Episode Details

Ringside in Rose City – Episode 48: August 1969 – Blood, Wire & a New Northwest Champion

August 1969 was a month when Portland Wrestling caught fire—and at the center of it all were Lonnie Mayne and “Ruffian” Rip Kirby.

This week, Frank Culbertson and Portland wrestling historian Mike Rodgers continue their month-by-month journey through the territory as a heel-versus-heel rivalry unexpectedly becomes the hottest attraction in the Northwest. Don Owen lets the feud simmer rather than running it every week, and when Mayne and Kirby finally collide, the results are brutal: bloody battles, packed houses, a Northwest Heavyweight Championship change, and eventually a ring surrounded by wire to keep the two men from escaping each other.

Kirby emerges as the new Northwest Heavyweight Champion, while Mayne finds himself in the unusual position of being a villain against most of the roster—but increasingly cheered whenever he faces Kirby. Meanwhile, Stan Stasiak moves back into title contention, and Portland's thin heel roster creates an unexpected opportunity for Haru Sasaki, who goes from the preliminaries to battling Mayne and Tony Borne in the main events.

There are plenty of strange detours along the way: Johnny Kostas repeatedly being advertised and repeatedly failing to appear, Buddy Marino's supposedly “famous and clever” Skin the Cat, Stasiak moonlighting as a referee, Shag Thomas preparing to trade wrestling for the classroom, and newspaper descriptions that could sell a wrestling match—or occasionally make Frank and Mike wonder what the writer was thinking.

Then it's time for an Island Interlude, as Lisa Hughes breaks out the grass skirt, flower lei and coconut bra and sends the show to Hawaii. The August cards feature Dory Funk Jr. defending the NWA World Championship against King Curtis Iaukea, Pedro Morales battling Gorilla Monsoon, the arrival of Kurt and Karl Von Steiger, the surprise return of Pampero Firpo, and the mysterious Masked Men #1 and #2—whose identities apparently remained a mystery.

And Card Shark returns as Lisa reaches into her collection of old wrestling programs and challenges Mike to identify the territory, city and year from nothing but the wrestlers on the card. As usual, Mike's encyclopedic memory gets a workout—and Lisa enjoys every second of it.

By month's end, the Mayne-Kirby war is far from finished. Tony Borne is back in the middle of things, Sasaki has joined Kirby's side, and a disqualification leaves everybody brawling and the rivalry headed straight into September.

Hosted by Frank Culbertson and Portland wrestling historian Mike Rodgers.

One ring. One city. A thousand stories.

New episodes of Ringside in Rose City drop every Friday on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.