| Dutch Savage | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | Frank Stewart |
| Born | (1935-06-09)June 9, 1935 Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | August 3, 2013(2013-08-03) (aged 78) Vancouver, Washington, U.S.[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Dutch Savage Dutch Schultz Mr. X Lonnie Brown |
| Billed height | 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) |
| Billed weight | 265 lb (120 kg) |
| Trained by | Luke Brown |
| Debut | 1961 |
| Retired | 1981 |
Frank Stewart (June 9, 1935 – August 3, 2013) was an Americanprofessional wrestler and wrestling promoter, best known for his time spent competing inPacific Northwest Wrestling under the ring nameDutch Savage.[2]
Savage made his pro debut in 1962 inMacon, Georgia, using the ring name Lonnie Brown,[3] then spent the next few years competing across North America, inHawaii and inJapan (going by the ring names Mr. X and Dutch Schultz). Savage first began using his most famous ring name during a stint in theKansas City territory.[3] He eventually settled in thePacific Northwest region in 1966, splitting his time between PNW inPortland andNWA All Star Wrestling inVancouver, British Columbia.[3] Savage also had a brief stint in the AWA territory where he formed a solid tag team with Hard Boiled Haggerty. However, when a trip to Japan was offered, Dutch opted to leave the AWA after only a few months. His most memorable matches while in the AWA were with the masked Doctor "X" (Dick Beyer, aka The Destroyer) andMad Dog Vachon.[4]
Savage wrestled mainly as aheel early in his career, but he turnedface around 1971 during a feud withBull Ramos in Portland. He also formed a legendary tag team in PNW withJimmy Snuka that won six Pacific Northwest tag team titles; one of their reigns lasted for a record 11 months in 1974-75. He originated the Coal Miner's Glove match in 1972 inEugene, Oregon, and went undefeated in that specialty match during his career. InVancouver, British Columbia, Savage captured 13 NWA Canadian tag team titles, second only to the record of 18 Canadian tag titles won byDon Leo Jonathan (with whom Savage won the championship once, in 1977). Dutch had a run in Calgary Stampede Wrestling during the spring / summer of 1979 that even included a build up to a tag match where Stu Hart came out of retirement to tag with his son Keith Hart versus Dutch Savage and J.R. Foley.
On the promotional side, he later bought outSandor Kovacs' ownership stake in theWashington territory and also purchased a one-third portion of PNW, getting into promoting as well as doing color commentary for PNW'sPortland Wrestling program on Portland stationKPTV (syndicated outside of Portland to the rest of Oregon and Washington asBig Time Wrestling) after his retirement from active competition around 1981.[5][6]
Savage was involved in real estate for many years after his wrestling career, and he served as the play-by-play host for the Championship Wrestling USA promotion's TV program during the 1990s,[7] but eventually retired. He later became an administrator for his official website (Dutch Savage.com) and hosted a program called "Dutch's Corner", where he taught King James Scripture, onPublic-access television out ofPortland, Oregon.[3] He and his wife Willa lived on their farm in the mountains of southwest Washington State, close to Mount St. Helens, and adopted Yacolt, Washington, as their home town.
On April 13, 2013, it was reported that Savage had suffered a stroke on April 10, which left him with paralysis on his left side and other complications.[8] According to his daughter, Mitzi Stewart Graham, Dutch Savage died August 3, 2013, inVancouver, Washington.[9][1]
In November 2013, a biographical DVD titled "Don't Count Me Out - The Dutch Savage Story" featuring extensive interview footage with Savage discussing his life inside and outside the ring was released by NW History Hunters (www.nwhistoryhunters.com). This 1 hour-18 minute DVD features vintage video, photos and newspaper clippings from Savage's life story as a celebrated high-school athlete, professional wrestler and promotion co-owner, through his retirement years as a pastor, and also contains the first-ever interview footage with his wife Willa.
