Dutch Mantel

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Wayne Cowan
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 (1949-11-29) (age 58) Oil Trough, Texas
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. He is also a Vietnam War veteran.^[1]

1 Career
2 In wrestling
3 Championships and accomplishments
4 Personal life
5 Notes
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Career

Cowan debuted in 1973 as Dutch Mantel but it wasn't until 1980 that he added the "Dirty" to his wrestling nom de guerre. 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.^[1] At the time, he was a booker for Jerry Jarrett's Memphis territory.^[1]

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, Cowboy 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, Mantel appeared in the World Wrestling Federation as Uncle Zeb.^[1] He was the manager of The Blu Brothers and later Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw. He also had a brief stint in the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as a member of The Desperados. Mantel later joined the Puerto Rican International Wrestling Association as a creative consultant which included writing/producing and booking 4 hours of original TV programming per week and remained there until September 22, 2003. Mantel set a record in the number of hours that a single writer produced a TV wrestling show as he was responsible for 4 hours a week, 52 weeks a year for a total of 208 hours a year for 5 years straight while in Puerto Rico. 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.

Since 2003, Mantel has worked behind the scenes as a writer/producer for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling most recently as a member of a committee which includes Vince Russo and Jeff Jarrett.