История рестлинга Тихоокеанского Северо-Запада

Professional wrestling promotion

Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) (also known as Big Time Wrestling and Portland Wrestling) 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 pro wrestling 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 professional wrestling 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. by the name of Ted Thye came to Portland with plans to promote both boxing 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. During the early years, Herb brought in boxer Jack Dempsey. In 1944, Don Owen promoted several cards with women wrestlers, until female wrestling was outlawed in Oregon (as it would be until 1975). Pacific Northwest Wrestling aired a weekly 60 minute live program originally called Heidelberg Wrestling, named for its sponsor, Heidelberg Brewing Co. of Tacoma, Washington. 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.

After the opening of Portland Memorial Coliseum in 1961, Don Owen occasionally promoted wrestling cards at the venue, drawing good crowds. 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. The Owens' promotion faced opposition from several "outlaw promotions" throughout the 1970s, but remained strong. Eventually Owen's reputation as a honest, well paying promoter drew a more national level of talent to the PNW territory. As the roster grew, so did the number of shows: in addition to Sports Arena tapings and a regular weekly stop in Salem, Oregon, it was not uncommon for the territory to run spot shows every night of the week. For several years during the 1970s and 1980s, PNW's Portland Wrestling program was syndicated to stations throughout the Pacific Northwest in an edited 60 minute version known as Big Time Wrestling. Portland Wrestling was a rather basic television production even by 1970s standards: the program did not air in color until 1972. Even after that, it would occasionally still be produced in black and white if KPTV was airing a Portland Trail Blazers home game on a Saturday night, as the station had only one live production truck capable of broadcasting in color. 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. Beginning in the late 1970s, Rose feuded with Rowdy Roddy Piper in a multi year long angle, with the highlight being Rose stealing Piper's kilt and burning it in the Sports Arena's balcony/press row in 1981. Fans watching the match on TV called 911 and firefighters were dispatched to the arena, only to find the building in fine condition when they arrived. (Shows were shot "live to tape" at that time, with little editing and commercials inserted while the program was being shot.)

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. The show featured representatives from the NWA, the AWA and the WWF, including the World Champions of both the NWA and AWA and the World Tag Team Champions of the AWA all defending their titles. It was the longest running non news program on American television at the time of its cancellation and the third longest tenured U. S. program overall behind Meet the Press and the CBS Evening News. Don Owen continued to run wrestling shows throughout Oregon and Washington until April 30, 1992, when he retired and sold the entire company, minus the Sports Arena, to Portland Wrestling's referee and future promoter Sandy Barr. This event came as a surprise to Don Coss who, in light of Culbertson's criminal charges, has expressed uncertainty on the future of Portland Wrestling.

TitleChampionsPW Pacific Northwest Heavyweight ChampionshipDr. LutherPW Pacific Northwest Tag Team ChampionshipThe Cartel (Big Ugly and Vinny Massaro)PW Pacific Northwest Light Heavyweight ChampionshipTimothy Thatcher