Once his partnership with Stan Holek had run its course, Reggie Lisowski established himself as one of the top villains in the wrestling world.

In the early 1960s, Reggie was billed as Crusher Lisowski or simply Crusher. He used the full nelson as his finishing maneuver and was a top heel in every territory he worked. Reggie's list of opponents during 1960, 1961 and 1962 reads like a Who's who of professional wrestling. 

Crusher battled such luminaries as Haystacks Calhoun, Verne Gagne, Don Eagle, Bearcat Wright, Wilbur Snyder, Sandor Szabo, Edouard Carpentier, Sweet Daddy Siki, Pat O'Connor, Johnny Valentine, Antonino Rocca, Bruno Sammartino, Buddy Rogers and Ricki Starr. During this time period, Lisowski wrestled in many cities like Pittsburgh, Montreal, Indianapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, New York City, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and Omaha. Meeting all those big name wrestlers in several different major cities cemented Crusher's status as one of the top grapplers in the world.

In September of 1962, Crusher decided to compete primarily in the Minnesota based AWA territory headed by Verne Gagne. Lisowski would occasionally accept bookings in Pittsburgh PA, Omaha NE, Fargo ND and Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada but mainly wrestled in Minnesota cities such as Minneapolis, St Paul, Rochester, Duluth, and Mankato. Crusher was very successful during his stay in Minnesota defeating the likes of Dr. Bill Miller, Larry Hennig, Tiny Mills, Doug Gilbert, Bob Geigel, Moose Evans, Stan Kowalski, Bobby Managoff, Rocky Hamilton aka The Missouri Mauler, Hercules Cortez, Dick Steinborn and Butch Levy. Lisowski specialized in violent gimmick bouts such as death matches and saloon matches which were designed to get over Crusher's tough guy and beer drinking persona.