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Don Owen (Wrestling Promoter)
:For the Shreveport news anchor and Louisiana politician, see ''Don Owen (news anchor)''. Don Owen (March 16, 1912 – August 1, 2002) was an American professional wrestling promoter. For several decades, he owned and operated the highly successful Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) under his parent company, Don Owen Sports, which was based out of Portland, Oregon. Career Born in Eugene, Oregon to boxing/wrestling promoter Herb Owen, Don and his brother Elton began working in the family business in the mid-1920s, selling popcorn and drinks to the audience. Early on, Don and Elton even stepped into the ring on occasion to box or wrestle. In time, Don moved more and more into the promoting side, eventually taking over completely after his father died in 1951. His career as a promoter spanned over 60 years throughout the heyday of territorial pro wrestling. Owen was a founding member of the National Wrestling Alliance. Under management of Don Owen Sports, Pacific Northwest Wrest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eugene had a population of 176,654 and covers city area of 44.21 sq mi (114.50 sq km). Eugene is the seat of Lane County and the state's second largest city after Portland. The Eugene-Springfield metropolitan statistical area is the 146th largest in the United States and the third largest in the state, behind those of Portland and Salem. In 2022, Eugene's population was estimated to have reached 179,887. Eugene is home to the University of Oregon, Bushnell University, and Lane Community College. The city is noted for its natural environment, recreational opportunities (especially bicycling, running/jogging, rafting, and kayaking), and focus on the arts, along with its history of civil unrest, protests, and green activism. Eugene's offi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curt Hennig
Curtis Michael Hennig (March 28, 1958 – February 10, 2003) was an American professional wrestler. He performed under his real name for promotions including the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; now WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and NWA Total Nonstop Action, also using the ring name Mr. Perfect in the WWF/E. Hennig was the son of wrestler Larry "The Axe" Hennig and the father of wrestler Curtis Axel. Hennig debuted in 1980 and won multiple championships in both Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) and the AWA during the decade. He gained particular attention when he defeated Nick Bockwinkel for the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1987, with his 373-day reign being the seventh-longest in history. Hennig moved to the WWF thereafter, where he feuded with Hulk Hogan over the WWF Championship, and won the WWF Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship twice, becoming the longest-reigning titleholder of the 1990s. In addition t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bowling Alley
A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a Meetinghouse, clubhouse or dwelling house. History By the late 1830s, the Knickerbocker Hotel's bowling alley had opened, with three lanes. Instead of wood, this indoor alley used clay for the bowling lane. By 1850, there were more than 400 bowling alleys in New York City, which earned it the title "bowling capital of North America". Because early versions of bowling were difficult and there were concerns about gambling, the sport faltered. Several cities in the United States regulated bowling due to its association with gambling. In the late 19th century, bowling was revived in many U.S. cities. Alleys were often located in saloon basements and provided a place for working-class men to meet, socialize, and drink alcohol. Bars were and still are a principal fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KPTV
KPTV (channel 12) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States. affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Vancouver, Washington–licensed MyNetworkTV affiliate KPDX (channel 49). Both stations share studios on NW Greenbrier Parkway in Beaverton, while KPTV's transmitter is located in the Sylvan-Highlands section of Portland. History Early years KPTV signed on the air on September 20, 1952, as Oregon's first television station. KPTV originally broadcast on channel 27, making it also the nation's first commercial television station to broadcast on the UHF band. (the first experimental UHF station was Bridgeport, Connecticut's KC2XAK on channel 24). The station was originally owned by Empire Coil. As Portland's only television station at the time, it carried programming from all four networks of the time: ABC, CBS, NBC and the DuMont Television Network. CBS programming was dropped from KPTV's schedule when Portland's first VHF ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gorgeous George
George Raymond Wagner (March 23, 1915 – December 26, 1963) was an American professional wrestler known by his ring name Gorgeous George. In the United States, during the First Golden Age of Professional Wrestling in the 1940s–1950s, Gorgeous George was one of the biggest stars of the sport, gaining media attention for his outrageous character, which was described as flamboyant and charismatic. He was a major national celebrity at his peak, and was largely or even solely responsible for establishing television as a viable entertainment medium, in its early days. He was posthumously inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2002 and the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2010. Early life Wagner, of German heritage, was born March 24, 1915, in Butte, Nebraska. For a time, his family lived on a farm near the village of Phoenix in Holt County and probably in Seward County before they moved to Waterloo, Iowa and later Sioux City. When he was 7 years old, Wagne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jimmy Snuka
James Reiher Snuka (born James Wiley Smith; May 18, 1943 – January 15, 2017) was a Fijian American professional wrestler. He is better known by the ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Snuka wrestled for several promotions from the 1970s to 2010s. He was best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) in the 1980s and was credited with introducing the high-flying style of wrestling to the WWF. He was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1996, but was quietly removed from the Hall of Fame section of WWE's website, in 2015, after he was arrested for the murder of his girlfriend in 1983. Snuka was the inaugural ECW World Heavyweight Champion (a title he held twice) in Eastern Championship Wrestling (later Extreme Championship Wrestling). His children, Sim Snuka and Tamina Snuka, are both professional wrestlers. Snuka was indicted and arrested in September 2015 on third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges in relation to the May 1983 death of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lonnie Mayne
Ronald Doyle "Lonnie" Mayne (September 12, 1944 – August 14, 1978) was an American professional wrestler in the 1960s and 1970s who frequently went by the name Moondog Mayne. He wrestled in various National Wrestling Alliance territories, as well as the World Wide Wrestling Federation in 1973. Early life Born in Fairfax, California, one of three sons of Kenny Mayne, Lonnie Mayne grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and graduated from the College of Southern Utah, where he was an All American in Football. Lonnie's father Ken was a professional wrestler, and Lonnie chose to follow in his father's footsteps and become a professional wrestler as well. Professional wrestling career Lonnie's famous nickname "Moondog" was acquired from Vince McMahon Sr., as he supposedly looked like a famed blind musician and poet named Louis Hardin who lived in New York until the early ’70s and was many times seen on the corner of 53rd or 54th Street and 6th Avenue in Manhattan, in a cloak while weari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dutch Savage
Frank Stewart (June 9, 1935 – August 3, 2013) was an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter, best known for his time spent competing in Pacific Northwest Wrestling under the ring name Dutch Savage. Career Savage made his pro debut in 1962 in Macon, Georgia using the ring name Lonnie Brown, then spent the next few years competing across North America, in Hawaii and in Japan (going by the ring names Mr. X and Dutch Schultz). Savage first began using his most famous ring name during a stint in the Heart of America Sports Attractions, Kansas City territory. He eventually settled in the Pacific Northwest region in 1966, splitting his time between PNW in Portland, Oregon, Portland and NWA All Star Wrestling in Vancouver, British Columbia. Savage also had a brief stint in the AWA territory where he formed a solid tag team with Hard Boiled Haggerty. However, when a trip to Japan was offered, Dutch opted to leave the AWA after only a few months. His most memorable match ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shag Thomas
Shag Thomas (born James Thomas, August 11, 1924 – July 25, 1982) was an American professional wrestler during the 1950s and 1960s. He was one of the few African-American wrestlers of his day. Football career Thomas was a 1942 graduate of Bellaire High School in Bellaire, Ohio playing football for the Big Reds under head coach John "Butch" Niemiec, a former star player at the University of Notre Dame under Knute Rockne. In his four years in high school the Big Reds went 31-6-1 and an Ohio Valley Athletic Association title. Thomas was a World War II veteran and member of the 1950 Rose Bowl champion Ohio State Buckeye squad that entered that game at 6-1-2 (number 6 in the AP poll). In July 1950, he signed a contract with the Green Bay Packers and appeared in pre-season games that year, but was cut prior to the final exhibition game. Career Born in Stewartsville, Ohio, Thomas began wrestling during a time when segregation in professional wrestling was still taking place in so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Omar Mijares
Omar Mijares (born April 22, 1938), is a retired Venezuelan professional wrestler, best known by his ring name Omar Atlas, who competed in North American and international promotions including the National Wrestling Alliance, Stampede Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation from the late 1950s until the early 1990s. A longtime ally of Venezuelan wrestler Cyclone Negro, he was often billed as his younger half-brother Omar Negro when teaming with him in NWA Southwest Sports during the 1960s and later in Championship Wrestling from Florida during the 1970s. He was also a popular star in Latin America wrestling as Super Steele in Mexico and Super Gladiator in Puerto Rico as well as Buddy Moreno in the southwestern United States. Career Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Mijares became involved in amateur wrestling as a youth and later competed and won a silver medal at the Pan-American Games in 1958. Traveling to Spain soon after, he began acting as a cornerman for friend and former oly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Billy Jack Haynes
William Albert Haynes III (born July 10, 1953) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Billy Jack Haynes. Professional wrestling career Early career (1982–1984) Haynes started wrestling in 1982 at the age of 28. He trained in Stu Hart's Dungeon pro wrestling school and briefly wrestled in Hart's Stampede Wrestling under his given name, forming a tag team with Bruce Hart. He started wrestling as "Billy Jack" in the Pacific Northwest territory but had to change his name when Tom Laughlin (who starred in the movie ''Billy Jack'') threatened to sue him. He added his real last name to the gimmick and continued to work as a babyface. It is rumored that Haynes served time for manslaughter before becoming a pro wrestler. Championship Wrestling from Florida; Pacific Northwest Wrestling (1984–1986) He feuded heavily with Rip Oliver until 1984, when he had a run in Championship Wrestling from Florida where he feuded with Kendo Nagasaki for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roddy Piper
Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and actor. In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for his work with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1984 and 2000. Although he was Canadian, because of his Scottish heritage he was billed as coming from Glasgow and was known for his signature kilt and bagpipe entrance music. Piper earned the nicknames "Rowdy" and "Hot Rod" by displaying his trademark "Scottish" short temper, spontaneity, and quick wit. According to ''The Daily Telegraph'', he is "considered by many to be the greatest 'heel' (or villain) wrestler ever". One of wrestling's most recognizable stars, Piper headlined multiple PPV events, including the WWF and WCW's respective premier annual events, WrestleMania and Starrcade. He accumulated 34 championships and hosted the p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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