DA CRUSHER IS STILL DA PEOPLE'S CHOICE

Ask him his age and you'll get a dead-eye stare in return. Consider yourself lucky if that's all you get. Because, after 30 years, thousands upon thousands of matches and four or five heavyweight titles thrown in for good measure, Reggie Lisowski - a.k.a. The Crusher - is a very intimidating fellow.

True, his tummy may bulge just a bit these days (he is a devoted consumer of Milwaukee's most famous beverage, after all) and a few wrinkles have found their way beneath his white-blonde shock of hair and dark, darting eyes. But otherwise, he looks mean as ever, at 6 feet and 250 pounds, with his glowering stare and bulging muscles. Even if, as he puts it, "I'll never see 29 again."

Today, The Crusher - opps, Da Crusher, pardon me - is by far the most popular wrestler to the Auditorium faithful. To them, the South Milwaukee native is a legend, "the wrestler who made Milwaukee famous." From the balconey hangs a banner proclaiming his famous phrase: "How 'bout dat?"

Two years ago, Da Crusher's career almost came to an end, when Jerry Blackwell jumped off the top rope and landed on his right arm, causing nerve damage from wrist to shoulder in the process. Pro wrestling, as Da Crusher will attest, is not an easy way to make a living.

"I was laid up for two years; I just came back," he said in his trademark gravel voice. "All the nerves in my right arm were damaged, I had no strength in it at all. The doctors said I'd never wrestle again. But I started my own therapy, and now, it's pretty much back."

He raised his huge right arm, and traced a line from inside his wrist to his armpit.

"To operate, they woulda had to cut me open from there to there," he said. "And then they couldn't be sure it would be any good. I'd been working with weights all my life, so I started out gradually, slowly gaining strength." He tapped the top of his wrist. "There's still no feeling there but I got the strength back. I'm starting to bench press 400 pounds again."

Da Crusher shook his head sadly.

"You gotta be able take the pain, I'll tell you that," he said. "You know, I got 200, 300 stitches in my body. And you got to go to the doctors yourself. There's nobody to baby you. Some football player breaks a toenail, he's got 100 guys looking at him."

Three decades ago, Da Crusher got his start at the Eagles Club, where he worked out with the wrestlers. He started out wrestling four or five matches a week, taking on all comers for which he was paid the princely sum of $5 a night.

Today he wrestles about 200 matches a year, his annual income is in six figures, and he has no thought of retiring soon.

"I like the contact, the one-on-one," he said. "That's what I like about high school wrestling. The 110-pound kid can be as good as the heavyweight, 'cause he's wrestling a guy his size." He paused, then added, "I enjoy hurting a guy before he hurts me. That's the name of the game."

What did he think was the reason he was so popular here?

"I think the working people identify with me, because years ago I worked when I wrestled, too," he said. "I worked at Ladish, Drop Forge, Cudahy Packing House. I was a bricklayer. But finally, I got away from punching the clock."

How 'bout dat?