Ringside in Rose City #52 — ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHOW! | October 1969

Ringside in Rose City #52 — ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHOW! | October 196952 episodes. 52 trips through Portland wrestling history. One full year of Ringside in Rose City.This week, Frank Culbertson and Portland wrestling historian Mike Rodgers celebrate the ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY of Ringside in Rose City—and there may be no better month to mark the occasion than October 1969.The mystery envelopes are back. Lisa is back in control of the Ringside Wheel. And Portland Wrestling is about to enter a month that helps shape the territory for years to come.Rip Kirby and Lonnie Mayne take their already-brutal rivalry to another level, with Kirby finally dethroning Mayne for the Northwest Heavyweight Championship after a bloody battle that leaves Mayne carried from ringside.Then “The Sensation of the Nation” Beauregard returns to Portland after nearly a year away—and immediately becomes the missing piece on the heel side of the territory. His return reignites unfinished business with Mayne and helps launch Kirby & Beauregard against Mayne & Tony Borne, a rivalry that will carry Portland Wrestling forward.And at Memorial Coliseum, NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dory Funk Jr. comes to Portland to defend the championship against Rip Kirby. Frank and Mike also remember Funk following his passing and discuss his legacy as one of professional wrestling’s great scientific wrestlers.Along the way, there’s plenty more from October ’69: Billy White Wolf, Buddy Marino, Johnny Kostas, Stan Stasiak, Earl Maynard, Fred Baron—and somehow Lonnie Mayne racing motorcycles, because apparently professional wrestling wasn’t dangerous enough.Kayfabe Curveballs returns for the anniversary celebration, where Mike faces questions involving Hidden Valley Ranch, rhubarb and a 200-foot buffet—and we even get another Buddy Rose and Ed Moretti story.And when those ukuleles start playing, it’s time for another Island Interlude and a trip back to Hawaii.But Episode 52 is about more than one month in 1969.For an entire year, Ringside in Rose City has explored the champions, main eventers, forgotten names, interviews, feuds, buildings, newspaper advertisements, strange finishes and unforgettable stories that made Portland Wrestling such an important part of the Pacific Northwest.One year down—and we’re nowhere near a thousand stories yet.One ring. One city. A thousand stories.Hosted by Frank Culbertson with Portland wrestling historian Mike Rodgers, author of The Encyclopedia of Portland Wrestlers, available on Amazon.New episodes of Ringside in Rose City drop every Friday on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.