Don Owen

[9.0] "Don Owen was a decent promoter, but was best remembered as one of the best payoff guys in the business and would even slip guys bonuses if it was a good house that night. Owen promoted in a territory where it was tough to make a lot of money and he gave a lot of future stars their big breaks. He did stick to the old way of doing things too long though, but he outlasted almost all the other regional promoters, so there's something to be said for that."

[10.0] "It also was the place where the first stereotypical German heels (including Karl Von Poppenheim and Fritz Von Goering) and Japanese heels (including Taru Sasaki and Harold Sakata) first were pushed on top. the area developed a great reputation among the pro-wrestlers of the time It had short trips, so the boys could work out more during the day and carouse more at night. The payoffs were very good although not as well-paying as other areas, Owen was considered honest and fair by wrestlers and one of the most like promoters of all-time. The talent pool, while small, usually included excellent workers and everyone got along because everyone had moved up and down the cards. It was ideal for young wrestlers breaking in, small wrestlers who were struggling to catch a break or veterans looking for an "easy" run. Over the years, Owen developed key alliances that allowed talent to be traded between San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Dallas and Hawaii over the years. Going into the 1970s, pro-wrestling was changing and Portland was more of a second-tier promotion that ran the occasional hot angle, but mainly stayed at a stable level. The promotion became the breeding ground for some tremendous talent like Jimmy Snuka, Roddy Piper, Jesse Ventura and the Dynamite Kid who went on to huge success. They also became the place that talent like Lonnie Mayne, Buddy Rose, Ed Wiskowski and Rip Oliver became local legends"