Episode #7
The Cream of the Crop #7 — Stan Stasiak & The Iron Sheik: Two Roads to the World Championship
The Cream of the Crop #7 — Stan Stasiak & The Iron Sheik: Two Roads to the World Championship Two wrestlers. Two generations. Two very different journeys through Portland. And both eventually reached the same summit. In Episode 7 of The Cream of the Crop , host Frank Culbertson tells the stories of Stan “The Crusher” Stasiak and The Iron Sheik —two men whose paths through the Pacific Northwest could hardly have been more different, yet both would eventually become World Heavyweight Champion. For Stasiak, Portland became a second home. Arriving in 1965, he developed from the imposing heel known as “The Crusher” into one of the territory’s most enduring stars. Seven Northwest Heavyweight Championships. Eight Northwest Tag Team Championships. Battles with Tony Borne, Lonnie Mayne, Bull Ramos and Rip Oliver. Partnerships with everyone from Dutch Savage and Buddy Rose to a young Billy Jack Haynes. And, of course, there was the Heart Punch . But in 1973, Stasiak accomplished something very few wrestlers ever do: he defeated Pedro Morales to become WWWF World Heavyweight Champion , holding the championship for ten days before losing it to Bruno Sammartino. Ten years later, another wrestler who had passed through Portland found himself in a remarkably similar position. Before the flag, the famous interviews and the larger-than-life personality, Portland fans saw The Iron Sheik while the future legend was still taking shape. His Northwest stay lasted only about nine months, but it included victories over Jimmy Snuka, Jerry Oates and Skip Young, a partnership with Bull Ramos, and a Northwest Tag Team Championship. Portland also saw something that could later be overshadowed by the character: The Iron Sheik could really wrestle. Then, in 1983, Sheik defeated Bob Backlund for the WWF Championship before dropping it to Hulk Hogan. Pedro Morales → Stan Stasiak → Bruno Sammartino. Bob Backlund → The Iron Sheik → Hulk Hogan. Two short championship reigns separating four enormous chapters in wrestling history. Were Stasiak and Sheik transitional champions? Absolutely. But maybe it’s time to stop treating “transitional champion” like an insult. Someone has to be trusted to beat the champion. Someone has to be credible enough to hold the championship. And someone has to be trusted to hand it to the man who will lead the next era. Stan Stasiak and The Iron Sheik were trusted to be those men. And for Frank, the Stasiak story is also personal—going all the way back to being seven years old at the Portland Armory and saying two words to the man who instantly became his favorite wrestler: “Hi, Stan.” Next Friday, The Cream of the Crop returns to 1968 and the early days of the Portland Sports Arena, when two villains helped provide the heat a new building desperately needed: Rip Kirby and Beauregard. The Cream of the Crop is hosted by Frank Culbertson and based on Mike Rodgers’ Encyclopedia of Portland Wrestlers , available on Amazon. New episodes drop every Friday on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever you get your wrestling fix. The main eventers. The money draws. The territory legends. The Cream of the Crop.
