Dutch Savage was a perfect fit for the PNW because he looked like a tough logger or a take-no-crap miner.  Long, lanky, rawboned and ready to tussle every Saturday night.  Don't ask me if Dutch was a standout wrestler because I don't know, I do know that in his youth he was a standout all-around athlete who played football, basketball and baseball, lucky for us he took those athletic skills into the squared circle.

By he time I saw Dutch he was a wily veteran.  He was the 'badass' face who always came to the aid of good and right when the local heels got out of control.  He was the avenger, who asked and took no quarter, and would just as soon throw a thumb in the heels throat as use a headlock.  Every time a heel got out of line, it was inevitable that Dutch would come out with his

coal-miner's glove and drop it on the ground until the heel picked it up, thus accepting the challenge.  This would be the blowoff match of the feud, a guaranteed sellout, and usually a bloody, intense, tight brawl.  Dutch never lost one of these matches, and the only ones I ever saw can be fairly described as brutal.

From what I remember of Dutch it looked like he was punching and stomping right through his opponent, but I have had  wrestlers tell me he was light as a feather with those same punches and kicks,  so obviously he was a great performer in the ring.  But, man, he was even better at the psychology of the feud, building it up with ebbs and flows, highs and lows a little bit at a time.  Dutch could sell an injury so well that as a thirteen-year-old it was all we could do to keep from running down and jumping on those heels ourselves, with no doubt in our minds that those bastards had ended the Dutchman's career.  His interviews were just as good, and they were a promoter's dream to boot.  Dutch could always drop the name of every city the promotion would be in the next week and still keep the steam of the interview going. 

To this day I can still see him in the Crow's Nest with Frank Bonnema.  Dutch would be standing there, he would slick back his hair with his hands, even in the 70's he looked to be using the greasy kid stuff, and he would say, "We have an intense week here Frank, and I'm waiting biding my time, but mark my words, Mr. Sheik, sooner or later I will get my hands on you and one of us is going to get crippled up, it could be in Longview on Monday, where we have a battle royal and you fans at Mark

Morris High School know how wild the last one was, Tuesday Portland, the big one, and I'll see you there Mr. Ramos,  Wednesday, Seattle, Sheik, Mr. Sheik, I may have to chase you all the way to the Space Needle, but I will get you, Thursday,  Hermiston, Stasiak and Rose and you fans in Hermiston remember the last time,"  He would always conclude his interviews by saying goodbye to his mother, then would add a warning to his next opponent.

Dutch also promoted the Seattle shows, which ran usually once a month and they always drew big crowds to the Seattle Center Arena, but in the mid 80's, with the WWF expanding the Seattle shows seemed to shrink and shrink until they were no more.  Dutch eventually left the business and went into real estate.  There are many rumors and innuendo to why Dutch left the

business, but in large part it was due to the expansion of Vince McMahon. It is too bad, because Dutch had such a good mind for how to draw, interviews, psychology, suspension of disbelief whatever you want to call it... the tall, lanky brawler had it.  Ironic, that the WWF did his city in with guys who learned the business at his elbow, sometimes at his thumb.

This is why I feel McMahon should send Dutch a monthly stipend.  The first Wrestlemania, which I do not care what anyone says, was make or break for the WWF on the road to expansion, featured in the Main Event, a guy who came into the Northwest with nothing but desire and left a superstar, Roddy Piper. The Iron Sheik, Matt Borne, Buddy Rose and Brutus Beefcake all wrestled in Seattle for Dutch, and they were also on the card.  One can say what they want, and disagree as well but all of these guys started out in the PNW very raw, and when they left they were seasoned, standout wrestlers.

Chalk it up to talent, but if you look closely you can see the influence of the Dutchman.  I remember when Slaughter turned face, how his interviews seemed to get a whole lot better.  I remember saying he's doing Dutch Savage, no surprise Slaughter got his start in the PNW as Bobby Remus, now Slaughter is a high ranking WWF officer and he learned the ropes from Dutch.

Dutch, from one fan thanks for the memories, while others may choose to not remember some of us can never forget.

NEXT MONTH:

A look at the unforgettable Playboy Buddy Rose.