This week, Wrestling Retro takes a look at Pacific Northwest wrestling in 1984. This is part 1 of a 2 part series.
The Pacific Northwest wrestling territory was one of the oldest in the U.S. It also lasted longer than most of the territories that folded in the 80s due to the WWF expansion. It was a traditional wrestling territory, consisting of a weekly "loop". The main weekly towns were Salem, OR on Thursday nights, Eugene, OR on Friday nights and Portland, OR on Saturday nights. The promotions also ran Portland once a month on Tuesday nights, and other towns on Sundays, Mondays (primarily Tacoma and Seaside) and Wedensdays (orimarily Medford and Seattle). The promoion usually had more babyfaces than heels, and the undercard of their shows had scientific babyface vs. babyface matches. Virtually all of the heels belonged to a group called The Clan, whose leader was mainly Rip Oliver. This piece contains results from the weekly Portland cards.
1/7/84: Curt Hennig & Scott McGhee beat Rip Oliver & The Assassin by disqualification ... Siva Afi wrestled Ed Wiskowski to a draw ... Matt Borne wrestled Steve Pardee to a draw ... Jules Strongbow beat Tia
1/14/84: Rip Oliver, The Assassin & Matt Borne wrestled Curt Hennig, Scott McGhee & Jules Strongbow to a draw ... Tom Prichard beat Tia ... Steve Pardee beat Mike Miller by disqualification ... Jerry O wrestled Doug Somers to a draw
1/21/84: Curt Hennig & Scott McGhee beat Rip Oliver & The Assassin ... Tom Prichard beat Mike Miller by disqualification ... Matt Borne beat Steve Pardee ... Jules Strongbow beat Doug Somers ... Jerry O wrestled Tia to a draw
1/28/84: Matt Borne beat Rip Oliver ... Curt Hennig beat The Assassin by disqualification ... Jules Strongbow beat Tapu ... Siva Afi wrestled Steve Pardee to a draw ... Tom Prichard beat Tia ... Mike Miller beat Jerry O ... Matt Borne beat Doug Somers
At the beginning of 1984, the Pacific Northwest Heavyweight champion was Rip Oliver, and the Pacific Northwest Tag Team champions were Curt Hennig & Scott McGhee. Oliver wrestled for many other territories, including World Class, Florida and Mid-South, but was more often than not a mid-carder everywhere except for Portland. Hennig, of course, went on to achieve great success in the AWA, WWF and WCW. McGhee was another solid wrestler who worked for several territories. Siva Afi and Jules Strongbow were your stereotypical Samoan and Native American wrestlers. Steve Pardee and Jerry O were journeymen. Tom Prichard had a fairly successful career in territories in the mid-south, Smoky Mountain and the WWF. On the heel side, Tia and Tapu were used as "utility players", not wrestling full-time but used when needed. Mike Miller and Doug Somers wrestled elsewhere, but as with Oliver, achieved their greatest success in Portland. Matt Borne achieved success in Texas, Georgia and in the WWF as Doink the Clown. The main angle at the end of January was Borne turning babyface and beginning a feud with Oliver.
2/4/84: Rip Oliver beat Matt Borne by disqualification ... The Assassin beat Curt Hennig ... Tom Prichard beat Mike Miller ... Buddy Rose beat Doug Somers ... Scott McGhee beat Steve Pardee ... Jerry O wrestled Jules Strongbow to a draw
2/11/84: Rip Oliver & The Assassin beat Curt Hennig & Scott McGhee ... Buddy Rose beat Doug Somers ... Tom Prichard wrestled Jerry O to a draw ... Siva Afi beat Mike Miller ... Jules Strongbow wrestled Matt Borne to a draw
2/18/84: Rip Oliver wrestled Curt Hennig to a draw ... Buddy Rose beat Mike Miller ... The Assassin beat Steve Pardee ... Tom Prichard wrestled Siva Afi to a draw ... Jules Strongbow beat Jerry O ... Matt Borne beat Doug Somers
2/25/84: The Assassin beat Buddy Rose ... Matt Borne & Curt Hennig beat Mike Miller & Doug Somers ... Tom Prichard beat Mike Miller ... Steve Pardee beat Jerry O ... Jules Strongbow beat Rip Oliver by disqualification ... Ed Wiskowski beat Siva Afi ... Doug Somers wrestled Curt Hennig to a draw
Rip Oliver & The Assassin beat Curt Hennig & Scott McGhee to win the Tag Team titles on February 11th. McGhee left the promotion at that point. Taking his place on the babyface side was Buddy Rose, who feuded with Doug Somers in his first few matches. Rose & Somers are best known for winning the AWA Tag Team titles, beating Curt Hennig & Scott Hall after interference from Colonel DeBeers (Ed Wiskowski). Wiskowski returned to Portland as a heel in February. Actually, Rose is probably best-known now for his recent legal troubles. Several months back, he was listed as one of Oregon's top deadbeat dads, and was recently arrested on charges of assault and domestic violence.
3/3/84: Matt Borne & Curt Hennig beat Rip Oliver & The Assassin by disqualification ... Buddy Rose beat Ed Wiskowski ... Jules Strongbow beat Mike Miller by disqualification ... Tom Prichard beat Moondog Moretti ... Siva Afi beat Doug Somers by disqualification ... Jerry O beat Steve Pardee
3/10/84: Brett Sawyer beat Doug Somers ... Rip Oliver, The Assassin & Ed Wiskowski beat Matt Borne, Curt Hennig & Buddy Rose ... Jules Strongbow beat Mike Miller in a strap match ... Tom Prichard beat Moondog Moretti ... Siva Afi wrestled Steve Pardee to a draw
3/17/84: Roddy Piper, Buddy Rose & Brett Sawyer beat Rip Oliver, The Assassin & Ed Wiskowski ... Jules Strongbow beat Doug Somers ... Steve Pardee wrestled Siva Afi to a draw ... Jerry O beat Tia ... Tom Prichard wrestled Ed Wiskowski to a draw
3/24/84: Rip Oliver wrestled Matt Borne to a draw ... Tom Prichard & Brett Sawyer beat Mike Miller & Ed Wiskowski ... Buddy Rose beat Doug Somers ... Jules Strongbow wrestled Tapu to a draw ... The Assassin beat Steve Pardee
3/31/84: Brett Sawyer & Tom Prichard wrestled Rip Oliver & The Assassin to a draw ... Steve Pardee beat Doug Somers ... Jules Strongbow wrestled Mike Miller to a draw ... Buddy Rose beat Mike Miller ... Ed Wiskowski beat Jerry O
Curt Hennig left the promotion in March and was replaced by Brett Sawyer. Brett's older brother Buzz had been a big star in Portland and everywhere else he went. Brett was almost immediately teamed up with Tom Prichard to feud with Rip Oliver & The Assassin. Moondog Moretti wrestled a handful of dates for the promotion in March. The Moondog gimmick had always been successful on the west coast in the wake of Moondog Lonnie Mayne, a top star in Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Roddy Piper returned to the area for a one week tour. This was right before he went to the WWF for his legendary run there.
4/7/84: Brett Sawyer & Tom Prichard beat Rip Oliver & The Assassin by disqualification ... Buddy Rose wrestled Ed Wiskowski to a draw ... Matt Borne beat Mike Blood ... Steve Pardee wrestled Doug Somers to a draw ... Mike Miller beat Jules Strongbow
4/14/84: Rip Oliver, The Assassin & Ed Wiskowski beat Buddy Rose, Tom Prichard & Brett Sawyer ... Tom Prichard & Brett Sawyer beat Tia & Tapu ... Steve Pardee beat Ed Wiskowski by disqualification ... Siva Afi beat Mike Blood ... Matt Borne beat Doug Somers ... Mike Miller beat Jerry O
4/21/84: Andre the Giant and Brett Sawyer were co-winners of a battle royal ... Mike Miller beat Steve Pardee ... Buddy Rose beat Mike Blood ... The Assassin beat Matt Borne by disqualification ... Siva Afi wrestled Tapu to a draw ... Brett Sawyer & Tom Prichard beat Doug Somers & Ed Wiskowski
4/28/84: Buddy Rose beat Rip Oliver ... Brett Sawyer & Tom Prichard beat Mike Miller & Ed Wiskowski ... Billy Jack beat Mike Blood ... Matt Borne wrestled Siva Afi to a draw ... Steve Pardee beat Doug Somers by disqualification ... The Assassin beat Jerry O
The Pacific Northwest territory was one for wrestlers, and for people who wanted to learn how to wrestle. They weren't very flashy. The main feuds usually got pretty wild, but other than that, it said wrestling on the marquee and that's what fans got. It was often hard for babyfaces to move upward. Since the promotion was always heavy on that side, they usually ended up trading wins or wrestling to draws with one another. The promotions had several top established stars, and would rotate them in and out. Some newcomers would get put in a tag team feud, and some would gradually move up the ranks, but most just sort of stayed in the middle of the pack. Jules Strongbow, one of the latter ones, left the promotion in April. Andre the Giant came in for a one-week tour, mainly wrestling in main event battle royals or tag team matches with Brett Sawyer to help elevate him. Billy Jack came in for a one week tour at the end of the month. NWA World Heavyweight champion Ric Flair came to the territory a few days later as well. Andre, Billy Jack and Flair were major box office attractions in Portland, Andre for his size, Billy Jack for his look and the fact that he started his career in Portland and hadn't been back in a while, and Flair because back then, the territories knew how to build up the World champion's tours so that they drew money. In this case, they didn't really have a top babyface, so they brought Billy Jack in for title defenses. Sawyer, fresh off getting the rub from teaming with Andre, got some title matches as well. Buddy Rose beat Rip Oliver to win the Heavyweight title on April 28th.
5/5/84: Ric Flair & Rip Oliver beat Matt Borne & Buddy Rose ... Mr. Ebony beat Steve Pardee ... Brett Sawyer & Tom Prichard beat Ed Wiskowski & The Assassin ... Jerry O beat Mike Blood ... Siva Afi wrestled Mike Miller to a draw
5/12/84: Rip Oliver beat Buddy Rose ... Matt Borne wrestled Mr. Ebony to a draw ... Brett Sawyer & Tom Prichard beat Mike Miller & The Assassin ... Siva Afi beat Ed Wiskowski by disqualification ... Jerry O wrestled Doug Somers to a draw
5/19/84: Brett Sawyer & Tom Prichard wrestled The Assassin & Mr. Ebony to a draw ... Siva Afi beat Rip Oliver by disqualification ... Mike Miller beat Steve Pardee ... Doug Somers wrestled Jerry O to a draw ... Matt Borne beat Tapu by disqualification
5/26/84: Brett Sawyer & Tom Prichard beat Rip Oliver & Mr. Ebony by disqualification ... Jerry O beat Steve Pardee ... Siva Afi wrestled Doug Somers to a draw ... Mando Guerrero beat Mike Miller
Rip Oliver regained the Heavyweight title from Buddy Rose on May 12th. The promotion normally didn't do quickie title switches like this, and Rose left the territory after that match, so one can assume he either quit or was let go with very short notice. The Tag Team titles switched on May 23rd in Seattle, with Tom Pricahrd & Brett Sawyer beating Oliver & The Assassin. Steve Pardee left the promotion and was replaced by Mando Guerrero. On the heel side, Ed Wiskowski left the promotion and was replaced by Mr. Ebony.
6/2/84: Brett Sawyer, Tom Prichard & Jerry O beat Rip Oliver, Mr. Ebony & Mike Miller ... Mike Miller wrestled Jerry O to a draw ... Siva Afi beat Rip Oliver by disqualification ... Mando Guerrero beat Doug Somers
6/9/84: Matt Borne beat Rip Oliver by disqualification ... Mr. Ebony wrestled Siva Afi to a draw ... Mike Miller wrestled Mando Guerrero to a draw ... Brett Sawyer & Tom Prichard beat Doug Somers & The Assassin ... Mr. Ebony beat Jerry O
6/16/84: Rip Oliver beat Matt Borne in a street fight ... Brett Sawyer beat The Assassin by disqualification ... Mike Miller beat Siva Afi ... Mr. Ebony wrestled Tom Prichard to a draw ... Mando Guerrero beat Doug Somers
6/23/84: Matt Borne beat Rip Oliver in a cage match ... Kevin Kelly beat Doug Somers ... Mike Miller beat Greg Lake ... Brett Sawyer beat The Assassin by disqualification ... Tom Prichard wrestled Siva Afi to a draw ... Mando Guerrero wrestled Mr. Ebony to a draw
6/30/84: Brett Sawyer & Tom Prichard beat The Assassin & Mr. Ebony by disqualification ... Kevin Kelly beat Igor Volkoff ... Mando Guerrero wrestled Doug Somers to a draw ... Matt Borne wrestled Mike Miller to a draw
Matt Borne beat Rip Oliver in a cage match on June 23rd, which was the blowoff to a feud that started back in January. Portland's booking style was different from a lot of territories. In Memphis, if Jerry Lawler and Bill Dundee were feuding, they would wrestle each other in a singles match virtually every week until the feud was over. In Portland, they would mix it up, having them face one another in singles matches and tag team matches, plus they wouldn't face each other every week. Oliver left the promotion after the blowoff match. Debuting on the heel side in his absence was Igor Volkoff, but he must have really blew, as he was only there for two days. Steve Pardee and Jerry O left the promotion in June as well. Debuting was Kevin Kelly, not the current WWF announcer but the former WWF wrestler known as Nailz.
In the next installment of Wrestling Retro, part 2 of our look at Pacific Northwest in 1984. Bobby Jaggers, the return of former WWF World Heavyweight champion Stan Stasiak, Kendo Nagasaki, the return of Billy Jack and much more.