Episode Details

🎙️ Ringside in Rose City #20 – GIANT Episode: Andre the Giant in the Northwest

One ring.
One city.
A thousand stories.
And this week… we go bigger than we’ve ever gone before.

Episode #20 of Ringside in Rose City is a GIANT episode in every sense of the word, as Frank Culbertson and Mike Rogers finally tackle one of the most mythologized figures in wrestling history:

As always, Lisa Hughes opens the show, spins the wheel, reveals the envelope, and sets the stage for what quickly becomes one of the most ambitious deep dives in series history.

🏟️ Andre’s Real Portland Legacy (1974–1984)

Andre’s story in the Northwest is filled with legends…
but Episode #20 is about separating fact from folklore.

Frank comes in armed with “facts” from old newspapers andfan memories:

Was Andre really 7’7”?
Did he eat five roasts a day?
Did he wrestle 10 midgets at the Sports Arena?

Mike Rogers does what Portland’s historian always does—hebrings it back to reality, explaining who Andre really was, how he was booked, and why his Portland tours mattered so much.

Together, Frank and Mike trace Andre’s Northwest runs yearby year, including:

• His first arrival in 1974 and the incredible buzz createdby film footage before he even debuted
• Why Portland used Andre differently than most territories
• The genius of two-out-of-three fall tag booking that always saved Andre’s “big moment” for the finish
• Battle Royals, special attractions, and sold-out spot shows across Oregon and Washington
• Strange match results, bizarre newspaper exaggerations, and unforgettable gimmick moments
• Andre’s appearances in Salem, Eugene, Medford, Seattle, Longview, Hermiston, Roseburg, and beyond
• The rise of key opponents like Killer Krupp, Buddy Rose, Jesse Ventura, Chris Taylor, and Bad News Brooks
• Andre’s national explosion—Shea Stadium, The Tonight Show, The Six Million Dollar Man, and more

👋 Special Shout-Out

The episode also includes a special nod to longtime friendof the show:

Joe Sousa — eat your vegetables!

🎲 K-Fabe Curveballs: Animal Groups Edition

Lisa returns mid-show with one of the most entertainingCurveballs yet, where Mike must answer questions about:

• Kangaroos
• Flamingos
• And the legendary “San Francisco Treat”… the San Francisco Battle Royal

Complete with one of Mike’s greatest personal stories fromwrestling fandom’s pre-internet days.

This is not just an Andre episode.
It’s a Portland Wrestling road-trip history.
A myth-busting marathon.
And a celebration of how one giant helped define an era.

Step into the squared circle.
This is Ringside in Rose City —

Wrestling…

 wrestling the way it should be.