:For the

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

and

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

politician, see ''

Don Owen (news anchor) Don Owen may refer to: *Don Owen (wrestling) (1912–2002), American professional wrestling promoter *Don Owen (filmmaker) Don Owen (September 19, 1931 – February 21, 2016) was a Canadian film director, writer and producer. Owen worked for Ca ...

''. Don Owen (March 16, 1912 – August 1, 2002) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

promoter. For several decades, he owned and operated the highly successful

Pacific Northwest Wrestling 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. T ...

(PNW) under his parent company, Don Owen Sports, which was based out of

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

Career

Born in

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, Eu ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

/wrestling promoter Herb Owen, Don and his brother Elton began working in the family business in the mid-1920s, selling

popcorn Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names also refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion. A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the se ...

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 The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

. Under management of Don Owen Sports,

became one of the leaders of the

, the chief reason being Don Owen's reputation as the best payoff promoter in the wrestling business. Owen was known for dealing fairly with all his wrestlers, paying them exactly what he promised and never trying to stiff them, a mentality not shared with the vast majority of his fellow promoters. Because of this, every major star in the 1960s and 1970s wished to wrestle in the Northwest. Among those who wrestled and/or got their start under Don Owen's management are Stan Stasiak, Dizzy Hogan,

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) ...

Mad Dog Vachon Joseph Maurice Régis Vachon (September 14, 1929 − November 21, 2013) was a Canadian professional wrestler, best known by his ring name Mad Dog Vachon. He was the older brother of wrestlers Paul and Vivian Vachon, and the uncle of wrestl ...

Nick Bockwinkel Nicholas Warren Francis "Nick" Bockwinkel (December 6, 1934 – November 14, 2015) was an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in the 1970s and 1980s. Bockwinkel ...

Jesse Ventura Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2 ...

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 hi ...

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 ...

Omar Atlas 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 a ...

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 ...

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 deb ...

, Lonnie "Moondog" Mayne,

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 2010 ...

, and George Wagner (in the years before he attained international fame as

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, Gorgeou ...

Portland Wrestling

In 1952, Don Owen negotiated a deal with pioneering Portland TV station

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 s ...

to become the very first wrestling show seen on TV in the city. ''

Portland Wrestling 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 professional wrestling promotion, companies, both past and present, based in ...

'' (later known as ''Big Time Wrestling'') continued as a weekly program until the show ended production in December 1991, possibly setting a record as the longest-lasting wrestling show in the history of American television. In 1968, Owen bought and renovated a

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, clubhous ...

which eventually became the Portland Sports Arena and the new home of PNW. The company held strong throughout the 1970s despite competition from 'outlaw promotions', and in 1976, Dutch Savage bought into Don Owen Sports and began promoting PNW cards in the state of

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. By the 1980s, professional wrestling had seen a revival on behalf of

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the w ...

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

(WWF). However, McMahon had accomplished this by successfully driving the old wrestling "territories" like PNW out of existence. That same decade, the formation of

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nation ...

(WCW), WWF's future chief competitor, would also contribute to the disintegration of territorial wrestling. Finally, in July 1992, facing increasing health problems from age, overwhelming competition from WWF and WCW, and unrelenting problems from an overzealous Oregon State Athletic Commission, as well as the bankruptcy of his main television sponsor, Don Owen was forced to shut down PNW's operations. He sold the entire company, minus the Sports Arena, to promoter

Sandy Barr Ferrin Charles Barr (January 21, 1938 – June 2, 2007) was an American professional wrestler, referee, promoter and trainer who spent his career mostly in the Western United States and Canada. Under the name as Sandy Barr, he was best known for h ...

. The Portland Sports Arena was sold to a local church. Owen then lived out a quiet retirement until his death in 2002. Owen was the youngest of the original founding members of the NWA and the last surviving original member after the death of

Sam Muchnick Samuel Muchnick (born Jeshua Muchnick, August 22, 1905 – December 30, 1998) was an American professional wrestling promoter from St. Louis, Missouri. He is often regarded as wrestling's equivalent of Pete Rozelle (the forward-thinking commission ...

in 1998.

Personal life

Owen was married with three sons, Mike, Marc and Barry.

Awards and accomplishments

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF) and Museum is an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in Wichita Falls, Texas currently closed to water leaks. The museum was founded by Tony Vellano in 1999, and was previo ...

**Class of 2021 *''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...

'' **

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (WON) Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling and mixed martial arts hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to their professions. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of t ...

(Class of 2021)

References

External links