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His 600 pounds are weighing heavily on wrestler 'Maximum Capacity' Stanco
By Alex Marvez
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted May 21 2007
Mike Stanco is a big guy. A huge guy.
"I've got a unique look," he says. "I think I can be something special."
By day, Stanco -- 6 feet tall, 600 pounds -- does accounts payable/receivable and payroll for a Fort Lauderdale drywall company.
But it's his moonlighting job as a pro wrestler that has earned him the name Maximum Capacity.
"He's one of the very unique people in the business," says "Fabulous" Frank Munguia, Stanco's manager and the promoter for Davie-based Division One Pro Wrestling.
Since 2000, Stanco, of Sunrise, has dished faux pain on the local "rasslin'" circuit and on tours of Japan and Austria. Among his career highlights: matches with established performers like Jerry "The King" Lawler and former Extreme Championship Wrestling kingpin Masato Tanaka.
"Most people my size can't do anything, and I'm wrestling. But it's catching up with me," says Stanco, 38. "For years, I thought I was invincible. I didn't think I'd ever get sick."
He's been hospitalized four times this year because of heart-related ailments and trouble with sores and diabetic ulcers that develop when too much fluid builds in his legs. And poor health has kept him from landing a spot with a major wrestling promotion, he says.
Still, he dreams of parlaying his girth into celebrity, even though he wasn't picked to appear on The Biggest Loser, a weight-loss reality show.
"How do you not pick me?" says Stanco, chuckling.
"He's not just your usual monster," Manguia says. "He not only looks imposing, he can talk."
After a recent match at Fort Lauderdale's Beach Place, Stanco talked about his heft, his health and fame.
On his legacy: "I'm not trying to be conceited, but I believe I'm the best big man this business has ever seen. Better than Yokozuna, Andre [the Giant], Big Show and all those guys. None of those guys are able to move the way I do inside the ring."
On being taunted: "When I'm in the ring, I love it for you to stare at me [and] call me every name in the book."
Out of the ring: "When I'm walking around and not wrestling, I hate when people look at me. I'm so self-conscious. I don't like people making remarks. I have a real problem with that."
On his appetite: "In one day, I know I've eaten more than 20,000 calories easy. I may have a McDonald's meal where I'll have four double cheeseburgers, two large fries and a 20-piece [McNuggets]. That's about 4,000 calories. Then if you get a bag of chips and a thing of juice, that's another 2,000."
On his relationship with food: "When you're this size and you have nothing, food is all you have. For 15, 20 minutes of eating, you know you're going to be sorry later. But in that time, you forget all your problems."
On fame: "It's not so much for the money. I love being popular. Love me or hate me, I don't really care. But I want you to talk about me."
Alex Marvez can be reached at amarvez@sun-sentinel.com.
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