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47-788: NWA Florida Underground Wrestling The NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship was a major title in Championship Wrestling from Florida and is now the major title in NWA Florida Wrestling Alliance. It started in 1937 and was abandoned in 1949. It was picked back up in 1966 by CWF and lasted until 1987 when the company was purchased by Jim Crockett Promotions . In 1988, the newly created Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), soon renamed Pro Wrestling Federation (PWF), picked it back up in 1988 and it continued its lineage through NWA Florida, until they ceased operations in 2006. In 2009, Pro Wrestling Fusion revived

94-568: A ring announcer . When Eddie Graham committed suicide in January 1985, due to a combination of personal and business problems, responsibility for the office went to Hiro Matsuda and Duke Keomuka , both of whom bought in during the 1960s. The other remaining owners were Mike Graham, Eddie's brother Skip Gossett, Dusty Rhodes and Buddy Colt . The promotion continued losing money and merged with Jim Crockett Promotions in February 1987. Most of

141-466: A Cell PPV and a Fatal 4-Way tag team match at TLC. Cesaro dumped Colter as his manager on the Raw following WrestleMania XXX , instead revealing that he was a new client of Paul Heyman . Colter also started a feud with Paul Heyman , after accusing Heyman of "stealing" Cesaro from him. With The Real Americans dissolved, Swagger and Colter turned face by confronting Lana and Rusev . At SummerSlam , Colter

188-496: A TV wrestling show as he was responsible for four hours a week, 52 weeks a year, for a total of 208 hours a year for five years straight. His ratings also set records as his shows regularly ranged in the 12 to 15 range, with his highest being an 18.1, with a 55 share of the TV viewing audience while working for WWC in 2000. In 2003, Mantel began work behind the scenes as a writer/producer/agent for TNA Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and as

235-459: A beach on Isla Verde, Puerto Rico, with assistance from editors Ric Gross and Mark James. In December 2010, Mantel released his second book "Tales From a Dirt Road". On March 3, 2011, Mantel wrestled in the place of Jamie Dundee at XCW Midwest in Corydon IN. He took on local heel Lone Star, further cementing his semi-active status as a part-time wrestler. On March 22, 2011, Mantel was added to

282-526: A full-time member of the booking/creative team. Mantel was instrumental in several successful creations for the company, most notably the TNA Knockouts division that helped to reinvigorate interest in women's wrestling in the United States. Mantel is credited with bringing Awesome Kong to TNA at Bound for Glory 2007 , along with her handler/manager, Raisha Saeed . On July 31, 2009, Mantel

329-822: A level necessary to enhance the territory further. In May he decided to part ways with the PWF and join the World Wrestling Federation as a wrestler. Before departing, Rhodes was defeated by The Big Steel Man on May 13, 1989 for the PWF title at an event in Sarasota, FL. His final match with the company was on May 20, where he wrestled Steel Man at an event in Fort Lauderdale. The promotion closed shortly after holding its last show June 29, 1991, in Nassau, Bahamas, which saw Tyree Pride beat Steve Keirn for

376-516: A sold out red hot Memphis crowd. The match went a record 26 falls, taking one hour and 15 minutes to accomplish. The match saw Dutch Mantell reach his feet before Landell. In 1990, he worked for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as a commentator on WCW WorldWide alongside Tony Schiavone and in 1991, WCW created a stable known as "the Desperados" consisting of Dutch Mantell, Black Bart and Deadeye Dick . The Desperados were packaged with

423-536: A staple in many Southern households in the 1970s and 1980s, with Dusty Rhodes arguably its most noted headliner, his babyface turn beginning May 14, 1974 against former partner Pak Song . The promotion competed against other syndicated shows on Saturday night like The Lawrence Welk Show and Solid Gold for years. The promotion thrived with stars such as NWA champions Lou Thesz and Gene Kiniski , Graham, Bobby Shane , Robert Lee Schoenberger, Don Curtis , Sam Steamboat , The Magnificent Muraco (Don Muraco) ,

470-446: A transdermal monitoring device that would test the wearer's blood every 30 minutes. The bill, the first of its kind in the United States, had been pushed by Keown's family and went into effect July 1, 2014. Keown has a surviving granddaughter (Amelia's sister), in addition to their mother, Amanda, his daughter. In November 2024, a GoFundMe appeal was launched to help Mantel and his family pay for medical bills after he and his wife had

517-486: A video to invite Beck to appear on Raw while justifying that the storyline was designed to elicit a crowd response for the protagonist, Alberto Del Rio , and the antagonists, Swagger and Colter. Beck rejected the invitation. On the April 8 episode of Raw , Colter teamed with Swagger in a Handicap match against Del Rio, though Colter never officially entered the ring, they were defeated by Del Rio by submission on Swagger. On

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564-636: A widely publicized boxing match, resulting from a wrestling angle, with a forty-something Jack Dempsey . It worked but Cowboy took a severe beating. Cowboy opened the office in 1949, and Eddie Graham bought into the promotion in 1961, then took over completely in 1971, because of health reasons with Cowboy. The office was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance during the entire CWF era, Eddie Graham serving two terms as NWA president, and loosely aligned before that, with other 'world' champions sometimes defending their titles. CWF became

611-689: A wrestler and manager with various promotions. The duo also produce a second show called Ask Dutch Anything , in which Mantell answer questions that are submitted by fans of their primary show. Keown regularly appeared as Zeb Colter in the WWE web series The JBL and Cole Show , until its cancellation in June 2015. Keown has appeared in two WWE video games as a manager (as Zeb Colter). He made his in-game debut at WWE 2K15 and appears in WWE 2K16 . In 2019, Keown narrated 5 episodes in season 1 of Dark Side of

658-564: Is an American professional wrestling manager , booker and retired professional wrestler , better known by the ring name Dutch Mantel (also spelled Dutch Mantell ). Since May 2022, Mantell has co-hosted Story Time with Dutch Mantell , hosted by James Romero on the WSI Network. Keown debuted in 1972, as Wayne Cowan . He achieved fame in the regional and independent circuits , as well as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), as " Dirty " Dutch Mantell . Keown also worked with

705-603: The National Wrestling Alliance . Mantel was instrumental in the careers of several huge wrestling stars of the nineties, including the Blade Runners, who later went on to achieve fame as Sting and The Ultimate Warrior . The Undertaker and Kane both were early recipients of Mantel's astute wrestling knowledge, which served them well in their careers. Mantel also is credited with giving Steve Austin his stage surname, since Austin's real name at

752-564: The Puerto Rican World Wrestling Council as a wrestler and booker. Then he went to WWC rival promotion International Wrestling Association as a creative consultant, which included writing/producing and booking four hours of original TV programming per week. Mantel remained there until September 22, 2003. Mantel set a record while in Puerto Rico (IWA), in the number of hours that a single writer produced

799-855: The World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) as Uncle Zebekiah in the mid-1990s, and again in the 2010s as Zeb Colter . In the late 1990s, 2000s, and late-2010s, he worked as a booker for the World Wrestling Council (WWC), International Wrestling Association , Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) as well as Championship Wrestling from Florida. Keown graduated from Walhalla High School in Walhalla, South Carolina . He attended Clemson University for one year before being drafted into military service undergoing basic training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina before being assigned to

846-544: The 16,000-seat Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico for an unprecedented nine weeks in a row, a record that still stands. They had a unique gimmick, where they put US$ 1,000 all in silver dollar coins at stake to the team that could defeat them. Mantel's other notable achievement was in 1982 when he and Jerry "the King" Lawler faced off in a good guy vs. good guy series. Fans were torn between these two stalwarts of

893-676: The April 29 episode of Raw , Colter was involved in a triple-threat match with Rodriguez and Big E Langston (representing Dolph Ziggler ), with the winner being able to determine the stipulation for the World Heavyweight Championship match at Extreme Rules . Colter lost the match after being pinned by Rodriguez. On the June 17 episode of Raw , after Jack Swagger suffered a hand injury, Colter aligned himself with Antonio Cesaro . Colter later paired Swagger and Cesaro as "The Real Americans". The Real Americans experienced little success, losing to Los Matadores at Hell in

940-486: The April 4, 2011 WrestleMania morning WrestleReunion event in Atlanta, Georgia. The event honored Bruno Sammartino with several modern and legendary wrestlers including Carlito , Kamala , Scott Steiner , Tommy Dreamer , Christy Hemme , Bob Orton , Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik . On February 11, 2013, Mantel, under the name of Zeb Colter, returned to WWE as the manager of Jack Swagger . Colter's character

987-647: The Giant , Jim Duggan , Butch Reed , Rick Steiner , The Freebirds , Cactus Jack , Scott Hall , Terry Allen (later more famous as Magnum T. A. ), Percy Pringle (later more famous as Paul Bearer ), Luna Vachon , Jimmy Garvin , Adrian Street , Héctor Guerrero , Chavo Guerrero Sr. , Oliver Humperdink , One Man Gang , J. J. Dillon , Gary Hart (wrestler) , Bob Roop , Mark Lewin , Dutch Mantel , Mike Graham (Eddie's son), The Sheepherders , Kevin Sullivan – whose cult-like Army of Darkness got tremendous heat from

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1034-619: The Great Malenko (Larry Simon), Johnny Valentine , Hiro Matsuda , Bob Orton Sr. and later Bob Orton Jr. , Joe Scarpa (later known as Chief Jay Strongbow), Wahoo McDaniel , the Funks ( Terry and Dory Jr. ), the Briscos ( Jack and Jerry ), Buddy Colt (Ron Read), Dusty Rhodes , Blackjack Mulligan , Bruiser Brody , Kendall Windham , Barry Windham , Mike Rotunda , Lex Luger , Rick Rood (later Rick Rude ), Harley Race , André

1081-459: The Memphis ring wars. Mantel achieved what no other opponent could do while Lawler was a babyface and that was to get a clear cut win over the King. In 1986, after Lawler lost a "Loser Leaves Town" gimmick match against Bill Dundee , Lawler and Mantell finally mended their ways long enough to face Dundee and Buddy Landel in a Texas Tornado Death Match in Memphis' Mid South Coliseum in front of

1128-568: The Memphis-based promotion United States Wrestling Association where he was a well known star for the company. He was the last USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion defeating Jerry Lawler on August 8, 1997, in a Title vs All Body Hair match. Mantel kept his body hair. The title was vacated in November 1997 when the promotion closed its doors. After departing the WWF, Mantel later joined

1175-572: The PWF Florida Championship. CWF filmed and later taped its weekly TV wrestling show at the famed Sportatorium at 106 N. Albany in Tampa, Fla., which was in reality a small television studio with seating for a live audience of about 100 people (1/40th of the seating capacity of its Dallas counterpart ), with the wrestling office and gym in the same building. Arena footage was always also used, and full arena show broadcasts began in

1222-498: The Ring . In August 2012, Keown announced on Facebook that his 16-year-old granddaughter Amelia had died in a car crash. He also said that the driver of the other vehicle, who had drugs in his system, was on parole , and running from the police at the time, had also died. On June 3, 2014, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam signed into law Amelia's Law, which requires parolees whose crimes were related to drugs or alcohol to wear

1269-560: The U.S. Army's 25th Infantry Division , Keown was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal for his service during the Vietnam War . Keown debuted in 1972 as "Wayne Cowan". He then became "Dutch Mantel", and added the "Dirty" nickname in 1980. The Dutch Mantel name was taken by an earlier wrestler named Alfred Albert Joe de Re la Gardiur . He wrestled for various Southern promotions , and achieved considerable success in

1316-612: The WWF). Dusty Rhodes made his debut for the company on March 4, 1989 at an event in Titusville, FL when he teamed with Steve Keirn to defeat the duo of The Big Steel Man and Dick Slaytor. A week later at the PWF Homecoming event in Tampa, FL he pinned Big Steel Man to become the first PWF Heavyweight Champion. Later that spring as the PWF began to grow Rhodes received a surprise backstage visit from Bobby Heenan , who inquired on

1363-634: The creative team. Mantel left Impact Wrestling in December 2017 after Don Callis and Scott D'Amore took over as Executive Vice Presidents. As of May 2022, Mantell stars in a weekly podcast and YouTube show called Story Time with Dutch Mantell on the Wrestling Shoot Interviews Network, with producer and creator James Romero as its host. The show sees Mantell and Romero discuss current events and happenings within professional wrestling, as well as Mantell's several decades as

1410-632: The dormant CWF territory. Once Dusty departed from WCW they reached out to him, and ultimately partnered to launch the new Professional Wrestling Federation in February 1989. Rhodes had larger visions for the fledgling regional territory, which included a name change from FCW to the non-regional PWF. The new startup promotion featured a raft of current and future stars, including Terry Funk , Dick Slater , Bam Bam Bigelow , Al Perez , The Nasty Boys , Scott Hall , Dustin Rhodes , Mike Awesome , Dallas Page and The Big Steel Man (who would become Tugboat in

1457-437: The early '80s. CWF Spin-off shows were Championship Wrestling Superstars , Global Wrestling , North Florida Championship Wrestling , United States Class Wrestling , American Championship Wrestling and Southern Professional Wrestling . In 1960, Gordon Solie became the lead announcer for CWF's Saturday morning television shows, a spot he would occupy for the next quarter-century. In 1980, he hired singer Barbara Clary, who

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1504-405: The fans – and, in the words of the promotion's legendary commentator and a star in his own right Gordon Solie , 'a host of others'. Solie's deadpan interviewing style often buoyed the outlandish behavior and actions of Sullivan and his minions, bringing a legitimacy to the on-air segments no matter what depths Sullivan would descend to. Dusty Rhodes stands out among the noted performers because of

1551-482: The gimmick of being three bumbling cowboys looking to meet up with Stan Hansen to go to WCW and become a team. Over the course of a few months, they were promoted through a series of vignettes by which they would be beaten up in saloons, searching ghost towns , and riding horses. Hansen reportedly wanted no part of the storyline and left for Japan , never to return to wrestle in North America. Without Hansen,

1598-511: The group were pushed into service as jobbers and were dissolved as a stable before the end of the year. When Jim Cornette's independent wrestling promotion Smoky Mountain Wrestling opened in 1991, Mantel, joined by Bob Caudle , served as the original color commentator for the television broadcasts, and would give something of a heel perspective. He also hosted a weekly talk segment called "Down and Dirty with Dutch," where he would interview

1645-562: The number of rivalries he had on air through most of CWF's broadcasting history. Well known heels, newcomers and babyfaces who turned heel during their tenure with CWF often sought out Rhodes to make their names in the territory. His rivals over the years included Superstar Billy Graham , Ray Stevens , Ernie Ladd , Ivan Koloff , Ox Baker , Ron Bass , Kamala , Abdullah the Butcher , Ric Flair , his old Texas Outlaws partner Dick Murdoch and of course, Kevin Sullivan. Mike Moore served as

1692-718: The promotion began operating under the NXT banner, dropping references to FCW. On June 28, 2013, the WWE formally shuttered the Florida Championship Wrestling Arena, moving all equipment and personnel to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. General Specific Dutch Mantel Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Wayne Maurice Keown (born November 29, 1949)

1739-518: The stars had gone to Jim Crockett Promotions or the WWF by that point. CWF continued operating as a JCP subsidiary until its last card on November 14, 1987, in Robarts Arena in Sarasota; in the main event, NWA Western States Heritage champion Barry Windham battled Dory Funk Jr. to a 20-minute time-limit draw. In late 1988 during the acquisition of Jim Crockett Promotions the duo of Mike Graham and Steve Keirn were attempting to revive

1786-461: The stars of SMW. He remained with Smoky Mountain until around 1994. From 1995 to 1996, Mantel appeared in the World Wrestling Federation as "Uncle Zebekiah." He was the manager of The Blu Brothers until they were released in October 1995 and in January 1996, he returned as just "Zebekiah" and managed Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw until Mantel was released in December 1996. In 1989, Mantel worked in

1833-498: The state of the company's business. Shortly thereafter Vince McMahon reached out to Rhodes and made an offer to acquire the PWF as a developmental territory and to bring Rhodes into the WWF. He refused, as his desire was to grow the territory into a national brand that could compete with WCW and the WWF. However the Professional Wrestling Federation's backers did not have a desire to fund the company at

1880-578: The time was Steve Williams (which was currently in use in wrestling by "Dr. Death" Steve Williams ). Mantell originally considered giving Austin the stage names of either "Stevie Rage" or "William Stevenson III". At the time, he was a booker for Jerry Jarrett 's Memphis territory. Mantel formed several tag teams throughout his career, including The Kansas Jayhawks (with Bobby Jaggers ), and The Desperados, which lasted only two months. Mantel achieved his greatest notoriety in 1979 when he and then-partner, Cowboy Frankie Laine , as Los Vaqueros Locos, sold out

1927-452: The title until they left the NWA in 2011. For several months in 2012, a new Championship Wrestling from Florida affiliated with the NWA, briefly reviving the title until NWA Florida Underground Wrestling took over the championship. Championship Wrestling from Florida The original owner and promoter was "Cowboy" Clarence Preston Luttrall, a former journeyman heel wrestler who once fought

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1974-513: Was attacked by Rusev, leaving him off television for two weeks. On the December 1 episode of Raw , Colter's leg was broken by Rusev, writing Colter off of television for nearly 11 months. In a storyline described by Rolling Stone as "the wildly unpopular MexAmerica storyline", Colter returned at Hell in a Cell 2015 , utilizing a mobility scooter , where he announced that the returning Alberto Del Rio would answer John Cena 's Open Challenge for Cena's United States Championship , where Del Rio

2021-531: Was bilingual to conduct interviews in both English and Spanish. Solie was joined on commentary by Buddy Colt during the program's final years. On March 2, 2006, the CWF library was purchased by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for the DVD on Dusty Rhodes . In 2007, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) revived the promotion as a developmental territory under the name Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). In 2012,

2068-470: Was released from TNA due to creative differences. Soon after, he returned to the IWA, once again working as a writer. In November 2009, Reno Riggins , announced that Dutch would be joining Showtime All-Star Wrestling promotion out of Nashville as a writer and on air talent. In December 2009, Mantel released his first book, "The World According to Dutch." Mantel wrote the book in around 5 weeks, while sitting on

2115-406: Was released from his WWE contract on May 6, 2016. Following his release from WWE, it was confirmed that Mantel signed to appear at a show co-promoted by Global Force Wrestling and WrestlePro on June 11, 2016. In January 2017, it was announced that Mantel would be working as a creative consultant for Impact Wrestling . In February 2017, his role was changed from creative consultant to head of

2162-762: Was that of a heel caricature of the Tea Party movement who strongly advocated anti- illegal immigrant beliefs. On February 19, Fox News and various right-wing commentators including Glenn Beck claimed that Swagger and Colter's characters were a mockery of the Tea Party movement meant to "demonize" the Tea Party. WWE responded to the criticism by stating that they were incorporating "current events into [their] storylines" to "create compelling and relevant content for [their] audience" and that "this storyline in no way represents WWE’s political point of view". WWE followed by having Swagger and Colter break character during

2209-422: Was victorious. The next night on Raw , Del Rio and Colter began advertising a union between the United States and Mexico as "MexAmerica", leading to several confrontations with Colter's former protege, Jack Swagger. After Colter caused Del Rio to stumble during one of these confrontations on the December 7 episode of Raw , Del Rio ended his association with Colter. This marked his last appearance in WWE, as he

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