The arena sits on Mercer Street, a forgotten piece of a world's fair which took place a generation ago.  The arena, to start with is a bastard size, too big and spacious for intimate events, and too small for large scale attractions. So the arena caters to a hodgepodge of different events, hosting high school basketball games, Seattle University plays its home basketball games there, it is often part of a boat or a car show, although those will soon migrate to the newly built, state of the art Kingdome. The arena smells of stale beer, bagged popcorn, and soft pretzels.  It is too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, especially when the hockey team is in town, the ushers are hostile, the bathrooms are few and malfunctioning and aisleways are so steep that one misstep can lead to tragedy. What the arena is the perfect for is wrestling.

You go there every month, it doesn't matter what the main event is and it is always a show to remember.  This is a hot August night, in the summer of 1977, Elvis will be dead in a matter of time, Disco is all over the radio and that summer, quite possibly you had to see your dad wearing platforms and your mom getting an afro perm, the say time heals all wounds, well just try to get that image out of your head.

The card is good, solid and the matches move with a precise pace, they tell their story.  The semi main is John Anson and Lonnie Mayne.  Anson attacks Mayne before the match with a foreign object, his sunglasses and Lonnie seems like he has opened an artery.  Mayne, being Mayne, rallies and they brawl all over the building.  Anson is like a virgin in a horror movie, he

is trying to get away, but to no avail, because Lonnie is relentless. They finally get back to the ring and Lonnie gets the 1,2,3.  The match, while maybe not a classic, had the crowd on their feet for a full 20 minutes, it had excitement, drama, heat, a huge face comeback and plenty of blood.  No way, can the main event follow that even with Sam Oliver (Ron) Bass, the SOB defending the Northwest strap, can't be done, not possible.  Somehow the main event tops it.  How?  Dutch Savage was in it.

Dutch Savage, you see, was the man.