Wayne Cowan

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Wayne Keown


Statistics
Ring name(s)	"Dirty" Dutch Mantel Dutch Mantel Texas Dirt Uncle Zebekiah
Billed height	6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Billed weight	220 lb (100 kg)
Born	November 29, 1949
Resides	Murfreesboro, Tennessee
Debut	1973

Wayne Cowan (born November 29, 1949) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Dutch Mantel. He currently is semi-retired but still makes occasional wrestling appearances. His main job is with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a writer behind the scenes.

1 Career
2 In Wrestling
3 References

[edit] Career

Cowan debuted in 1973 as "Dirty" Dutch Mantel. He wrestled for various Southern promotions, and achieved considerable success in 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 notoriety as Sting and the Ultimate Warrior. The Undertaker and Kane both were early recipients of Mantel's astute wrestling knowledge, which served them well later on in their careers. Mantel also is credited with giving Stone Cold Steve Austin his stage surname, since Austin's real name is Steve Williams which was also the name of "Dr. Death" Steve Williams.

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 1980 when he and then-partner, Frankie Lane, as Los Vaqueros Locos, sold out the 16,000 seat Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico for an unprecedented 9 weeks in a row, an attendance feat that still holds to this day.

When the independent wrestling promotion Smoky Mountain Wrestling, promoted by Jim Cornette, opened in 1991, Mantel served as the original color commentator for the television broadcasts. He was joined by Bob Caudle and would give something of a heel perspective to the television show. He also hosted a weekly talk segment called "Down and Dirty With Dutch," where he would interview the stars of SMW. He remained with Smoky Mountain until around 1994.

In the 1990s, Keown appeared in the World Wrestling Federation as the manager of The Blu Brothers and later Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw as Uncle Zebekiah. He also had a brief stint in the WCW as a member of The Desperados. Keown later joined the Puerto Rican International Wrestling Association as a booker, and remained there until September 22, 2003.

He was most recently hired by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as an assistant booker to Jeff Jarrett. After Jarrett stepped down and Dusty Rhodes took over, Mantel maintained his position. In light of the more recent change towards a booking committee, Mantel has now become an equal on the committee, which also includes Vince Russo. Mantel relocated to Murfreesboro, Tennessee for this position, but remains in a consulting role with WWC.