Portland Wrestling - Frank Bonnema Passes Away 10/9/82

[mfarmer99]

Frank Bonnema was one of the all time great commentators! I say that not because I grew up on Bonnema but because he really was that good!

Don actually wore a nice suit for this evening?

[aceldamahotel]

@klimber1000 Heh. I'm pretty sure you are talking abuot Ringside Rosie (to be honest, can't remember if that was her real name or just a nice nickname since she was always ringside in the Rose City). They also announced her death on TV after it happened.

[mike72988]

Interesting that when Stasiak wrestled in Oregon he was billed as being from New York, and when he wrestled in New York he was billed as being from Buzzard's Creek, Oregon

[kresshawk1]

i grew up with him. RIP and god bless

[phildirt3]

frank was cool

[Kroder]

Man I remember this like it was yesterday. My friend and I were bummed as hell. :(

[lockenjr]

@Kroder it was a good thing they had someone has good as don to replace the legend and they both became the staple voices of portland wrestling...

[Kroder]

@lockenjr Very true he did a great job.

[lockenjr]

@Kroder Portland wrestling was a part of life for me I grew up and still live in a small coastal oregon town and they would come here every few months or so and it was magical. People don't believe me when I tell them we had legends like roddy piper, buddy rose or even andre the giant show up here...

[Kroder]

@lockenjr Yeah man, Don't forget Billy Jack and his short lived success in the WWE. I to this day have not seen an outfit that compares to PW. I remember seeing a chain match between Rip Oliver and "The Clan" VS three other guys, can't remember who here now in Eugene. We were in the front row and we swore to god they were really hitting each other what that chain wrapped around their fists. Of course they weren't but that's how damn good they were.

[Kroder]

@lockenjr I'm going to order as many dvds as I can from musicman64. It will be sweet to be able to watch the matches again. BTW if you are still into wrestling, you should check out TNA on Spike TV, it's pretty close to old school and exciting to watch. I can't stand WWF anymore.

[lockenjr]

@lockenjr oh yeah, I got billy jack's autograph on a few occasions. True story after a match between oliver and haynes here in coos bay guess who was behind us in a black trans am in the wendy's drive thru? Billy and rip imagine what my young mind was thinking. Yeah tna is okay I hate wwe, I wish tna would build a regional territorial system like the nwa used to have...but with the internet it will never be the same again...

[AbyssThumbtackSpot]

RIP

[lawrence142002]

If Don Owen's territory had been as widespread as McMahon or Crockett, Frank Bonnema would've been as well beloved as say Gorilla Monsoon or Gordon Solie from those old days.

[timmcfarland748]

I loved watching Portland Wrestling with my dad on our old black and white TV 40+ years ago. Frank was great.

[ccr0628]

I only knew about portland wrestling thru the magazines.True wresling greats in portland area. god bless them all!

[phildirt3]

i enjoyed his commentary

[muttville1]

Lived about 5 blocks from Dutch growing up. A true stud!!

[Jeff051176]

How old was Frank Bonnema?

[brainee67]

This was the heyday of Wrestling. It was PRE-Cable. Roddy Piper, Buddy Rose and their feud. Additionally the Comic Relief of Chris Colt. THE BAD GUY cheater who never seemed to get away with his cheating.

Frank Bonnema was a great commentator. One time, as he watched Buddy Rose back out of a ring, he said "WE have to use the 'wide angle' camera angle on that." Laughed myself silly.

[lockenjr]

it was everything wholesome about american family life right before the mass media ie internet, major cable and the big corporations had completely wiped out the mam and pop in us all.

[bradley825]

Frank Bonnema was to Portland Wrestling what Gordon Solie was to Georgia Championship Wrestling. I miss them both. God bless them both. Hope to see them in Heaven. RIP Don Owen, Stan The Man Stasiak.

[Jeff051176]

Isn't Shawn Stasiak Stan Stasiak's son? I see a resemblance.

[actionsub]

Yes.

[patvilhauer]

To amplify the Swawn/Stan Stasiak question....I attended David Douglas High School with Shawn Stipich (Stasiak) in 1986 and got to go to a Port. Wrestling taping with him and his dad and sat in the Crowsnest...great thrill...

[jenniferswe]

Stan the Man was Awesome!

[rotprowler]

RIP, such a big part of my childhood.

[xxllmm4]

I remember seeing Stan Stasiak when I was a kid at the Lombard Fred Myers buying groceries. His forehead looked like hamburger... great memories :)

[mmaben]

I remember seeing Stan Stasiak buying groceries at the Tualatin Fred Meyer (mid 1980's). He stood head and shoulders above everyone else in the store.

[xms32]

Does anyone have any footage of Rip Oliver & The Assassin (David Sierra)? Thanks for the post.

[WrestlingStandard]

This video was very tough to watch even though it's from 1982. I truly realize what a huge part of Portland Wrestling Frank Bonnema was. I hope to come up and do commentating and I hope I can be just as good an announcer as he was.

[AndreSm95]

PORTLAND WRESTLING was one of the BEST Pro Wrestling shows EVER!

Thank you!

[lebohater]

is that the guy who got threw off the top of the thing?

[hawkeystud]

Any chance you can post this whole match? Ellering didn't stay in Portland very long.

[musicguy64]

Unfortunately, I didn't save it way back when. I do have Ellering's first Portland interview, which was after this match with Stasiak.

[Reg197844]

Emotional stuff. What year was this from?

[musicguy64]

October 1982

[kresshawk1]

@musicguy64 I miss Frank he was cool.