🎙️ Ringside in Rose City #26 – PSA November 1968 (Plus the Legend of Dirk Sheets)

🎙️ Ringside in Rose City #26 – PSA November 1968 (Plus the Legend of Dirk Sheets)One ring.One city.A thousand stories.And this week… we return to November 1968, when Don Owen’s gamble on the brand-new Portland Sports Arena was only in its second month and the future of Portland Wrestling was still very much in doubt. When Lisa Hughes spins the wheel, the envelope reads “PSANovember ’68.” That means Frank Culbertson and Portland Wrestling historian Mike Rogers dive deep into the matches, angles, and booking decisions that shaped the early weeks of the arena that began life as a converted bowling alley.This episode explores a fascinating transitional month in the territory:🏆 The Von Steigers dominate the tag scene while feuding with Tony Borne and Luther Lindsay and Lonnie Mayne leaves for a Japanese tour, shaking up the main-event picture🔥 Billy Whitewolf and Johnny War Eagle arrive, instantly changing the tag team landscape🥊 Gene Kiniski vs. Don Leo Jonathan headlines a Memorial Coliseum showdown with one of the strangest finishes imaginable🎟️ Don Owen tries to balance new stars and reliable veterans while hoping his million-dollar gamble on the Sports Arena will actually pay offFrank and Mike break down every major Portland card from the month, including the Thanksgiving special where Whitewolf and War Eagle capture the Northwest Tag Team Titles from the Von Steigers.🌺 Island Interlude – Hawaii WrestlingFor the first time on the show, the guys take a trip acrossthe Pacific to look at what was happening in Hawaii wrestling during the same month, featuring appearances by:• Giant Baba• Nick Bockwinkel• Johnny Barend• Mr. Fuji• Pepper Gomez• Man Mountain Mike• NWA Champion Gene KiniskiSame era. Same business. Just a different land.🎲 Kayfabe CurveballsLisa returns with another round of trivia chaos including:• When Pringles first hit store shelves• The mysterious breath-freshening chemical known as "Retsyn”• And a commercial that accidentally leads to one of the best wrestling stories ever told on this show. Mike shares the infamous story of Dirk Sheets, The rogue “journalist” gimmick that involved jumping into the ring with a microphone, printing fake dirt sheets… and confronting a young Bryan Alvarez, now of the Wrestling Observer, after a match. Let’s just say Alvarez was not thrilled with the interview.Yes… there was a slap.Yes… Mike thought it was brilliant booking.And yes… the promoter absolutely did not.How many stars did Dave Meltzer give the match, one has towonder!November 1968 was only month two of Don Owen’s massive gamble on the Portland Sports Arena.The building was new.The crowds were uncertain.The angles were heating up.And as Lonnie Mayne would say…“You can smell excitement in the air.”Step into the arena.This is Ringside in Rose City — Wrestlingwrestling the way it should be.