Nestled in the rugged, rain-soaked landscape of the Pacific Northwest lay a wrestling territory that served as a crucible for some of the sport’s most iconic names. From its humble beginnings in the 1920s to its heyday as a proving ground for legends, Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) has been heralded as “one of the best wrestling territories to learn the trade that ever existed.” Rooted in the heart of Portland, Oregon, this is how a small promotion rose to prominence, producing stars who would go on to shape the future of professional wrestling. Yet, like many great territories, it faced challenges that led to its eventual sad demise.
The Portland Northwest (PNW) Wrestling territory, initially under the tutelage of Ted Thye (top left) and later Don Owen (bottom left), thrived with stars such as (from left to right) Beauregarde, the Von Steigers (Kurt and Karl), Elton Owen, Sandy Barr, Billy Jack (later Haynes), Jimmy Snuka, Stan Stasiak, Moondog Lonnie Mayne, Dutch Savage, Terrible Tony Borne, The Royal Kangaroos (“Lord” Jonathan Boyd and Norman Frederick Charles III), Ed Wiskoski (later Colonel DeBeers), The Grappler (Len Denton), Shag Thomas, Rip Oliver, Roddy Piper, Buddy Rose, and a host of others.
Jim Phillips, author of this article and one of the great wrestling historians here at Pro Wrestling Stories, is in the challenge of his life after being paralyzed on January 21st, 2023. Learn his story and how you can help him reach his goal of taking his first steps again!
Welcome back, wrestling fans, to another edition of theย Wrestling Territories. Our last stop saw us traveling through vast prairies, rolling hills, and natural beauty to pay a visit to Heart of America Sports Attractions, later known as the Central States Wrestling territory. Today, weโre embarking on a scenic drive across the United States. Starting from Kansas City, weโll head west on I-70, merge onto I-80 in Utah, and continue all the way to Portland, Oregon. Buckle up as we delve into the rise and fall of Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW)!
The Rise of Pacific Northwest Wrestling (Portland): The Deception of Ted Thye
Ted Thye (left) and Herb Owen (right), Ted Thye and Herb Owen, early pioneers of Pacific Northwest Wrestling. Photo Credit: The Independent-Record, The Eugene Guard.
Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) traces its origins back to the 1920s with Ted Thye, long before their affiliation with the NWA.
Initially focused on boxing and wrestling, Herb Owen, who had worked for Thye, became the owner of PNW in 1922.
In what some might call an underhanded move, he put the company in his name while Thye was in Australia.
Contentious as it may have been, Owen tried to grow his little territory throughout the next decade. After passing away in 1942, Herb’s son Don took over the business and implemented a grander vision for Portland wrestling.
Don Owen
Don Owen, the visionary behind Pacific Northwest Wrestling, grew the territory into a legendary wrestling powerhouse from the 1940s to the 1980s. Photo Credit: Owen Family.
Don Owen was born in 1912 in the small town of Eugene, Oregon. Growing up in the business, he started doing odd jobs early on for his father. Selling popcorn and soda pop didnโt keep him pacified for long, and he moved on to working in the office.
Once he took over as the promotion leader, he began attending meetings of the fledgling NWA. In 1948, he became one of the founding members of the official organization and renamed his territory NWA Pacific Northwest, but it would always be known as Portland Wrestling. Just like that, Don Owen Sports was up and running.
In the early ’50s, Owen began to attempt to secure television time for a weekly wrestling program he intended to air. He found a home for his product and ran an hour-long wrestling program on station KPTV for the next three years before he had a better offer, with more control of the program at KOIN-TV and named it Portland Wrestling.
With the help of associate Harry Elliot, Owen continued to expand into the West Coast market, from Colorado to the ocean, up to Alaska, and across the border into British Columbia on a CBS affiliate out of Seattle. Elliot was now running shows all over the Northwest area and booking them with Owenโs talents.
Once the ’60s rolled around, Owen began seeking a venue he could call his own and base his promotion out of. He thought he had found his spot in 1961 when the Portland Memorial Coliseum opened.
Owen ran several cards there, selling out many of these shows. The need for a strong drawing venue became more of a must-have after he lost his television time slot when CBS ended its relationship with the pair due to internal shifting at the network.
Elliot retired and left the promotion to pursue other interests. Owen soldiered on alone at the helm, and when it looked like things would get tough for the PNW promotion, a glimmer of new prosperity shone down upon him.
Portland Sports Arena: Home of Portland Northwest Wrestling (NWA Northwest Wrestling)
The Portland Sports Arena (also known as the "House of Action") is the historic building that hosted Portland Wrestling (PNW) from 1968 to 1992. Photo Credit: Owen Family.
It looked as though Don Owen had found the missing piece of the puzzle when he ran across an old bowling alley for sale. Seeing past the overhaul needed and the possibilities that it held within, he bought the facility in North Portland and began renovations immediately.
Don gutted the structure and set it up as the new home for Portland Wrestling.
The Portland Sports Arena was now in operation, and the word was getting out across the Northwest and into Canada that Oregon was becoming a place to congregate. The next decade would be the one that really opened things up for Owen and PNW on the national stage.
Jimmy Snuka
A young Jimmy Snuka early in his pro wrestling career The Portland Northwest (PNW) Wrestling territory, circa 1971. Photo Credit: Portland Wrestling TV, Owen Family.
The influx of star power into the Portland Northwest Wrestling territory steadily grew stronger as the ’70s rolled on. Many of wrestlingโs biggest names made their way into the area and stopped off to make huge impacts before moving on to the East Coast and Minneapolis markets to cement their legacies in the business. One of the first to show up was a ripped Fijian with a propensity for flight.
James Reiher was born on May 18th, 1943, in Fiji, amid the fighting in the Pacific during WWII. His family migrated through the Marshall Islands, and ended up in Hawaii as young James was becoming a teen.
He was an avid bodybuilder and worked out in the gym of professional wrestler Dean Ho. Many future wrestling stars worked out there and James fit right in with them. He even won a few bodybuilding competitions in Hawaii, but it was the world of wrestling that he ultimately decided to take a crack at.
In the early ’70s, he relocated to the Northwest and sought out Owenโs thriving PNW promotion. James decided to change his ring attire throughout his time in Portland.
He adopted the name that led him to fame and fortune when he started wrestling as Jimmy Snuka. In 1973, he captured his first PNW Heavyweight Championship from Bull Ramos.
Ramos, who had gotten to be famous for his hard-hitting heel style, had a match where he broke Moondog Mayneโs arm so bad the bone was sticking out through the skin. Ramos is also credited with creating what would later be known as the Texas Bullrope Match.
Snuka held the PNW Championship six times during his tenure there and captured the Tag Team Championships half a dozen times with partner Dutch Savage. However, it would be his feud that lasted nearly two years with another future WWF superstar that really drew money in Portland.
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Tough Tony Borne
“Tough” Tony Borne, known for his fierce demeanor, left a lasting impact on PNW as a dominant singles and tag team competitor. Photo Credit: NWA.
Living up to his name and being rather ill-tempered, Borne made his mark there as a singles competitor, even getting a few shots at the NWA Heavyweight Champion over the years.
In the tag team ranks, he fell into place and held the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Titles nine times with various teammates beginning in 1958 before he teamed up with Moondog Mayne eight years later.
Moondog Lonnie Mayne
Moondog Lonnie Mayne, pictured here in 1967, was a wild and unpredictable star in Portland Northwest Wrestling. Photo Credit: Oregonian.
Lonnie Mayne was a second-generation wrestler from California, but he got his signature nickname from Vince Sr. during a run in New York in the early ’70s. He has the prestige of being the first Moondog of the pack. The rest of the Moondogs arrived later in the ’80s, but still as a WWF gimmick with Spot and Rex.
Lonnie Mayne was trained by his father, Ken, and found steady work on the West Coast. During the Christmas holidays of 1973, he even beat Pat Patterson for the NWA US Heavyweight Championship.
The pair went on to win those tag titles ten more times together as both heels and babyfaces battling all comers but going to war with the villainous Von Steigers and bloodthirsty Royal Kangaroos.
In true tag-team fashion, Moondog and Borne eventually saw things differently and split their ways just after Valentineโs Day, 1968. It was most likely to facilitate Borne leaving the territory or another need to have him go heel on Mayne.
Moondog picked up bones and teamed with one of the most enigmatic characters in the Northwest territory.
Oddly enough, it was the only time they teamed together. The man’s name was simply Beauregarde, and he was on a different plane than most people around him.
Beauregarde
Known for his wild personas and distinctive ring attire, Beauregarde, a Portland native, brought charisma and unpredictability to Pacific Northwest Wrestling. Photo Credit: G.J. Rowell
Born on April 29th, 1936, Larry Pitchford was a Portland native who trained from a pair of greats, Dean Ho and Mr. Fuji, in 1963. He debuted later that year.
Initially working as "The Golden Boy," but after talking with Ripper Collins, he took the advice and new name of Beauregarde. It was definitely distinctive and an attention-getter when he was announced.
He ran the gambit from bleached blond with a slight resemblance to Buddy Roberts to a bushy brown-haired Viking who wore a horned helmet to the ring. Also, a musician in real life, he was someone who made you stop and take notice.
He won the Portland NWA Tag Titles on four different occasions, and in true Beauregarde fashion, with four other partners, one of whom being Dutch Savage in 1971.
His finisher was a move called The Thumb, and lord help you where he stuck it! Most likely, it was an early version of the Samoan Spike weโve all become used to.
Around this time, a German blitzkrieg took the PNW tag ranks pair by storm in October of 1968.
Kurt and Karl Von Steiger: The Von Steigers
The feared German duo, the Von Steigers (Kurt and Karl), dominated the PNW tag team scene with their ruthless heel tactics in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Photo Credit: Portland Wrestling, Owen Family.
It wasnโt only Tough Tony Borne and Moondog Mayne who were in the trenches and hunting for the tag titles in PNW around this time. Portland saw its share of tyrannical imports from around the globe, including the scourge of Australia and a pair of German sympathizers that were straight from the Fatherland.
The pair of Kurt and Karl Von Steiger arrived in Portland Northwest Wrestling in the late summer of 1968. Donning their spiked helmets and black regalia, they were more representative of the Great War, WWI, as opposed to the what came later in WW2.
Actually, a pair of Canadians, Arnold Patrick and Lorne Corlett, was reviled by the denizens of the bowling alley on Chautauqua Blvd, and they played their characters to their heelish limits.
Respected by their peers for their knowledge and ability to draw money, the duo made Portland and the Northwest their home for five years until they departed the scene in 1973.
They turned away teams for the next seven months, including the reunited team of Moondog Mayne and Tony Borne, until the Dog and Borne reclaimed their belts from the Von Steigers in May of 1969.
The two teams fought back and forth in their chase for the tag titles for years, having to face Beauregarde and a bevy of partners in between.
The Von Steigers finally put all bets to rest when they got the gold back in their clinched fists in May of 1971, two years later.
Much as the saying goes, there was no rest for the wicked, and a pair of Aussies were about to bring the pain and raise the bar in the tag team ranks.
The Royal Kangaroos (Lord Jonathan Boyd and Norman Frederick Charles III)
The Royal Kangaroos (Lord Jonathan Boyd and Norman Frederick Charles III) brought their Australian grit to the Pacific Northwest and were six-time NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Champions throughout the 1970s. Photo Credit: Portland Wrestling, Owen Family.
Real-life cousins Johnathon Boyd and Norman Charles cut their teeth in their homeland of Australia before deciding to venture into America’s bright light and bigger payoffs, specifically the Pacific Northwest Wrestling territory.
The pair arrived in the Summer of 1971 and only weeks later had taken the PNW Tag Team Championship titles from the Von Steigers.
Notorious rule breakers themselves, it was odd to see two heel teams go after the gold. They were not afraid to use the boomerang as a weapon if given the chance, and they split many heads during their tenure in the Northwest.
Much like their predecessors, the Royal Kangaroos held onto their titles in many defenses, including Dutch Savage and Beauregarde, Moondog Mayne, and Tony Borne.
They were finally put down by the pair of Savage and Mayne in 1972.
The Kangaroos would return in 1975 for another run before they were defeated by Jesse Ventura and Bull Ramos, then finally split and left the territory.
Did you know?For lovers of wrestling history, Johnathon Boyd was later a rotating member of The Sheepherders, who eventually came to fame in the WWF as The Bushwhackers. Boyd was not on the team by then.
Also, one of the teams that defeated Dutch Savage and Moondog Mayne during their run was none other than Tony Borne, along with a wrestler working under the name “The Skull.”
Most people would recognize Borne by the name he later went by and his wild antics with Bugsy McGraw.
Borne went on to a lucrative real estate career after wrestling and died in his Oregon home in August 2010.
Lonnie Mayne worked on both coasts during the rest of the ’70s until he was killed during a car collision on August 14th, 1978.
Johnathon Boyd passed away in Portland from a heart attack in 1999 at the young age of 54.
Norman Fredrick Charles III died in 2019 at the age of 78 in his Florida home.
Lorne Corlett died on November 8th, 2022, at the ripe age of 88 years old, while his brother "Kurt" Patrick is still alive today in the Oregon area.
Shag Thomas
Shag Thomas was a 2-time NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight and 17-time PNW Tag Team Champion. He would later retire from in-ring competition and become a referee for Don Owen’s promotion. Photo Credit: Portland Wrestling / Owen Family, Lloyd N Phillips Photography.
Born James Thomas in Columbus, Ohio, he played football for Ohio State University and earned a degree in Education.
After serving in the Army Medical Corps and reaching the rank of Sergeant, Thomas transitioned to professional wrestling in 1955.
Thomas first gained attention in the Midwest Wrestling Association before moving to the Pacific Northwest as Shag Thomas.
A 2-time NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Champion, heย won the PNW Tag Team Championship 17 times with various partners, including Tony Borne and Luther Lindsay, and held the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight title twice.
After retiring from in-ring competition in 1969, Shag Thomas became a referee in the promotion until his death in 1982.
Jesse Ventura
Former Minnesota Governor and WWE Hall of Famer Jesse Ventura, then going by the name Jesse ‘The Great’ Ventura, shook up Portland Northwest Wrestling in the mid-’70s with his charisma and power, setting the stage for his later success in the AWA and WWF. Photo Credit: Portland Wrestling TV.
Long before his time with Vince McMahon in New York, in office as Governor of Minnesota, and his run as skeptic extraordinaire for his TruTv show Conspiracy Theory, Jesse "The Great” Ventura hit the Pacific Northwest Wrestling territory in the mid-seventies after breaking into the business in the Central States territory.
In the PNW, he fought Jimmy Snuka and Dutch Savage independently during feuds, capturing the PNW Heavyweight Championship from both men, the first time from Snuka in August 1975 and the second from Dutch Savage in July 1976.
Snuka won his sixth and last PNW Championship from Ventura in 1977 but departed the promotion for the Texas territory (World Class Championship Wrestling) not long after, at the end of 1977.
Ventura went on to compete in the tag rankings and win his last Tag Title with Jerry Oates before he left in 1978 for his time in the AWA.
He had won the tag titles twice with Bull Ramos and twice with one of the men who electrified audiences in the Portland area and caused everyone in the wrestling community to turn their heads toward Oregon to see what all the talk was about.
Dutch Savage
Dutch Savage, the tough-as-nails Scranton, Pennsylvania native, became a staple of Portland Northwest Wrestling with his innovative Coal Minerโs Glove Match and multiple championship reigns.
Another of the talented men who made Portland their home was a Scranton, Pennsylvania native who made his way to the Northwest via Macon, Georgia. Frank Stewart shook off the shackles of his name and became Dutch Savage, or Schultz, depending on where he worked.
Trained the old school way by one half of the legendary tag team, The Kentuckians, Luke Brown didnโt take it easy on Dutch and instilled earning his way in the business.
After his time in Georgia, he took to the roads and learned his craft before finally finding Don Owen and his eventual home in Portland in 1966.
Savage had learned how to work singles and tag in his travels, and Owen put that to work. He had a run with another legend in the making of Jimmy Snuka, and the pair won the Pacific Northwest tag titles half a dozen times. They were wildly popular as a babyface team, even though Savage would normally work as a heel.
During this time, he also established himself over the border in British Columbia. He would bounce back and forth between the two promotions for most of his career.
He continued working on his drawing and booking abilities, and in 1972, he invented the infamous Coal Minerโs Glove Match. He never lost one during the rest of his career.
He retired from active competition in 1981 and later bought out Sandor Kovacs’ ownership stake in the Washington territory and a one-third portion of PNW from Don and Elton Owen. He also worked on commentary for wrestling promotions into the ’90s.
Savage passed away after complications of a stroke on August 3rd, 2019. He was 78.
Buddy Rose
Buddy Rose, the ‘Playboy’ of Portland Northwest Wrestling (PNW), captivated audiences with his flamboyant style and unforgettable feuds, solidifying his place as one of the territory’s most memorable stars. Photo Credit: Portland Wrestling, Rose Family.
Born Paul Perschmann in Las Vegas on November 27th, 1952, Buddy Rose made his debut in wrestling in the early 1970s. Trained by two of the best, Billy Robinson and Verne Gagne, the young Rose showed up in the PNW territory in the mid-’70s.
He began working the tag team ranks and won his first PNW Tag Team Championship on October 25th, 1976. Between then and 1988, he held that title eleven more times with myriad partners, including several times with the "Polish Prince" Ed Wiskoski.
Rose had a substantial feud with Jimmy Snuka while in Portland, but it was the heat and fan reactions to his rivalry with Roddy Piper that really tore the house down.
Piper had shown up in the territory in early 1979, after his run in Los Angeles and for Roy Shire in San Francisco. The feud put both men on the wrestling map and opened the door for them to move beyond the Pacific Northwest and start making some serious money.
Buddy Rose and Roddy Piper battled over the PNW Title and created some historic matches from the end of 1979 until Piper left the area for Georgia in 1980.
Buddy Rose held the PNW Heavyweight Championship eleven times before he left the territory and headed to the AWA in the mid-’80s, where he and tag partner Doug Somers had their historic run of matches with Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty of The Midnight Rockers (later known as The Rockers).
With Sherri Martel as their manager, Rose, with a bigger gut and thinning hair, and Somers were firing on all cylinders and a joy to watch work. As heel tag teams go, they were among the best.
Ed Wiskoski (Later Colonel DeBeers)
Ed Wiskoski, later known as Colonel DeBeers, during his time in Portland Northwest Wrestling (PNW). Photo Credit: Portland Wrestling, Owen Family.
Trained by the legendary Harley Race alongside Lord Littlebrook, Ed Wiskoski cut into the business in 1972. The St. Joseph, Missouri native started in the Central States Territory but spent most of his early career in Portland.
Wiskoski mainly worked as a heel due to his natural ability to draw heat. The fans just did not like him.
Teaming with Buddy Rose for most of his tenure in Portland, the pair held the NWA Tag Team Titles on eleven occasions. He also found gold in the singles rankings, but it was with Buddy Rose that he became most notorious.
After he left and moved on to the AWA, he took on the persona he is most remembered for in the mustache-twisting Col. DeBeers.
As the Colonel, he was hated everywhere he went. This was nothing new, though, as can be told in the story of another character he portrayed, Mega Maharishi Imedโthe rib being his last name, “Iโm Ed.”
This can be linked to an incident near Antelope, Oregon, when an ashram led by Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh caused turmoil in Eastern Oregon, eventually leading to them trying to poison the water supply of the town of Dalles. It was ill-conceived and failed to kill anyone but left nearly 750 sick from salmonella.
Wiskoski took it to the limit and came out in full turban and red robe regalia, which the cult was known for. The fans lost it. He loved bringing the crowd to a near riot, and he knew how to take it there.
Having that regional localization of the product is what made the wrestling territories so great. An angle like that could only have worked there, where it happened.
Col. DeBeers went on to have a long career, even reuniting with Rose years later for a show in Portland in 2005.
He and Buddy Rose became lifelong friends, and the two even ran a wrestling school together for four years in the early 2000s. He retired to Arizona and still lives there today.
Roddy Piper
Roddy Piper, the legendary “Hot Rod,” captivated the Portland Northwest (PNW) Wrestling territory with his quick wit and intense rivalries, propelling himself to worldwide fame. Photo Credit: Portland Wrestling, Owen Family.
Most fans in the wrestling business recognize the name Toombs when they hear it, but almost everyone in the industry and out knows the name, Roddy Piper.
Born in 1954 in Saskatoon, Canada, Roderick always had a temper and bucked authority when he faced it. This directly conflicted with how his policeman father lived his life.
The two were oil and water, and after his expulsion from middle school, he was thrown out of the house and left to find his own path. Struggling to survive the streets and living in and out of youth hostels, he would spend his time at small gyms and YMCAs, eventually befriending some of the wrestlers.
He eventually became somewhat of a "gopher" for them and earned his stripes, which would open the doors to the business for him. He started working for Al Tomko in his AWA sister promotion in Winnipeg, which allowed him to go between there and Minneapolis.
Picking up his training on the road, he was mentored and taught how to protect himself from greats like Stu Hart and none other than the "Godfather of Grappling" himself, Gene LeBell, who presented Piper with his black belt in Judo.
After Minneapolis, the word was out on this scrappy kid who was a hot promo and willing to learn. Piper hit the wrestling circuit and took on professional wrestlingโs “College of the Road.”
In the territory days, having connections and making them was the difference between moving around and seeing the country or living your life in the same market and planting permanent stakes there.
Piper was one of the rambling souls who lived on the highways of America during those years. Always gone and hardly home, you learned the business and made that name for yourself. This led him through middle America and into Texas before he got a call from an old friend.
He knew the call from Gene LeBell meant opportunity and his chance at the West Coast, so he headed to Los Angeles. Gene had recently gone into promoting with his brother and knew Piper would do well for him, but no one knew how well it would turn out for everyone, including the fans.
Piper gave them a total dose of the wise-cracking "Rowdy" side of his character that he had been working on. It was a natural fit for California. He infuriated the Latino community and caused a riot when he famously played La Cucaracha when he said he was going to play their national anthem.
Most of what made Roddy so hated would not be shown on today’s television screens.
He worked his way up the coast through Shireโs Big Time San Fran and eventually landed in Portland in the fall of 1978.
Buddy Rose was the top heel in Portland at that time, and he was making big money for Owen and the rest of the boys on the card. Piper came in and had the chance to wrestle as a babyface there and made the flip, taking on Rose in a heated rivalry that lasted months.
Owen was a good payoff guy, and Piper came to the promotion and the northwestern United States in general. Despite loving the area, the siren song of the road was calling him, and an opportunity to go to Mid-Atlantic and work in the Southeast was too much to pass up.
Returning to his heelish roots, Piper headed to Charlotte, North Carolina, but would return to the Portland territory later in his career.
Elton Owen
Promoter Don Owen’s brother, Elton Owen, used to wrestle in his earlier years and later became a promoter in Southern Oregon. He also did some judging, refereeing, and promoting in boxing. Photo Credit: NWA.
Professional wrestling was hot in Portland in the ’80s but came with a bittersweet arrival. Donโs brother Elton retired from the company in 1982. He looked over their interests outside of the Portland area.
In todayโs terminology, he would be known as a road agent who ran the house shows, took in the gate, and paid the boys. Elton, an ex-boxer, was popular with the boys, sometimes more than he realized. Rip Rogers explained this on his podcast,ย Wrestling With Rip Rogers, while sharing stories of his time in the Portland Northwest Wrestling territory.
"I was in the locker room after the show in the line to get paid,” Rogers explained in a recent conversation with me for Pro Wrestling Stories. “Elton gave me my pay plus a little bonus for a spot I hit, which came out to about $75.
“I went back and sat down with my money, and a few minutes later, Piper asked me if I had been paid. I told him yes. He smiled and told me to go get in line again. I wasnโt sure about it, but Piper told me to get in line again.
“When I got to the office, Elton gave me the exact same speech and even tipped me the extra for the spot!”
Rip, while chuckling, added, “Piper laughed his *** off. The next night Elton scratched his head and said he mustโve overpaid someone last night ’cause the payoff was short!"
Even the boss wasnโt safe from the road ribs. Sadly, Elton died not long after his retirement.
The ’80s also took its toll on the Pacific Northwest Wrestling territory, as the Oregon Boxing and Wrestling Commission restructured its policies and tightened down on the promoters and wrestlers that were forced to work under them.
Portland also lost its senior announcer that year when Frank Bonnema died from a heart attack and was replaced on the mic with Don Cross, who had worked for them in Salem.
Donโs son Barry picked up for Elton, and the business moved ahead. As we know, in professional wrestling, the show must always go on!
The early ’80s were good for PNW as well, and they saw many new faces coming into the promotion to replace the gaps left by the departure of guys like Piper, Snuka, Ventura, and Rose. Young workers who were large, pumped, and looking to make a name for themselves.
Among these was a local Portland boy who exploded onto the scene. At this time, they also began a working relationship with Fritz Von Erich and World Class Championship Wrestling, which brought an influx of new faces to the territory.
Don Owen was quite savvy about this and took advantage of talent trades among several different promotions to help keep things fresh and the building packed.
Billy Jack Haynes
Portland native Billy Jack Haynes, pictured here in 1984, brought intensity and charisma to Portland Northwest Wrestling. Photo Credit: State Archive of Florida.
William Albert Haynes III was born on July 10th, 1953, in Portland. He got his training in Stu Hartโs infamous Dungeon and also worked for a while in Stampede Wrestling before returning to his home city and beginning his run with Owen and PNW.
He changed his name and patterned his gimmick after the wildly popular ’60s protest film Billy Jack. He added his own last name to separate himself from the movie icon after creator Tom Laughlin threatened to sue him for infringement.
Upon winning the strap, he would embark on a feud with Rip Oliver that would last until he left for the WWF in 1986. The two traded the PNW Heavyweight Championship back and forth five times during those three years.
Rip Oliver
Rip Oliver, the master of the ‘Oliver Carry Out Service,’ set a record in PNW with the most NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship reigns and held tag team titles a combined 18 times. Photo Credit: NWA.
Rip Oliver had a long tenure with Pacific Northwest Wrestling territory. Between April 1982 and September 1991, he held their championship a record twelve times.
Like many of his PNW brethren, he worked in and out of Portland throughout his wrestling career. He had a great heel gimmick known as "The Oliver Carry Out Service,” where he would bring a stretcher to the ring and use the slogan "You break ’em, we take ’em.”
Like manyย Portland alums, he worked forย Vince McMahon in the powerhouse ’80s incarnation of the WWF. He even appeared on an episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event, where he battled for the WWF Intercontinental Championship under the mask of Super Ninja against then-championย Ultimate Warrior.
He is one of numerous journeyman wrestlers who made their reputations in the territories, only to fall into obscurity once the boys from New York took the game over. Itโs a sad reality that the WWF impacted many lives during the consolidation of the market in those days.
Billy Jack Haynes was in the WWF for only a short time and was left under a cloud of mysterious circumstances that turned into a game of "he-said, she-said" later in his career.
After leaving NYC, he returned to his home, opened up the Oregon Wrestling Federation in the early 1990s, and retired a few years later in 1996. He has not been without controversy in his career, but it canโt be argued that he created one of the most memorable gimmicks in wrestling.
Haynes lived in Oregon until he faced a second-degree murder charge for the death of his wife, Janette Becraft, who was found deceased in their home in February 2024.
Roddy Piper, Jesse Ventura, and Jimmy Snuka all went on to become massive stars in the McMahon camp. They all had the foresight to head to the Northeast at the right time and had extremely marketable gimmicks that Vince could run to the bank with. These careers will be examined further in a future article on the Wrestling Territories when we look at the WWF.
"Playboy" Buddy Rose also went on to the WWF and had a short run there that ended in the early ’90s. His gimmick of the out-of-shape symbol of attractionย was so over that Vince McMahon reportedly only allowed Rose to be exempt from his regimented workout program that all other superstars were required to adhere to.
He had his retirement match in Tampa at the 2005 Wrestle Reunion show. Partnering with longtime ally Col. DeBeers, he faced two of his most fierce rivals, Roddy Piper and Jimmy Snuka.
His years of working the portly fleet of foot heels finally caught up with him in 2008 when he passed away at his home in Vancouver. Sugar diabetes and heart problems caused by his weight were cited as cumulative causes of his death. He was only 56 years old.
Owens Family 60 Years of Wrestling in Portland Special
The 60th Anniversary Wrestling Extravaganza, a supercard by NWA Pacific Northwest (Portland Northwest Wrestling / PNW), took place at Portland Memorial Coliseum on May 21st, 1985. Photo Credit: Owen Family.
1985 brought the 60th Anniversary of Portland Wrestling, and Don Owen wanted to cement the occasion with a massive event for his family and territory: The 60th Anniversary Wrestling Extravaganza. He brought in talent from all the "sister territories" he had been doing talent exchanges with.
Much like John Hammond in Jurassic Park, he spared no expense. Unlike Hammond, his venture came off as a resounding success. Boys from the AWA, NWA, and even the WWF were on the card.
The event was held in a sold-out Portland Memorial Coliseum, only two months after WrestleMania I. He did what Vince Jr. could not in the Northwest: sell out the Coliseum.
Vince may not have liked it, but he had to respect Owen’s ability to serve his fans and keep them loyal enough to continue in the face of the growing WWF juggernaut.
Some of the notable matches included Mega Maharishi (Wiskoski) defeating Billy Two Eagles, Sgt.ย Slaughter defeated Kendo Nagasaki (Black Ninja), Curt andย Larry Hennigย won againstย Road Warriorsย in an AWA Tag Title match,ย Rick Martel was victorious over Mike Miller for the AWA Heavyweight Title, and Ric Flair faced local favorite Billy Jack Haynes in a forty-minute time limit draw.ย Flair showcased his opponent’s talent as he always did.
The main event was Roddy Piper vs. Buddy Rose. The fact that Flair wasnโt the main event as the NWA Champion and Piper and Rose went over shows how much the Portland market loved those two guys. They gave so much to the territory but werenโt done yet.
The event was huge and can be viewed below for those interested in watching it:
NWA Pacific Northwest / Portland Northwest Wrestling Footage
Dutch Savage and Portland historian Steve Davies in 2011. Photo Credit: Steve Davies / NW History Hunters.
In my conversations with Portland resident and wrestling historian Steve Davies, the creator of the Dutch Savage documentary “Don’t Count Me Out” (available for purchase via the contact page here), he mentioned that, like many other territories, Portland did not preserve its weekly programming. Instead of purchasing new tapes, they opted to reuse the existing ones for redubs.
Most of the footage we find today can be credited to Buddy Rose, who would set up his own rig and tape events so he could watch them later. Sadly, this was commonplace throughout the territories during those first years of VHS recording.
They followed this event with another huge draw in the Superstar Extravaganza a year in January 1986. It was highlighted by the Road Warriors and Magnum T.A. facing off against The Russians, Ivan and Nikita Koloff with Tim Flowers, and a little person match with Little Tokyo and Little Mr. T.
The main event saw Ric Flair return. This time, facing Dusty Rhodes for the NWA Title, which ended up a DQ in Flairโs favor. The two battled for half an hour, and you can guarantee it was a bloody event. Rhodes chased Flair all over the country for THE title, and they went to the bank in every town they fought in.
The Grappler (Len Denton)
The Grappler, Len Denton, seen here as the Pacific Northwest Wrestling Heavyweight Champion played a crucial role in guiding the PNW wrestling territory through its final great era. Photo Credit: Portland Wrestling, Owen Family.
In 1987, a new man threw his hat into the ring, tried to keep things afloat, and gave the Portland wrestling territory its last great run. With fresh ideas and a loaded boot, The Grappler hit the scene.
"Beat me!! …if you can!”
Words that echoed through the Portland Sports Arena brought the fans to their feet in anger. The Grappler had seen his share of the roads, both good and bad. After he finished up in Mid-South, he was looking for the next stop.
Rip Oliver told him he should call Don Owen and see what he had going on. Taking his advice and plying some wrestler haggling tactics, he and Owen came to an agreement both could live with, and just like that, Portland had a new talent and all around, do-it-all jack of all trades on their way.
Len Denton arrived in the later years of the cityโs greatness and wrestling legacy, but Denton still had a few chapters to add to that story. He rallied the boys, pushed tickets, and put the work in, earning every cent of the deal. All the fans knew was the mask and that they hated him. The boys knew they had a new leader, like him or not.
The Grappler hit the ring and, on his own or with various partners, got gold around his waist. The NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship was the premier title in the territory, and he held it seven times, not because he had the pencil but because it was good for business and drawing the fans.
He held the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Titles ten times with several partners. Denton left and went to work for WCW for a short while but still worked with his local Portland area to get that area hot again.
The Final Days of Pacific Northwest Wrestling
The continued encroachment of the WWF and newly founded WCW in Atlanta sucked the talent pool dry not only at PNW but nationwide.
The last dagger to the promotion’s heart came in 1991 when Portland Wrestling was canceled after thirty-eight years of broadcasting. When it was taken off the air, it was the longest-running non-news program on television.
Don Owen tried to continue but finally retired from promoting in 1992 and sold his PNW promotion lock, stock, and barrel to referee Sandy Barr, the father of Art Barr and Jesse Barr (aka future WWF talent Jimmy Jack Funk).
Owen then sold the building that was his Portland Sports Arena to a local church. He passed away on August 1st, 2002, at the ripe old age of 90.
Barr tried to continue, but by that point, things were on the downhill slide, and he just wasnโt the man to redeem it to its former glory. He folded suddenly in 1997.
Denton returned three years later with yet another incarnation of the original, with titles traced back to prove its veracity. They got local television again, and all looked good until the Oregon Athletic Commission once again had issues with them. This time, they stuck, and it was the death knell for the company.
In actuality, they were collateral damage when the owner of the television station they broadcast on was convicted of embezzlement.
When they lost their television, they lost the last remnants of their audience, and just like that, it was over, and Championship Wrestling USA, the name it was under at the time, folded and became another notch on the tree of dead territories. Still, they withstood longer than most.
Len Denton sold the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight title he owned on eBay in 2006. When the times finally got hard enough, he had to part with it. Its current whereabouts are unknown. The Grappler can still be seen on the fan-gathering circuit and, at times, at the yearly Cauliflower Alley Convention in Las Vegas.
While the Pacific Northwest Wrestling video library isnโt as readily available as some that you may find, that promotion rivals Mid-South in the level of stars and gimmicks created there.
We hope that one result of our Wrestling Territories series is that you are building an appreciation for the legacy of this great business we all love and even learned a few things about this unsung territory.
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Jim Phillips is a senior author for Pro Wrestling Stories and a lifetime member of the Cauliflower Alley Club. He has been a passionate pro wrestling fan since the late '70s and has spent the past decade as a journeyman writer, sharing his insights and stories with the wrestling community. He can also be heard in the BBC Radio production Sports Strangest Crimes: The Ballad of Bruiser Brody. Tragically, Jim is currently facing the greatest challenge of his life after being paralyzed on January 21st, 2023. You can learn more about his journey and how you can support him in reaching his goal of taking his first steps again at the link above.