Tag: Portland wrestling

Indie promotion cancels Joey Ryan booking following backlash

Posted on by Joseph Currier

An indie promotion attempting to revive Portland Wrestling has canceled its booking of Joey Ryan after receiving backlash.

The “Portland Wrestling: Reborn” event is scheduled for August 23 in Vancouver, Washington. It was announced that Ryan — who has been out of wrestling since being accused of sexual assault and harassment during the #SpeakingOut movement of 2020 — would be making his return at the show. However, that’s no longer happening and the entire event is in jeopardy of being canceled.

“I have canceled Joey Ryan’s flight,” the promotion announced. “He will not be appearing at the August 23rd show.”

The person behind the Portland Wrestling revival said it’s highly likely the show will not take place anymore, blaming another Pacific Northwest wrestling group for threatening to blackball anyone who was going to work it.

“Prestige Wrestling’s promoter threatened to black ball every wrestler, trainer, and ring crew member who works with me, causing multiple wrestlers to drop out of the show and even the guy I was renting the ring from canceled the rental,” Portland Wrestling wrote. “We currently do not have a ring for a show taking place in less than three weeks.”

Prestige Wrestling is holding a show in Portland on August 23, which was announced as a counter to this event that was going to feature Joey Ryan. The Prestige show is billed as “a night of safe space pro-wrestling action, for the scene, by the scene that helped cultivate modern day Portland wrestling.” Fans can pay whatever price they want for tickets with all profits being donated to charity.

Explaining why he booked Ryan in the first place, the Portland Wrestling promoter wrote: “He was very reasonably priced, he hadn’t worked the area since like 2014, local guys wanted to work him, and it was an opportunity for him to move past the mustache gimmick that I never cared for anyway.”

Tickets for the Reborn show are still on sale despite the potential cancellation.

Portland Wrestlecast: Remembering the life & times of Ed ‘Colonel DeBeers’ Wiskoski

Posted on by Jim Valley

You probably knew him as Colonel DeBeers.

Before he adopted the wrestling persona of an apartheid-supporting South African heel, he was Ed Wiskoski aka “The Polish Prince” — the intelligent wrestler who helped back up all the trash talk of “Playboy” Buddy Rose in Don Owen’s Pacific Northwest territory.

In this edition of the Portland Wrestlecast, we remember Wiskoski who passed away last week.

I talk to two people who knew him well: historian Matt Farmer and former wrestler Brian Blair. Learn about the ribber, the psychologist and the time Wiskoski took another gimmick from out of the headlines: cult leader.

Click Here to Listen (sub needed)

WOL: Bryan and The Colonel, plumbing issues

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including Bryan’s house going all to hell, the new WWF LFG show coming up, the life and times of Ed Wiskoski in the midst of the 2000s Portland indy boom, and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

Right Click Save As

Portland Wrestlecast: What Happened Then?

Posted on by Jim Valley

What Happened When? Jim Valley will try to tell you on this episode of the Portland Wrestlecast.

If you heard Tony Schiavone and Conrad Thompson watch Portland Wrestling from April 1982, you may want to watch along with this show, too. Portland Wrestling is kind of its own world. Watch along again and hear explanations of the announcer, the building, the commercials, the schedule. Don’t forget the wrestlers: Ric Flair, Rocky Johnson, Brett Sawyer, Curt Hennig, King Parsons, Brutus Beefcake, and more. Tons of stories and context. It will (hopefully) make sense when it’s done.

Check it out and other shows in the archives. (the show starts at the beginning. provide your own countdown)

Click Here to Listen

Portland Wrestlecast: Remembering The Iron Sheik

Posted on by Jim Valley

On a new edition of the Portland Wrestlecast, I remember the Iron Sheik who we lost Wednesday at the age of 81.

In early 1978, a young Jim Valley saw the Iron Sheik come through the Pacific Northwest. He was only in the territory about six months, but it was a memorable six months: he was the prize in a wrestling match, he won the Tag Team titles, feuded with Dutch Savage and Jimmy Snuka, and was part of a legendary shoot match and locker room confrontation.

Thanks to James Tolin recording TV audio with his tape recorder as a kid back then, we can enjoy rare audio of the Iron Sheik in Portland before he was world famous.

Click Here to Listen (subscription needed)

Wrestling Observer Live: A talk with Roddy Piper’s former assistant

Posted on by Jim Valley

On a special edition of Wrestling Observer Live, I share an exclusive interview with Lewis Rach, Roddy Piper’s former assistant from 2001-2005 which will give you an inside look at one of the most enigmatic figures in wrestling.

He was there for the infamous confrontation in a dark bathroom between Piper and Bryan Alvarez. What brought that on and why did Piper use a lighter?

We also talk about WWE WrestleMania 19, the HBO interview that cost Piper his WWE job in 2003, Piper’s first book tour, him being a “young male assistant,” Piper’s philosophy on pro wrestling, and much more.

Click Here to Listen

Portland Wrestlecast: A talk with ‘The Berzerker’ John Nord

Posted on by Jim Valley

The Portland Wrestlecast is back with a great episode as I am joined by John Nord, best known as The Berzerker in the WWF.

The very entertaining and personable Nord talks about one of the most infamous angles (seen below) in Portland Wrestling history: The Breakfast Club. Known then as Nord The Barbarian, he and The Grappler bombarded Brian Adams (before he was Crush in WWF) with a barrage of plastic gallons of milk and boxes of cereal all over his body. How bad did it hurt and why did they do it? 

Learn about that and even more stories from John in this 90-minute podcast.

If you’re in Pasadena, CA, for WrestleMania weekend, don’t miss The Berzerker and The Grappler at the Ice House on Friday, March 31st at 9:30 PM local time. 

Click Here To Listen for free

Portland Wrestlecast: Charting the territory in 1979

Posted on by Jim Valley

The Portland Wrestlecast is back again as I welcome Al Getz from Charting The Territories for a fascinating conversation about the Pacific Northwest in 1979.

We talk Roddy Piper, Buddy Rose, Ed Wiskowski, “Killer” Tim Brooks, Adrian Adonis and other stars who you may not even realize came through the territory like Tully Blanchard, Iceman Parsons, Sal Bellomo, and more. 

Plus, we also give our thoughts on the Portland-focused episode of Vice’s Tales from the Territories series.

Click Here To Listen

Portland Wrestlecast: The biggest feud in Portland history

Posted on by Jim Valley

The Portland Wrestlecast is back with the history of the biggest feud in Portland Wrestling history. It was bigger than Piper vs. Rose or Rip Oliver vs. Billy Jack. 

In 1968, “Tough” Tony Borne vs. Lonnie Mayne drew thousands of fans to the then brand-new Portland Memorial Coliseum. They went from dominant World Tag Team champions to a series of battles that fans in Portland remember to this day.

I talk with longtime fan, promoter and historian Frank Culbertson about his memories of the feud and the new book from Mike Rodgers: “Katie Bar The Door! History of Portland Wrestling.“

Click Here To Listen

Portland Wrestlecast: Portland Wrestling TV signs off

Posted on by Jim Valley

This is a free show. Just click below to listen.

On December 28, 1991, a Pacific Northwest institution came to an end as Portland Wrestling signed off the air.

Originally started in 1953, Portland Wrestling is still one of the longest-running shows in TV history, even longer than WWE Raw.

On this 30th anniversary edition of the Portland Wrestlecast, we talk about all of the factors that led to the demise: WWE, the commission, a sponsor’s bankruptcy and more. 

I talk to booker Len “The Grappler” Denton about the weeks leading up to the end, the crowds, the announcement and the aftermath. I also talk to longtime fan Edward Thomas about the atmosphere at The Portland Sports arena before and after Portland Wrestling went off the air.

FYI: contact The Grappler about Ebay sales, books, special personal messages, etc.

Right click save

‘Killer’ Tim Brooks passes away at 72 after battle with cancer

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Image: AEW

Tim Brooks, best known as “Killer” Tim Brooks, who wrestled full time around the U.S., Puerto Rico and Japan from 1970 through 1989, passed away today at the age of 72.

Brooks had been battling cancer for several years that was known to be terminal.

He was from Waxahachie, TX, and spent most of his career wrestling out of the Dallas office. His original stardom came while working for The Sheik in Michigan where he held the NWA World tag team titles twice with Ben Justice and once with Abdullah The Butcher. He was also a regular mid-level heel during the heyday of World Class Championship Wrestling when it was syndicated nationally. 

As Bad News Brooks, he was the regular tag team partner of Roddy Piper in Oregon. It was Buddy Rose & Ed Wiskoski’s (aka Col. DeBeers) attack on Brooks when he was scheduled to leave the territory that led to Piper’s babyface turn that was one of the hottest business periods in the history of the Pacific Northwest.

Brooks was also a good friend of Bruiser Brody. In 1985, Brody had his last match in All Japan before he was to leave for New Japan. He turned a match against Olympic wrestlers Riki Choshu and Yoshiaki Yatsu into a fight, noting that he would not have done so if he didn’t have confidence in Brooks as his partner and backup.

In 1986, he got a major push in Montreal as Brody’s brother (Big Buster Brody) with the idea he was insane.

He was also part of a key angle in Georgia when he defeated Paul Orndorff to win the National heavyweight title in 1983, “selling” the belt to Larry Zbyszko. NWA President Bob Geigel was part of the angle when he stripped Zbyszko of the title who ruled that you can’t sell a championship.

Brooks continued to wrestle on independent shows through 1997 in Texas and opened the North American Wrestling Alliance training school, promoting shows in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

He trained a number of wrestlers with the biggest names being the original Awesome Kong (a male wrestler who was a Texas star) and current WWE star Keith Lee who honored him on Twitter.

Portland Wrestlecast free podcast: The Iron Sheik’s real shoot match

Posted on by Jim Valley

On this new and free edition of the Portland Wrestlecast, it’s part two of our interview with former Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Champion Jerry Oates.

Part one is available for subscribers.

Oates talks about his tag team title run with partner Jesse Ventura in 1978, dealing with booking issues and politics with promoter Elton Owen and Dutch Savage while working Salem, Oregon, and the time Jonny Eagle cheated Andre the Giant at cribbage.

As you’ve heard on the Wrestlecast, Owen would pay wrestlers to shoot in the first few minutes of a worked pro wrestling match. Oates has a story of when one of those matches got very heated as The Iron Sheik and Ricky Hunter were supposed to work a shoot-style match. Situations unfolded that made the match a real shoot between two very skilled wrestlers.

Find out what happened and who won in this edition of the Portland Wrestlecast. 

Right click save

Portland Wrestlecast free show: Rip Oliver’s big 1980s run

Posted on by Jim Valley

Editor’s Note: This is a free show. Just click the red button below to listen.

When fans talk about Portland Wrestling in the 1980s, Rip Oliver is one of the first names that come to mind.

In a podcast scheduled before this week’s announcement of Oliver going into hospice care, myself and historian Rich Patterson talk about Oliver’s mid-1980s run in the Pacific Northwest as the territory’s top heel.

From his debut in 1980 as the right hand man in Buddy Rose’s Army to establishing his own heel group “The Clan,” Rich and I discuss his legendary feud with Billy Jack Haynes, his infamous “Carry Out Service” stretcher, his taped thumb, how he fit so well in the territory, and why fans in the Northwest loved to hate him.

If you want to learn more about Rip and his Pacific Northwest career, this conversation will help you understand why he is so special to the region and its history.

Right click save

Portland Wrestlecast free show: The biggest crowds & shows in territory history

Posted on by Jim Valley

Editor’s Note: This is a free edition of the Portland WrestleCast.

With a huge crowd for Sunday’s NXT TakeOver: Portland, this week’s episode of the Portland WrestleCast looks at some of the biggest wrestling crowds in Portland from 1968 to present day WWE.

After looking at a some of the key events from the modern era, we go back to the last big Memorial Coliseum sellout that Portland Wrestling ever drew as 2020 marks the 35th anniversary of the Owen Family 60th anniversary extravaganza show. A sold out crowd that night saw Ric Flair, Billy Jack Haynes, the Road Warriors, Sgt. Slaughter, and more. Two months after the first Wrestlemania, Roddy Piper returned a hero as he faced Buddy Rose.

We have clips from a Don Owen TV interview where he’s simultaneously honest and talking kayfabe. Plus, Piper talks about issues in 1985 that we still talk about today.

Finally, legendary Portland Wrestling announcer Don Coss returns as a guest to talk about behind the scenes happenings and his memories of the event. 

If you’re new here, this show looks back at the Portland, Oregon, wrestling territory during its legendary run, powered by Don Owen. If you like what you hear, consider subscribing for this show, the Pacific Rim podcast which focuses on Japanese wrestling, Wrestling Observer Radio, Wrestling Observer Live, Bryan & Vinny, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, and more.

Right click save

Portland Wrestlecast: Rocky Johnson’s Pacific Northwest run

Posted on by Jim Valley

You know Rocky Johnson from WWF, Memphis, Hawaii and California, but he also had a very successful run in the Pacific Northwest in 1981-82 with heavyweight and tag team title reigns.

In this episode of the Portland Wrestlecast, I look at one of my favorite babyfaces who came through Portland when I was a kid. Johnson had a level of professionalism above everyone else in the territory that came from the experience of being a top star all over the world for years.

He also had one of the most memorable debuts in territory history that sent a message to the fans that the new top babyface was in town. He feuded with Buddy Rose and teamed with King Parsons, Brett Sawyer, and Andre the Giant. Rocky even challenged Ric Flair for the NWA title during a Northwest tour.

Enjoy this edition of the Wrestlecast with lots of memories of Rocky Johnson. 

Right click save