Pacific Northwest Wrestling
Encyclopedia
Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling
companies
, both past and present, based in Portland
, Oregon
, United States. The first such company (that would later become Portland Wrestling) was founded by Herb Owen in 1925. It was the Northwest territory of the National Wrestling Alliance
from the Alliance's inception in 1948 until 1992. The area was brought to its prime by Herb's son, Don Owen, and this version of Pacific Northwest Wrestling saw many of the top names in the business come through on a regular basis. The Pacific Northwest was considered one of the main pro wrestling territories from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Portland Wrestling was forced to close its doors in July 1992. The closure came as a result of a slowdown in the wrestling business during the early 1990s, a declaration of bankruptcy
by Portland Wrestling's main television sponsor
, and negative fallout from a shift in regulatory emphasis by the Oregon Athletic Commission. The telecasts, which originated on Portland station KPTV, ended in December 1991 and were replaced on KPTV by syndicated WWF
programming.
Portland Wrestling's referee Sandy Barr
purchased the company from the Owen family in 1992 and continued the tradition of professional wrestling in the Pacific Northwest under the name "Championship Wrestling USA."
A new wrestling promotion emerged in 2000, calling itself "Portland Wrestling" and claiming to be a restart of the original Pacific Northwest/Portland Wrestling. It stressed a title lineage (through Len Denton
) to the old NWA PNW Championships. Unlike the Don Owen promotion, the new incarnation of Portland Wrestling was not an NWA member. Due to legal problems the company's owner encountered, the promotion was forced to close down in 2007 and the owner sold his ownership rights to former announcer Don Coss.
In 2009, Robert Spicher, a retired wrestler on the independent circuit
known as Dr. Pain and established local promoter, began illegally promoting events under the name "Portland Wrestling". Spicher came under heavy criticism from the fans for promoting shows without having permission from the owners of the Portland Wrestling name.
and wrestling
. Thye hired Herb Owen as his assistant. While Thye was on a trip home to Australia, Owen had the ownership of the company put in his name. Due to rules in effect within the state of Oregon at that time, Owen now had sole rights to sponsor all boxing and wrestling within the state.
Herb Owen started out just promoting boxing matches, but soon began promoting wrestling matches as well, focusing on lightweights. During this time, sons Don and Elton Owen began helping their father in the family business, helping set up cards and even stepping into the ring on occasion to box or wrestle.
During the early years, Herb brought in boxer Jack Dempsey
. According to Barry Owen, Don's son, Dempsey even refereed some wrestling matches for Owen. An unknown to many at the time, George Wagner
, worked for Owen early in his career. While in the PNW, Wagner developed the character for which he would become famous, Gorgeous George. Wagner is reported to have married his first wife in the ring before a match in Eugene, Oregon
.
In 1942, following his death, Herb's son Don took over the company. In 1944, Don Owen promoted several cards with women wrestlers, until female wrestling was outlawed in Oregon (as it would be until 1975).
The National Wrestling Alliance
was formed in 1948 with Don Owen as one of the founding members. This started the beginning of what became known as NWA Pacific Northwest (Portland Wrestling).
, but moved to rival KOIN-TV in 1955. Along with the move came the show's new name, Portland Wrestling.
The 1950s were good to Portland Wrestling, seeing wrestlers such as Ed Francis
, Gory Guerrero
and Tony Borne
come to the territory. During this time, John Harrison "Harry" Elliott, a former Oregon State University
wrestling champion, and later the school's wrestling coach, began working for Don Owen as a referee and putting on spot shows in the territory. In 1958, Elliott obtained a contract with CBS Television
to broadcast Seattle-based wrestling matches throughout all of Washington and parts of Alaska
, British Columbia
, California
, Colorado
, Idaho
, Montana
, Utah
and Wyoming
. Elliott promoted these matches, as well as spot matches throughout Washington, Idaho and northeastern Oregon, while Don Owen continued to handle bookings for these matches.
beat Gene Kiniski
.
In 1967, Portland Wrestling returned to KPTV. That year, management changed within CBS Television and PNW's regionally broadcast wrestling show was dropped which subsequently led to Harry Elliott's retirement in 1968. Frank Bonnema, an on-air personality in KPTV's sports department, took over the announcing duties at that time, serving as the voice of Portland Wrestling until shortly before his untimely death on October 5, 1982 at age 49.
Despite losing its regionally broadcast television program in 1967, Portland Wrestling was still doing well. In 1968, Owen bought and renovated a bowling alley at 8725 North Chautauqua Boulevard in North Portland, which became the Portland Sports Arena and the new home of Portland Wrestling. The Portland Sports Arena was located here: 45°35′09"N 122°42′30"W
, Ed Wiskowski, Roddy Piper
, Jesse Ventura
, Lonnie Mayne
, Jimmy Snuka
and Stan Stasiak
. In 1976, Dutch Savage
bought into Don Owen Sports and began promoting PNW cards in the state of Washington. The Owens' promotion faced opposition from several "outlaw promotions" throughout the 1970s, but remained strong. For several years during the 1970s and 1980s, PNW's Portland Wrestling program was syndicated in an edited 60-minute version known as Big Time Wrestling, and was shown on stations throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Between 1976 and 1985, "Playboy" Buddy Rose became famous for drawing more money than any other wrestler in the history of Portland Wrestling. In 1982 and 1983, Rose wrestled for the WWF, but on his days off he returned to the Northwest and worked one-night stands for Don Owen. Rose was credited with sold-out venues on both the East and West coasts. In 1978, Rose was the United States Champion for Roy Shire Promotions in the San Francisco Bay area
. As a team, he and Ed Wiskoski became NWA World Tag Team Champions
, defending title matches up and down the West Coast for Don Owen, Roy Shire and Los Angeles
promoter Mike LeBell.
Frank Bonnema suffered a heart attack in September 1982, just days after taping a Portland Wrestling episode. He would not return to the program, and died on the morning of October 5. On the October 9 episode of Portland Wrestling, veteran announcer Don Coss, who had filled in as host during this time, officially took over the announcing duties. Coss had previously announced televised wrestling matches in Salem, Oregon
over the defunct station KVDO.
Many big-name stars appeared in Portland, the most famous of which was Portland native Billy Jack Haynes
. Others such as Roddy Piper
, King Parsons
, Matt Borne, "Gentleman" Chris Adams, Rip Oliver
, Buddy Rose
, David Schultz
, and others competed regularly. Owen had a working relationship with Jack Adkisson's World Class promotion in Dallas, which produced several talent exchanges - the most famous of which was when Adams and Parsons were sent to World Class in 1983. Both wrestlers became two of the most famous non-Von Erich wrestlers in the promotion's history, and became Texas mainstays throughout the rest of their respective careers.
On May 21, 1985, in honor of the Owen family's 60 years of promoting in the PNW, a supercard
called 60th Anniversary Wrestling Extravaganza
was held at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. The show featured representatives from the NWA
, AWA
and WWF
, including the World Champions of both the NWA and AWA and the World Tag Team Champions of the AWA all defending their titles. The PNW accomplished in this event something the WWF/WWE have yet to achieve, a sold out Coliseum. Barry Owen claimed that this event had the highest attendance ever for a sporting event at the Coliseum.
On January 21, 1986, Portland Wrestling held a followup to the supercard, called Superstar Extravaganza, also at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. The card was limited to NWA talent and was not as large and successful as the first Supercard.
into national promotions with nationwide television deals ran most local or regional wrestling concerns out of business. This left few territories for younger wrestlers to develop their skills, especially early in their careers, thus leaving very green talent for the non-national promotions. By 1987, Don Owen was the only remaining member of the original NWA group.
In 1987, Len Denton
, working for Don Owen, became the first booker for PNW, while still developing who would become stars of the future such as Art Barr
, Scotty "The Body" Anthony
(later Raven), C.W. Bergstrom
, Steve Dunn
, and Timothy Well
. Anthony, recognized as a good talker, was eventually used as Coss's wisecrack-making broadcast partner. Without new talent and other reasons, mostly lack of good sponsors, business continued to slide as the 1990s came around.
In 1991, Pacific Northwest Wrestling's main television sponsor (Tom Peterson
's) declared bankruptcy
. Despite remaining the highest-rated, locally produced show aired in the Portland television market, Portland Wrestling was canceled in December 1991 after 38 continuous years as a weekly program. When the show was canceled, it was the longest running non-news show on television, and the third longest overall behind Meet the Press
and the CBS Evening News
. It still is one of the top 20 longest running shows on television.
Don Owen continued to run wrestling shows throughout Oregon and Washington until July 1992, when he retired and sold the entire company, minus the Sports Arena, to Portland Wrestling's referee and future promoter Sandy Barr. The Portland Sports Arena, as well as a former supermarket building next door which was used by Barr for the flea market
he ran, were eventually acquired by a local church.
to Vancouver, Washington
. Barr purchased late night airtime on local television station KOIN for a couple of years, but was never given a stable timeslot. Barr would continue to run weekly shows until shortly before his death on June 2, 2007.
In 1996, Matt Borne became booker of CWUSA and crowds began to rise. Sandy Barr abruptly closed Championship Wrestling USA in 1997. The remaining weeks of television that had been purchased on KOIN were filled with programs from 1993. Matt Borne joined up with Ivan Kafoury, who owned a local radio station, and created the new Portland Wrestling. They ran shows at the Aladdin Theater in Portland and later a flea market near Portland Meadows
. Their biggest success came in November 1997 when former University of Oregon
football player
Josh Wilcox made his pro debut in front of a crowd of over 700 fans.
The physical belt that was used as the NWA Pacific Northwest title was used at various times by its owner Len Denton
before being sold on Ebay in 2006. The last title claimant was local wrestling historian and part time pro wrestler Matt Farmer, who defended the title at local lucha libre shows.
The new Portland Wrestling initially aired on Portland's WB TV network affiliate, KWBP-TV (now KRCW-TV
). Frank Culbertson, Jr. (born ca. 1959), an advertising representative for the station, served first as ringside announcer and later as executive producer. KWBP changed hands in December 2002, and the new owners dropped virtually all local programming from its lineup, due to a decline in fan base. This development occurred at the same time Portland Wrestling was having major difficulties with the Oregon state government, in particular the athletic commission and the Attorney General
's office.
On May 10, 2007, Culbertson, who was still running the operations of the promotion, was arraigned on charges of aggravated theft for allegedly embezzling $
10,000 from Portland-based Broadway Cab Company, where he had been working in the accounting department as a controller. This event came as a surprise to Coss who, in light of Culbertson's criminal charges, has expressed uncertainty on the future of Portland Wrestling.
In January 2010, Spicher and his company were served a cease and desist order signed by a judge that ordered them to stop using the Portland Wrestling name. As of March of that year, the name "Portland Wrestling" was still registered with the state of Oregon by Don Coss and his company Squared Circle Entertainment.
As of October 19, 2010, Spicher was still promoting shows under the "Portland Wrestling" name. It was unclear at the time whether Coss or Squared Circle Entertainment had withdrawn their legal rights to the name, or if in fact Squared Cirlce Entertainment ever had the standing to register the historic name in the first place.
On March 12, 2010, it was announced at the "Spring Break Extravaganza" that Bob Spicher had purchased NWWA and will be merging it with his current promotions during his April 16 show. At the April 16th Portland Extreme Wrestling Show it was announced that "Commishioner Zeek" would be placed in charge of NWWA until it could be fully merged with Spicher's other wrestling promotions.
cable TV stations. KPTV had evidently wiped
the original broadcast tapes, as Don Owen did not foresee the need to spend the $25 (US) per week KPTV had requested for keeping and archiving the tapes.
The notion that broadcast-quality tapes of Portland Wrestling no longer exist is validated by the WWE Home Video release Born to Controversy: The Roddy Piper Story. The Portland Wrestling footage found in that DVD was licensed from Barry Owen, but the vast majority of it, which appeared to be from late 1980, visually appeared to be of a quality consistent with having been recorded on a VCR and dubbed from there.
In 2007, Matt Legit added the Portland Wrestling footage to his extensive archive on youtube.com/legitwrestling, which offered over 2,000 videos spanning 40 years of Pacific Northwest Wrestling and representing nearly every promotion that ever existed in the Northwest Territory. His account has however since been suspended due to claims of copyright infringement.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
companies
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...
, both past and present, based in Portland
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
, United States. The first such company (that would later become Portland Wrestling) was founded by Herb Owen in 1925. It was the Northwest territory of the National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
from the Alliance's inception in 1948 until 1992. The area was brought to its prime by Herb's son, Don Owen, and this version of Pacific Northwest Wrestling saw many of the top names in the business come through on a regular basis. The Pacific Northwest was considered one of the main pro wrestling territories from the 1960s to the 1980s.
Portland Wrestling was forced to close its doors in July 1992. The closure came as a result of a slowdown in the wrestling business during the early 1990s, a declaration of bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
by Portland Wrestling's main television sponsor
Tom Peterson
Tom Peterson is an American retailer, pitchman and television personality from Portland, Oregon. Peterson opened his first store in 1964, which grew to a regional consumer electronics, home appliance and furniture chain in the 1970s...
, and negative fallout from a shift in regulatory emphasis by the Oregon Athletic Commission. The telecasts, which originated on Portland station KPTV, ended in December 1991 and were replaced on KPTV by syndicated WWF
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
programming.
Portland Wrestling's referee Sandy Barr
Sandy Barr
Ferrin Charles Barr was an American professional wrestler, referee, promoter and trainer who spent his career mostly in the Western United States and Canada...
purchased the company from the Owen family in 1992 and continued the tradition of professional wrestling in the Pacific Northwest under the name "Championship Wrestling USA."
A new wrestling promotion emerged in 2000, calling itself "Portland Wrestling" and claiming to be a restart of the original Pacific Northwest/Portland Wrestling. It stressed a title lineage (through Len Denton
Len Denton
Len Denton is a semi-retired professional wrestler, best known by his ring name The Grappler.While wrestling as The Grappler in Pacific Northwest Wrestling , his gimmick was a loaded boot, and later a loaded mask, which he had started wearing earlier in his career after losing a hair match and...
) to the old NWA PNW Championships. Unlike the Don Owen promotion, the new incarnation of Portland Wrestling was not an NWA member. Due to legal problems the company's owner encountered, the promotion was forced to close down in 2007 and the owner sold his ownership rights to former announcer Don Coss.
In 2009, Robert Spicher, a retired wrestler on the independent circuit
Independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indy circuit refers to the many independent promotions which are much smaller than major televised promotions. They are roughly analagous to a minor league for pro wrestling, or community or regional theatre.Specific promotions on the...
known as Dr. Pain and established local promoter, began illegally promoting events under the name "Portland Wrestling". Spicher came under heavy criticism from the fans for promoting shows without having permission from the owners of the Portland Wrestling name.
The beginning of PNW
Pacific Northwest Wrestling started in the early 1920s when a former world middleweight and world light-heavyweight (Australian version) wrestling champion by the name of Ted Thye came to Portland with plans to promote both boxingBoxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
and wrestling
Wrestling
Wrestling is a form of grappling type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. A wrestling bout is a physical competition, between two competitors or sparring partners, who attempt to gain and maintain a superior position...
. Thye hired Herb Owen as his assistant. While Thye was on a trip home to Australia, Owen had the ownership of the company put in his name. Due to rules in effect within the state of Oregon at that time, Owen now had sole rights to sponsor all boxing and wrestling within the state.
Herb Owen started out just promoting boxing matches, but soon began promoting wrestling matches as well, focusing on lightweights. During this time, sons Don and Elton Owen began helping their father in the family business, helping set up cards and even stepping into the ring on occasion to box or wrestle.
During the early years, Herb brought in boxer Jack Dempsey
Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...
. According to Barry Owen, Don's son, Dempsey even refereed some wrestling matches for Owen. An unknown to many at the time, George Wagner
George Wagner
George Raymond Wagner was an American professional wrestler best known by his ring name Gorgeous George...
, worked for Owen early in his career. While in the PNW, Wagner developed the character for which he would become famous, Gorgeous George. Wagner is reported to have married his first wife in the ring before a match in Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
.
In 1942, following his death, Herb's son Don took over the company. In 1944, Don Owen promoted several cards with women wrestlers, until female wrestling was outlawed in Oregon (as it would be until 1975).
1940s
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
was formed in 1948 with Don Owen as one of the founding members. This started the beginning of what became known as NWA Pacific Northwest (Portland Wrestling).
1950s
On July 10, 1953, Don Owen started what was the first regular professional wrestling program on television. Pacific Northwest Wrestling aired a weekly 60 minute live program originally called Heidelberg Wrestling, named for its sponsor, Heidelberg Brewing Co. of Tacoma, Washington. The show was initially broadcast on KPTVKPTV
KPTV is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the Portland, Oregon market, which includes most of the state of Oregon and portions of Southwest Washington. KPTV is owned by the Meredith Corporation in a duopoly with MyNetworkTV affiliate KPDX , with its studios located in Beaverton and...
, but moved to rival KOIN-TV in 1955. Along with the move came the show's new name, Portland Wrestling.
The 1950s were good to Portland Wrestling, seeing wrestlers such as Ed Francis
Ed Francis
Ed Francis was a professional wrestler and wrestling promoter in Hawaii in the 1960s. Many wrestlers who came through Hawaii in the '60s and '70s were bound to come across the name Ed Francis...
, Gory Guerrero
Gory Guerrero
Salvador Guerrero Quesada , better known as Gory Guerrero, was one of the premier Hispanic professional wrestlers in the early days of Lucha Libre when most wrestlers were imported from outside of Mexico. He wrestled primarily in Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre between the 1940s and 1960s...
and Tony Borne
Tony Osborne
Anthony "Tony" Osborne was an American professional wrestler who wrestled under the name "Tough" Tony Borne.-Professional wrestling career:...
come to the territory. During this time, John Harrison "Harry" Elliott, a former Oregon State University
Oregon State University
Oregon State University is a coeducational, public research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities. There are more than 200 academic degree programs offered through the...
wrestling champion, and later the school's wrestling coach, began working for Don Owen as a referee and putting on spot shows in the territory. In 1958, Elliott obtained a contract with CBS Television
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
to broadcast Seattle-based wrestling matches throughout all of Washington and parts of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
and Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. Elliott promoted these matches, as well as spot matches throughout Washington, Idaho and northeastern Oregon, while Don Owen continued to handle bookings for these matches.
1960s
After the opening of Portland Memorial Coliseum in 1961, Don Owen occasionally promoted wrestling cards at the venue, drawing good crowds. In 1966 Harry Elliott promoted, and Don Owen booked, one of the biggest matches ever in Seattle, packing out the Seattle Center Coliseum with 15,500 fans to see Lou TheszLou Thesz
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was a United States professional wrestler and 18-time world heavyweight champion, most notably holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days , longer than anyone else in history...
beat Gene Kiniski
Gene Kiniski
Eugene Nicholas "Gene" Kiniski was a Canadian professional wrestler and the father of wrestlers Nick Kiniski and Kelly Kiniski. "Canada's Greatest Athlete" as he billed himself for promotional purposes was born outside of Edmonton, Alberta...
.
In 1967, Portland Wrestling returned to KPTV. That year, management changed within CBS Television and PNW's regionally broadcast wrestling show was dropped which subsequently led to Harry Elliott's retirement in 1968. Frank Bonnema, an on-air personality in KPTV's sports department, took over the announcing duties at that time, serving as the voice of Portland Wrestling until shortly before his untimely death on October 5, 1982 at age 49.
Despite losing its regionally broadcast television program in 1967, Portland Wrestling was still doing well. In 1968, Owen bought and renovated a bowling alley at 8725 North Chautauqua Boulevard in North Portland, which became the Portland Sports Arena and the new home of Portland Wrestling. The Portland Sports Arena was located here: 45°35′09"N 122°42′30"W
1970s
The 1970s continued to be good to Portland Wrestling, with the addition of such superstars as Buddy RoseBuddy Rose
Paul Perschmann was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Playboy" Buddy Rose.-Career:Paul Perschmann was trained by Verne Gagne and Billy Robinson in the early 1970s...
, Ed Wiskowski, Roddy Piper
Roddy Piper
Roderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE...
, Jesse Ventura
Jesse Ventura
James George Janos , better known as Jesse Ventura, is an American politician, the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, Navy UDT veteran, former SEAL reservist, actor, and former radio and television talk show host...
, Lonnie Mayne
Lonnie Mayne
Ronald Doyle "Lonnie" Mayne was an American professional wrestler in the 1960s and 1970s who frequently went by the name Moondog Mayne. Mayne wrestled in various NWA territories as well as the WWWF...
, Jimmy Snuka
Jimmy Snuka
James William "Jimmy" Reiher is a semi-retired Fijian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Originally from the Fiji Islands, Snuka wrestled for several promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. Snuka is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having been a...
and Stan Stasiak
Stan Stasiak
George Stipich , better known by his ring name Stan Stasiak, was a Canadian professional wrestler and fifth World Wide Wrestling Federation Champion. He is the father of professional wrestler Shawn Stasiak.-Career:...
. In 1976, Dutch Savage
Dutch Savage
Frank Stewart is a former professional wrestler and wrestling promoter, best known for his time spent competing in Pacific Northwest Wrestling under the ring name Dutch Savage.-Career:...
bought into Don Owen Sports and began promoting PNW cards in the state of Washington. The Owens' promotion faced opposition from several "outlaw promotions" throughout the 1970s, but remained strong. For several years during the 1970s and 1980s, PNW's Portland Wrestling program was syndicated in an edited 60-minute version known as Big Time Wrestling, and was shown on stations throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Between 1976 and 1985, "Playboy" Buddy Rose became famous for drawing more money than any other wrestler in the history of Portland Wrestling. In 1982 and 1983, Rose wrestled for the WWF, but on his days off he returned to the Northwest and worked one-night stands for Don Owen. Rose was credited with sold-out venues on both the East and West coasts. In 1978, Rose was the United States Champion for Roy Shire Promotions in the San Francisco Bay area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. As a team, he and Ed Wiskoski became NWA World Tag Team Champions
NWA World Tag Team Championship (San Francisco version)
The San Francisco, California version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship existed from 1950 until 1961, and then from 1968 until 1979.-Title history:...
, defending title matches up and down the West Coast for Don Owen, Roy Shire and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
promoter Mike LeBell.
The 1980s
Wrestling on television became a hot commodity during the 1980s. In 1982, Elton Owen, who had continued working in the family business as his brother Don's right hand man, retired. Elton died a short time later. Don's son Barry Owen began promoting in Washington. He would then take over promoting the weekly Friday night shows in Eugene as well as spot shows, eventually promoting most of the shows which had previously been promoted by Elton.Frank Bonnema suffered a heart attack in September 1982, just days after taping a Portland Wrestling episode. He would not return to the program, and died on the morning of October 5. On the October 9 episode of Portland Wrestling, veteran announcer Don Coss, who had filled in as host during this time, officially took over the announcing duties. Coss had previously announced televised wrestling matches in Salem, Oregon
Salem, Oregon
Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood...
over the defunct station KVDO.
Many big-name stars appeared in Portland, the most famous of which was Portland native Billy Jack Haynes
Billy Jack Haynes
William Albert Haynes, III is a retired American professional wrestler better known as Billy Jack Haynes.-Early career :...
. Others such as Roddy Piper
Roddy Piper
Roderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE...
, King Parsons
King Parsons
King Parsons is a former professional wrestler better know by his ringname Iceman King Parsons. King was called the Iceman from Jimmy Valiant after he saw him lying on a ice machine at a hotel.-Professional wrestling career:...
, Matt Borne, "Gentleman" Chris Adams, Rip Oliver
Rip Oliver
Lawrence Oliver is a former professional wrestler, known as "Crippler" Rip Oliver, who had great success in Pacific Northwest Wrestling. He is the son of Ray Oliver, Sr., known as Rip "the Crippler" Oliver, and the brother of Ray Oliver, Jr., who also portrayed the masked Super Ninja character from...
, Buddy Rose
Buddy Rose
Paul Perschmann was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Playboy" Buddy Rose.-Career:Paul Perschmann was trained by Verne Gagne and Billy Robinson in the early 1970s...
, David Schultz
David Schultz (professional wrestler)
David Schultz is an American retired professional wrestler. Although he is known for competing in North American regional promotions such as Stampede Wrestling, the National Wrestling Alliance and the American Wrestling Association during the late 1970s and 1980s, he is perhaps best remembered for...
, and others competed regularly. Owen had a working relationship with Jack Adkisson's World Class promotion in Dallas, which produced several talent exchanges - the most famous of which was when Adams and Parsons were sent to World Class in 1983. Both wrestlers became two of the most famous non-Von Erich wrestlers in the promotion's history, and became Texas mainstays throughout the rest of their respective careers.
On May 21, 1985, in honor of the Owen family's 60 years of promoting in the PNW, a supercard
SuperCard
SuperCard is a high-level development environment that runs on Macintosh computers, under OS 8 and 9, and OS X. It is inspired by HyperCard, but includes a richer language, a full GUI toolkit, and native color .The programming language used by SuperCard is called SuperTalk, and is largely based on...
called 60th Anniversary Wrestling Extravaganza
PNW Wrestling Extravaganza
The PNW Wrestling Extravaganza were two professional wrestling supercards held by the NWA Pacific Northwest, also known as Portland Wrestling in the U.S. state of Oregon, at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland.-60th Anniversary Wrestling Extravaganza:...
was held at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. The show featured representatives from the NWA
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
, AWA
American Wrestling Association
The American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
and WWF
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
, including the World Champions of both the NWA and AWA and the World Tag Team Champions of the AWA all defending their titles. The PNW accomplished in this event something the WWF/WWE have yet to achieve, a sold out Coliseum. Barry Owen claimed that this event had the highest attendance ever for a sporting event at the Coliseum.
On January 21, 1986, Portland Wrestling held a followup to the supercard, called Superstar Extravaganza, also at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. The card was limited to NWA talent and was not as large and successful as the first Supercard.
The decline of Pacific Northwest Wrestling
The PNW took a number of hits in the late 1980s. Changes to a centralized Oregon Boxing and Wrestling Commission began to affect the industry, through new rules and fines levied at wrestlers and promoters. Additionally, the expansion of the WWF and WCWWorld Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
into national promotions with nationwide television deals ran most local or regional wrestling concerns out of business. This left few territories for younger wrestlers to develop their skills, especially early in their careers, thus leaving very green talent for the non-national promotions. By 1987, Don Owen was the only remaining member of the original NWA group.
In 1987, Len Denton
Len Denton
Len Denton is a semi-retired professional wrestler, best known by his ring name The Grappler.While wrestling as The Grappler in Pacific Northwest Wrestling , his gimmick was a loaded boot, and later a loaded mask, which he had started wearing earlier in his career after losing a hair match and...
, working for Don Owen, became the first booker for PNW, while still developing who would become stars of the future such as Art Barr
Art Barr
Arthur Leon "Art" Barr was an American professional wrestler. While he wrestled briefly for World Championship Wrestling, he found his greatest success in Mexico's Asistencia Asesoría y Administración promotion....
, Scotty "The Body" Anthony
Scott Levy
Scott Anthony Levy , better known by his ring name Raven, is an American professional wrestler, wrestling producer, wrestling writer, and occasional author and actor currently working for Juggalo Championship Wrestling , where he is co-holder of the JCW Tag Team Championship, as well as other...
(later Raven), C.W. Bergstrom
C.W. Bergstrom
C.W. Bergstrom is a semi-retired American professional wrestler who was active in North American regional promotions during the early 1990s including a memorable stint in the United States Wrestling Association as Principal Bergstrom...
, Steve Dunn
Steve Doll
Steve Doll was an American professional wrestler, best known for his tenure in the World Wrestling Federation as Steven Dunn in the tag team Well Dunn.-Professional wrestling career:...
, and Timothy Well
Timothy Well
Timothy A. Smith is a retired American professional wrestler, better known by the ring names Rex King and Timothy Well. He wrestled in several promotions, including the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling . Much of his career was spent wrestling as a tag team with Steve...
. Anthony, recognized as a good talker, was eventually used as Coss's wisecrack-making broadcast partner. Without new talent and other reasons, mostly lack of good sponsors, business continued to slide as the 1990s came around.
In 1991, Pacific Northwest Wrestling's main television sponsor (Tom Peterson
Tom Peterson
Tom Peterson is an American retailer, pitchman and television personality from Portland, Oregon. Peterson opened his first store in 1964, which grew to a regional consumer electronics, home appliance and furniture chain in the 1970s...
's) declared bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
. Despite remaining the highest-rated, locally produced show aired in the Portland television market, Portland Wrestling was canceled in December 1991 after 38 continuous years as a weekly program. When the show was canceled, it was the longest running non-news show on television, and the third longest overall behind Meet the Press
Meet the Press
Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program produced by NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. It has been...
and the CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
. It still is one of the top 20 longest running shows on television.
Don Owen continued to run wrestling shows throughout Oregon and Washington until July 1992, when he retired and sold the entire company, minus the Sports Arena, to Portland Wrestling's referee and future promoter Sandy Barr. The Portland Sports Arena, as well as a former supermarket building next door which was used by Barr for the flea market
Flea market
A flea market or swap meet is a type of bazaar where inexpensive or secondhand goods are sold or bartered. It may be indoors, such as in a warehouse or school gymnasium; or it may be outdoors, such as in a field or under a tent...
he ran, were eventually acquired by a local church.
Alumni
|
Kazuo Sakurada , better known as Mr. Sakurada and as the Japanese version of , is a retired Japanese professional wrestler. He is best known, under various monikers, for his work in Stampede Wrestling, National Wrestling Alliance, and World Championship Wrestling. Sakurada is also highly regarded by Bret Hart as... John Nord John Nord is a retired American professional wrestler. He lives in Bozeman, Montana.-Career:John Nord started wrestling in late 1984 as "The Barbarian" for Mid-South Wrestling under manager Skandor Akbar... Scott Norton Scott Michael Norton is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenures in World Championship Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling.-Before wrestling:... Rip Oliver Lawrence Oliver is a former professional wrestler, known as "Crippler" Rip Oliver, who had great success in Pacific Northwest Wrestling. He is the son of Ray Oliver, Sr., known as Rip "the Crippler" Oliver, and the brother of Ray Oliver, Jr., who also portrayed the masked Super Ninja character from... King Parsons King Parsons is a former professional wrestler better know by his ringname Iceman King Parsons. King was called the Iceman from Jimmy Valiant after he saw him lying on a ice machine at a hotel.-Professional wrestling career:... Roddy Piper Roderick George Toombs , better known by his ring name "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler and film actor who is currently signed to WWE. In professional wrestling, he is best known for his work with WWE... Tom Prichard Thomas Prichard is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE, working in their developmental territory, Florida Championship Wrestling as a trainer using his ring name Tom Prichard... Harley Race Harley Leland Race is a retired American professional wrestler and current promoter and trainer. During his career as a wrestler, he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship 7 times... Steve Regal Steve Regal is a former professional wrestler, better known as "Mr. Electricity" Steve Regal, who competed in North American regional promotions including the National Wrestling Alliance and the American Wrestling Association during the early 1970s and 1980s.-Professional wrestling career:Born in Ft... Rip Rogers Mark Sciarra whose professional name is Rip Rogers is a former professional wrestler and trainer for Ohio Valley Wrestling. He is currently a trainer for Derby City Wrestling in Louisville, Kentucky.-Career:... Thomas Couch Thomas R. Couch is a professional wrestler better known as Tommy Rogers of The Fantastics.-Career:Couch started wrestling in 1980 as Tommy Rogers in North Carolina... Buddy Rose Paul Perschmann was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Playboy" Buddy Rose.-Career:Paul Perschmann was trained by Verne Gagne and Billy Robinson in the early 1970s... Cocoa Samoa Ulualoaiga Onosai Tuaolo Emelio was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Cocoa Samoa.-Professional wrestling career:He began his training by studying martial arts in Japan... Sam Fatu Samuel Larry Anoa'i Fatu is a professional wrestler best known under the name of The Tonga Kid, or Tama.-Professional wrestling career:... Dutch Savage Frank Stewart is a former professional wrestler and wrestling promoter, best known for his time spent competing in Pacific Northwest Wrestling under the ring name Dutch Savage.-Career:... Joe Savoldi Joseph Anthony Savoldi Jr., more commonly known as Jumping Joe Savoldi was an Italian-born, American football player and professional wrestler.... Steven Stewart Steven Stewart , known by his ring name Bart Sawyer, is an American professional wrestler who has competed North American independent promotions including Pacific Northwest Wrestling and the United States Wrestling Association... Brett Woyan Brett Woyan was a professional wrestler and is the brother of wrestler Buzz Sawyer.-Career:Brett Sawyer started wrestling in 1981... Buzz Sawyer Bruce Woyan was a professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Buzz Sawyer. Throughout his career, he was also known by the nickname "Mad Dog". He was characterized by his crazy antics inside the ring and out.-Career:Sawyer started wrestling in 1979 in the National Wrestling Alliance 's... David Schultz (professional wrestler) David Schultz is an American retired professional wrestler. Although he is known for competing in North American regional promotions such as Stampede Wrestling, the National Wrestling Alliance and the American Wrestling Association during the late 1970s and 1980s, he is perhaps best remembered for... Scott Levy Scott Anthony Levy , better known by his ring name Raven, is an American professional wrestler, wrestling producer, wrestling writer, and occasional author and actor currently working for Juggalo Championship Wrestling , where he is co-holder of the JCW Tag Team Championship, as well as other... Steve Cohen (wrestler) Stephan Simpson was a professional wrestler from South Africa better known as Steve Simpson.-Career:Steve Simpson was the son of wrestler Sammy Cohen. Sammy Cohen was the stage name for father Alec Simpson... Tiger Jeet Singh Jagjit Singh Hans is a semi-retired professional wrestler, known better by his ring name Tiger Jeet Singh. He wrestled as a crazed heel, coming to the ring with a sword in his mouth . Singh wrestled in Japan for 22 years... Sgt. Slaughter Robert Remus , better known by his ring name Sgt. Slaughter, is an American former WWE personality and semi-retired professional wrestler. From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, Slaughter had success in the National Wrestling Alliance, American Wrestling Association, and World Wrestling... Jimmy Snuka James William "Jimmy" Reiher is a semi-retired Fijian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Originally from the Fiji Islands, Snuka wrestled for several promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. Snuka is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having been a... Stan Stasiak George Stipich , better known by his ring name Stan Stasiak, was a Canadian professional wrestler and fifth World Wide Wrestling Federation Champion. He is the father of professional wrestler Shawn Stasiak.-Career:... Jules strongbow Frank Hill is a former professional wrestler, who is best known for his tenure in World Wrestling Federation , where he used to wrestle as Chief Jules Strongbow or simply Jules Strongbow, the brother of Chief Jay Strongbow.-World Wrestling Federation :Jules made his wrestling debut in the 1970s... Chris Taylor (wrestler) Chris Taylor was an American freestyle wrestler who competed at 1972 Munich Olympics. At 412 pounds he was the heaviest Olympian ever until the appearance of judoka Ricardo Blas, Jr. in 2008... Shag Thomas Shag Thomas was an American professional wrestler during the 1950s and 1960s. He was one of the few African-American wrestlers of his day.-Career:... Greg Valentine John Wisniski, Jr. is an American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine.-Training:... Jesse Ventura James George Janos , better known as Jesse Ventura, is an American politician, the 38th Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, Navy UDT veteran, former SEAL reservist, actor, and former radio and television talk show host... Brian Wickens Brian Wickens is a professional wrestler best known as Luke Williams, one half of the tag team known as "The Sheepherders" on the independent scene and in the National Wrestling Alliance and as The Bushwhackers in the WWF.-Career:Luke Williams started wrestling for NWA New Zealand in 1964... Bearcat Wright Edward "Bearcat" Wright was an African-American professional wrestler who became popular in the late 1950s and 1960s. He wrestled during the time of Bobo Brazil, and despite racial tension in the United States became wildly popular as both a heel and a babyface... Steven Romero Steven Nicolas Romero was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Jay Youngblood. He wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance's Jim Crockett Promotions in a tag team with Ricky Steamboat... Tom Zenk Thomas Erwin "Tom" Zenk is a former Mr. Minnesota Bodybuilder, and most notably a American professional wrestler, also known by his nickname Z-Man.-Early career:... Buck Zumhofe Eugene Zumhofe is a professional wrestler better known as Buck "Rock n' Roll" Zumhofe, wrestling's self proclaimed original rock and roller.-Training:... |
Champions (when the company closed in 1992)
| Championship | Last Champion |
|---|---|
| NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Champion NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S... |
C.W. Bergstrom C.W. Bergstrom C.W. Bergstrom is a semi-retired American professional wrestler who was active in North American regional promotions during the early 1990s including a memorable stint in the United States Wrestling Association as Principal Bergstrom... |
| NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Champions NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S... |
The Grappler Len Denton Len Denton is a semi-retired professional wrestler, best known by his ring name The Grappler.While wrestling as The Grappler in Pacific Northwest Wrestling , his gimmick was a loaded boot, and later a loaded mask, which he had started wearing earlier in his career after losing a hair match and... and Steve Doll Steve Doll Steve Doll was an American professional wrestler, best known for his tenure in the World Wrestling Federation as Steven Dunn in the tag team Well Dunn.-Professional wrestling career:... |
| NWA Pacific Northwest Television Champion NWA Pacific Northwest Television Championship The NWA Pacific Northwest Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling. It served as PNW's second-tier title, lasting from 1987 through 1990.-Title history:... |
Scotty The Body Scott Levy Scott Anthony Levy , better known by his ring name Raven, is an American professional wrestler, wrestling producer, wrestling writer, and occasional author and actor currently working for Juggalo Championship Wrestling , where he is co-holder of the JCW Tag Team Championship, as well as other... |
Trying to rebuild
Sandy Barr continued promoting wrestling in the Pacific Northwest under the company names of Championship Wrestling USA and IGA Wrestling. Barr created new titles for the promotion and abandoned the previous titles. As Barr faced challenges when dealing with the Oregon state athletic commission similar to what Owen faced, he decided to move the promotion across the Columbia RiverColumbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
to Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...
. Barr purchased late night airtime on local television station KOIN for a couple of years, but was never given a stable timeslot. Barr would continue to run weekly shows until shortly before his death on June 2, 2007.
In 1996, Matt Borne became booker of CWUSA and crowds began to rise. Sandy Barr abruptly closed Championship Wrestling USA in 1997. The remaining weeks of television that had been purchased on KOIN were filled with programs from 1993. Matt Borne joined up with Ivan Kafoury, who owned a local radio station, and created the new Portland Wrestling. They ran shows at the Aladdin Theater in Portland and later a flea market near Portland Meadows
Portland Meadows
Portland Meadows is an American horse racing venue in Portland, Oregon, owned by MI Developments Inc. since 2001. Built by William P. Kyne, who also built Bay Meadows Racetrack in San Mateo, California, the facility opened on September 14, 1946....
. Their biggest success came in November 1997 when former University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
football player
Oregon Ducks football
The Oregon Ducks football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Oregon located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The team competes at the NCAA Division I level in the Football Bowl Subdivision and is a member of the Pacific-12 Conference. Known as the Ducks, the...
Josh Wilcox made his pro debut in front of a crowd of over 700 fans.
The physical belt that was used as the NWA Pacific Northwest title was used at various times by its owner Len Denton
Len Denton
Len Denton is a semi-retired professional wrestler, best known by his ring name The Grappler.While wrestling as The Grappler in Pacific Northwest Wrestling , his gimmick was a loaded boot, and later a loaded mask, which he had started wearing earlier in his career after losing a hair match and...
before being sold on Ebay in 2006. The last title claimant was local wrestling historian and part time pro wrestler Matt Farmer, who defended the title at local lucha libre shows.
The "New" Portland Wrestling
In late 2000, wrestling returned to Portland with the opening of Portland Wrestling. This new promotion claimed that its heavyweight and tag team title lineage were the same as the previous titles operated by Don Owen Sports. However, this "Portland Wrestling" was not an NWA member promotion, nor was it directly linked in any way to the original Portland Wrestling.The new Portland Wrestling initially aired on Portland's WB TV network affiliate, KWBP-TV (now KRCW-TV
KRCW-TV
KRCW-TV is the CW-affiliated television station for Portland, Oregon that is licensed to Salem. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 33 from a transmitter in the Sylvan-Highlands section of Portland. Owned by the Tribune Company, KRCW has studios on Southwest Arctic Drive...
). Frank Culbertson, Jr. (born ca. 1959), an advertising representative for the station, served first as ringside announcer and later as executive producer. KWBP changed hands in December 2002, and the new owners dropped virtually all local programming from its lineup, due to a decline in fan base. This development occurred at the same time Portland Wrestling was having major difficulties with the Oregon state government, in particular the athletic commission and the Attorney General
Oregon Attorney General
The Oregon Attorney General is a statutory office within the executive branch of the state of Oregon, and serves as the chief legal officer of the state, heading its Department of Justice with its six operating divisions. The Attorney General is chosen by statewide partisan election to serve a term...
's office.
On May 10, 2007, Culbertson, who was still running the operations of the promotion, was arraigned on charges of aggravated theft for allegedly embezzling $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
10,000 from Portland-based Broadway Cab Company, where he had been working in the accounting department as a controller. This event came as a surprise to Coss who, in light of Culbertson's criminal charges, has expressed uncertainty on the future of Portland Wrestling.
Current Champions when the company closed
| Title | Champions |
| Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Champion | Dr. Luther |
| Pacific Northwest Tag Team Champions | The Cartel Big Ugly and Vinny Massaro |
| Pacific Northwest Light Heavyweight Champion | Timothy Thatcher |
Dr Pain's "Portland Wrestling"
On June 10, 2009, local promoter and retired wrestler Bob Spicher (Dr. Pain) began running shows under the "Portland Wrestling" banner. Spicher is the owner of both Dr. Pain's Clinic Wrestling (DPCW) and Portland Xtreme Wrestling (PXW).In January 2010, Spicher and his company were served a cease and desist order signed by a judge that ordered them to stop using the Portland Wrestling name. As of March of that year, the name "Portland Wrestling" was still registered with the state of Oregon by Don Coss and his company Squared Circle Entertainment.
As of October 19, 2010, Spicher was still promoting shows under the "Portland Wrestling" name. It was unclear at the time whether Coss or Squared Circle Entertainment had withdrawn their legal rights to the name, or if in fact Squared Cirlce Entertainment ever had the standing to register the historic name in the first place.
Northwest Wrestling Alliance (NWWA)
In 2006, Dan Closser and Terry Farness opened a small company called North West Wrestling Alliance (NWWA), in hopes that he could bring back some of the glory that the Pacific Northwest Wrestling scene once had. The NWWA grew to be the dominant company in the area and was the company carrying the legacy of Pacific Northwest Wrestling.On March 12, 2010, it was announced at the "Spring Break Extravaganza" that Bob Spicher had purchased NWWA and will be merging it with his current promotions during his April 16 show. At the April 16th Portland Extreme Wrestling Show it was announced that "Commishioner Zeek" would be placed in charge of NWWA until it could be fully merged with Spicher's other wrestling promotions.
DOA Pro Wrestling
In 2008, Terry Farness split off from NWWA and opened a small wrestling promotion called DOA Pro Wrestling in hopes that he could remove politics from wrestling. A large number of NWWA personnel, including booker J_SIN Sullivan, left NWWA at the same time and joined the fledgling DOA.Alumni
|
Kazuo Sakurada , better known as Mr. Sakurada and as the Japanese version of , is a retired Japanese professional wrestler. He is best known, under various monikers, for his work in Stampede Wrestling, National Wrestling Alliance, and World Championship Wrestling. Sakurada is also highly regarded by Bret Hart as... Johnny Devine John Peter "J.P." Parsonage is a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name "Hot Shot" Johnny Devine... Davey Richards Wesley David Richards is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Davey Richards.Richards is currently under contract with Ring of Honor, where he is the current ROH World Champion, but also wrestles for several companies on the independent circuit, including Pro Wrestling... |
Legit Wrestling
In 2005, Portland television producer Matt Legit (Matthew Merz) began airing classic Portland Wrestling footage (which had fallen into the public domain) on local Public-access televisionPublic-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
cable TV stations. KPTV had evidently wiped
Wiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
the original broadcast tapes, as Don Owen did not foresee the need to spend the $25 (US) per week KPTV had requested for keeping and archiving the tapes.
The notion that broadcast-quality tapes of Portland Wrestling no longer exist is validated by the WWE Home Video release Born to Controversy: The Roddy Piper Story. The Portland Wrestling footage found in that DVD was licensed from Barry Owen, but the vast majority of it, which appeared to be from late 1980, visually appeared to be of a quality consistent with having been recorded on a VCR and dubbed from there.
In 2007, Matt Legit added the Portland Wrestling footage to his extensive archive on youtube.com/legitwrestling, which offered over 2,000 videos spanning 40 years of Pacific Northwest Wrestling and representing nearly every promotion that ever existed in the Northwest Territory. His account has however since been suspended due to claims of copyright infringement.
Early championships
- World Heavyweight Championship (Northwest Version)World Heavyweight Championship (Pacific Northwest Wrestling)The World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship of the Pacific Northwest defended in the states of Oregon, Washington, and California from 1946 until 1952, when it was unified with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.-Title history:-See...
- World Light Heavyweight Championship (Northwest Version)
- Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship
- Pacific Coast Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipPacific Coast Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipThe Pacific Coast Junior Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that was contended for in the Pacific Northwest from the early 1940's until 1957. When the title was retired in 1957, it was the top singles title in the Pacific Northwest area.-Title history:Silver areas...
- Pacific Coast Light Heavyweight ChampionshipPacific Coast Light Heavyweight ChampionshipThe Pacific Coast Light Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that was contended for in the Pacific Northwest from the 1920's to the mid 1950's.-Title history:Silver areas in the history indicate periods of unknown lineage....
- Pacific Coast Middleweight ChampionshipPacific Coast Middleweight ChampionshipThe Pacific Coast Middleweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that was contended for in the Pacific Northwest from the 1920's to the late 1930's.-Title history:Silver areas in the history indicate periods of unknown lineage....
- Intermountain Junior Heavyweight Championship
NWA Regional Championships (Don Owen Sports era)
- NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S...
- NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team ChampionshipNWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team ChampionshipThe NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling, which promoted shows in the U.S...
- NWA Pacific Northwest Television ChampionshipNWA Pacific Northwest Television ChampionshipThe NWA Pacific Northwest Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship sanctioned by the National Wrestling Alliance and defended in its member promotion Pacific Northwest Wrestling. It served as PNW's second-tier title, lasting from 1987 through 1990.-Title history:...
Championship Wrestling USA Championships
- Championship Wrestling International Alliance World Heavyweight Championship
- Championship Wrestling International Alliance International Heavyweight Championship
- Championship Wrestling International Alliance International Tag Team Championship
- Championship Wrestling USA Television ChampionshipChampionship Wrestling USA Television ChampionshipThe Championship Wrestling USA Television Championship was a professional wrestling championship defended in Championship Wrestling USA , owned by Sandy Barr. It was CWUSA's longest running title, lasting from 1992 through 1997.-Title history:Silver areas in the history indicate periods of unknown...
- Championship Wrestling USA Northwest Tag Team Championship
Other notable Pacific Northwest federations
- BAW Wrestling
- Championship Pro Wrestling (CPW)
- DOA Pro Wrestling (DOA)
- Empire Pro Wrestling
- International Championship Wrestling(ICW)
- International Grapplers Association (IGA)
- New Generation Wrestling (NGW)
- New Revolution Wrestling (NRW)
- North American Wrestling Alliance(NAWA)
- North West Wrestling Alliance (NWWA)
- Oregon Championship Wrestling(OCW)
- Oregon Pro Wrestling (OPW)
- Pacific Northwest Pro Wrestling(PNPW)
- PDX Wrestling
- Pinnacle (AWA)
- Portland Championship Wrestling (PCW)
- Portland Extreme Wrestling (PXW)
- Pro Wrestling War
- Suquamish Championship Wrestling (SCW)
- Tulalip Championship Wrestling (TCW)
- West Coast Wrestling Connection (WCWC)