Portland Wrestling Portland Wrestling was the television program for Pacific Northwest Wrestling . Show history . The original series . Pacific Northwest promoter Don Owen began airing his National Wrestling Alliance - affiliated promotion ' s matches on television when his program , originally called Heidelberg Wrestling , debuted on Portland , Oregon station KPTV on July 10 , 1953 . The show ' s first incarnation , broadcast live from the Portland Armory on Friday nights from 10 : 00 p . m . to 11 : 00 p . m . , was hosted by Bob McAnulty . Around 1955 , the show moved over to rival Portland station , CBS affiliate KOIN - TV . During its time on KOIN , the show was renamed as " Portland Wrestling " , and televised PNW matches began to be syndicated when Harry Elliott , a PNW referee and assistant promoter under Owen , signed a contract with CBS to air shows taped in Seattle , Washington for distribution outside of KOIN ' s broadcast area to other parts of the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia . The regional PNW TV show ended in 1967 when management changed within CBS , the same year that " Portland Wrestling " returned to its original Portland home on KPTV . Following the show ' s return to KPTV on February 17 , 1967 , station broadcaster Frank Bonnema became the new host of " Portland Wrestling " . In 1968 , the venue for the televised matches moved from the Portland Armory to a converted bowling alley renamed as the Portland Sports Arena , from where " Portland Wrestling " was broadcast for the remainder of its run . During this period , both the show and PNW itself entered a lengthy boom period as many stars from the 1960s through the 1980s competed in the promotion , including national stars like Stan Stasiak , Roddy Piper , Rick Martel , Jesse Ventura and Buddy Rose . The show first aired live on Friday nights from 1967 until 1969 , when it moved to Saturday nights , where it aired live from 9 : 30 to 11 : 00 p . m . from 1969 to 1970 , then from 8 : 30 to 10 : 00 p . m . from 1970 until 1979 . Beginning in September 1979 , " Portland Wrestling " began airing on a tape delay on Saturday / early Sunday from 11 : 00 p . m . to 12 : 30 a . m . After Frank Bonnema died on October 5 , 1982 due to complications from a heart attack he suffered several weeks earlier , Don Coss , who had filled in as guest host following Bonnema ' s heart attack , took over as the permanent play - by - play announcer on the show ' s October 9 , 1982 telecast , joined by color commentator and former wrestler Dutch Savage . During the show ' s later years , an edited 60 - minute version of " Portland Wrestling " was syndicated to stations in Seattle ( where it aired on local station KCPQ - TV ) and elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest under the name Big Time Wrestling . For many years , " Portland Wrestling " was the highest - rated locally produced TV show in Portland , but declining ratings in its last years ( although it remained the highest - rated local show ) , combined with the national expansion of the WWF , rising production costs and the bankruptcy of the show ' s main sponsor , Portland businessman Tom Peterson , led to the cancellation of " Portland Wrestling " , whose final broadcast aired on December 28 , 1991 after nearly 39 years of continual production . At the time of its cancellation , " Portland Wrestling " had been the longest - running non - news show on American television and the third - longest overall , after NBC ' s " Meet the Press " and the " CBS Evening News " . The " Portland Wrestling " video archive is one of the few major televised wrestling archives that is not owned by Vince McMahon ' s WWE Tape Library . Don Owen had opted not to archive his TV shows due to the expense involved , so most of the shows were taped over by KPTV . Episodes of " Portland Wrestling " that do exist are primarily those that were taped at home by viewers of the show , but the rights to the " Portland Wrestling " archive are owned by the estate of Don Owen , which is managed by his son Barry Owen . A PNW match featuring Roddy Piper from " Portland Wrestling " was licenced by WWE from the Owen estate for use on its 2006 DVD set on Piper , " Born to Controversy : The Roddy Piper Story " . " Portland Wrestling " revival . In 2000 , a new version of " Portland Wrestling " went on the air , promoted by a new promotion sharing the program ' s name ( and claiming the heritage of the original PNW , but otherwise not connected to PNW , nor was it an NWA member like PNW had been ) , on Salem / Portland station KWBP - TV ( now KRCW - TV ) with KWBP ad salesman Frank Culbertson acting as the new show ' s play - by - play host . The show did not last long on KWBP , however , as the station was sold in December 2002 and local programming ( including the new " Portland Wrestling " ) was dropped by the new ownership . Following the deregulation of wrestling by the Oregon state legislature , Culbertson quit his job at KWBP and took over the Portland Wrestling promotion , then brought its TV program to KPTV ( the previous home of the original " Portland Wrestling " ) and later to a local public access cable station , CNW 14 , before the show disappeared from the Portland airwaves once again . Second " Portland Wrestling " revival . On October 22 , 2012 , it was announced that KPTV would be reviving " Portland Wrestling " ( under the name " Portland Wrestling Uncut " ) under the direction of WWE Hall of Famer and PNW legend Roddy Piper . The new series debuted on October 27 on KPTV following Game Three of the 2012 World Series .