.
These would usually be in tag team matches, neither man was really up for a prolonged singles encounter. They would team with the smaller, less popular stars to take all the punishment before tagging in for a few belly bumps to send the crowd home happy.
The list of wrestlers who tagged with Giant Haystacks and Big Daddy in these encounters is a who’s who of wrestling royalty. The likes of William Regal, Fit Finlay, Dynamite Kid and the British Bulldog both teamed with these giants, with varying success and vast injuries suffered.
While Big Daddy had the TV shows, books and records, Giant Haystacks was also featured regularly on all sorts of things.
He had regular TV appearances and interviews, even appearing in an advert for Skips crisps in the 1980s. He humorously remarked about how light and airy the crisps are, with another wrestler bouncing off his belly as he said the famous line, “Dainty, aren’t they?”.
His acting career wasn’t limited to adverts as he extended his career out into the world of cinema. Giant Haystacks had a small part in the Oscar-winning A Quest For Fire, but his biggest role came alongside Paul McCartney in the movie Give My Regards To Broad Street.
The film was a critical and commercial success but Haystacks cemented a friendship with the former The Beatles member. He would regularly take his son to see Haystacks wrestling and the wrestler regularly spoke about his friendship with the singer.
He Found Success In WCW & Almost Wrestled Hulk Hogan
Giant Haystacks Died In 1998 But His Legacy Still Lives on
Haystacks retired after returning to Britain following his cancer diagnosis. While his final match took place in WCW, he still managed to make public appearances from time to time, his giant frame making him instantly recognisable even a decade after leaving television.
He would live another two years after leaving the United States, being cared for by his wife at their home in Prestwich, Greater Manchester.
Giant Haystacks was just 52 years old when he died, although that is probably not a shocking age considering his immense size and weight. At his heaviest, his weight ballooned to almost 700 lbs (49 stone 13lbs), which even his nearly seven-foot frame couldn’t carry delicately.
The country mourned the loss of this wrestler, many remembering his battles with Big Daddy (who died two years earlier) with fondness. Yes, they were terrible but the childhood glee of seeing these two men in the ring was something nobody could take away.
The legacy of Giant Haystacks lives on, nearly thirty years after he passed away. Whenever the WWE or AEW come to town, the wrestlers are bombarded with questions about Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks, despite many of them not being born when they wrestled on TV.
When WWE brought Clash at the Castle to Cardiff in 2022, the city centre was inundated with old grannies asking if Haystacks vs Daddy was on the card. The man ascended from wrestling legend to mythological figure, standing 12 foot tall and 12 stone wide in subsequent retellings of his battle.
There is no doubt that Giant Haystacks is Britain’s most famous heel and only beaten by Big Daddy in terms of popularity. His sheer size and frightening appearance were something nobody could replicate and likely never will be.
