Jump to content

World Championship Wrestling

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by ClemsonTiger2001 (talk | contribs) at 02:31, 13 July 2019. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

This article is about the former American wrestling promotion. For the Australian wrestling promotion, see World Championship Wrestling (Australia). For the WWE subsidiary, see WCW (WWE subsidiary).
"WCW" redirects here. For other uses, see WCW (disambiguation).
World Championship Wrestling, Inc.
World Championship Wrestling
Formerly
  • Universal Wrestling Corporation (1988, 2001–2017)
  • World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (1988–2001)
Company type
Industry
Predecessor
FoundedOctober 11, 1988[1]
FounderTed Turner
Defunct
  • March 26, 2001 (de facto)
  • December 16, 2017 (de jure)
FateDeactivated and renamed by AOL Time Warner, later merged with Turner Broadcasting System; selected assets purchased by the WWF
Successor
HeadquartersOne Centennial Tower
Atlanta, Georgia 30303 United States
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsTelevision, Internet, merchandise
Number of employees
c. 150 (March 1998)[2]
Parent
Websitewww.wcwwrestling.com (archived)

World Championship Wrestling Inc. (WCW) is a defunct American professional wrestling promotion. For much of its existence, WCW was one of the top professional wrestling promotions in the United States, and was a significant competitor to the dominant World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE).[3]

WCW was founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System purchased and rebranded the nearly bankrupt major wrestling territory Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). After initial success through utilization of established wrestling stars of the 1980s, the company appointed Eric Bischoff to executive producer of television in 1993. Under Bischoff's guise, the company enjoyed a period of mainstream success characterized by a shift to reality-based storylines, and notable hirings of former WWF talent.[4] WCW also promoted multiple live events a year, and gained attention for developing a popular cruiserweight division, which showcased an acrobatic, fast-paced, lucha libre-inspired style of wrestling.[5]

In 1995, WCW broadcast the live television flagship program WCW Monday Nitro, and subsequently developed a ratings competition now known as the Monday Night Wars against the flagship program of the WWF, Monday Night Raw. From 1996–1998, WCW surpassed their rival program in the ratings for 83 consecutive weeks, threatening to severely undercut their rival and disrupting the American wrestling hierarchy.[6] However, WCW then endured significant losses in ratings and revenue due to creative missteps in the late 1990s, and suffered from the fallout from the merger of Turner Broadcasting with Time Warner and AOL.

Soon thereafter, WCW went out of business, and the WWF purchased selected WCW assets in 2001, including its video library, some wrestler contracts, and selected intellectual property, including the WCW name and championships.[7] WCW was officially made defunct in 2017, after dealing with old contracts and existing lawsuits.[8] Its global headquarters were located in Atlanta, Georgia.[9]

History

Main article: History of World Championship Wrestling

Name

The name "World Championship Wrestling" was first used as a brand and television show title in 1982. Jim Barnett (who had worked for the World Championship Wrestling promotion in Australia) came to Atlanta, Georgia in the 1970s during an internal struggle over Georgia Championship Wrestling.[10] Barnett ultimately became majority owner of the promotion, and began using his previous employer's name for his new promotion's television program in 1982. The promotion was eventually purchased by Jim Crockett Promotions.

Influential wrestling magazine Pro Wrestling Illustrated and its sister publications thereafter habitually referred to Jim Crockett Promotions as "World Championship Wrestling", "WCW" and most commonly "the World Championship area" and continued to do so until early 1988 when it began referring to the company solely as the NWA, reasoning that "it has become apparent that the NWA and the World Championship area are one and the same."[11][12]

However, it was not until November 2, 1988[13] that an actual, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)-affiliated promotion called 'World Championship Wrestling' appeared on the national scene. This entity was under the ownership of media mogul and cable-TV pioneer Ted Turner, based in Atlanta. While initially the new company was called the Universal Wrestling Corporation (launched October 11, 1988), very shortly following the purchase the decision was made to utilize the familiar "World Championship Wrestling" TV show name, as the brand name for this new promotion.

Leadership and booking

WCW went through various changes in business and creative leadership during its existence. Some figures, like Jim Herd and Kip Frey, were mere TV executives completely lacking in wrestling-promotion experience; others, like Bill Watts, Ole Anderson, and Dusty Rhodes had extensive experience in the business, but were so entrenched in the outdated "territory" ways of operating (which their respective careers had thrived under) that they were ineffective at growing WCW's largely regional audience, into a national—and international—one (as Vince McMahon had successfully done with the WWF).

While Eric Bischoff has received much criticism for some mistakes in judgment as Executive Producer (and later, WCW President), he combined an understanding of wrestling (largely gained as a staffer with Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association) with a willingness to make the changes needed to raise WCW's profile with mainstream media, its target audience and especially, TV advertisers. These changes including moving some television tapings from Atlanta to Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida, and, signing a mix of veteran U.S. main-event performers, and younger stars from promotions around the world (e.g., Rey Mysterio, Jr.).

Some of the creative freedoms that Bischoff granted main-event-level talent hurt the promotion, as such performers were less-than-cooperative in making stars out of the young performers—even though doing so (known in the industry as "doing what's best for the business instead of for just yourself") has been a staple of the industry, worldwide, since its inception. Once Bischoff was relieved of his duties in 1999, Vince Russo (a former senior storyline writer for the WWF), came aboard as lead writer of all of WCW's storylines. Although Russo would not last long in this role (departing for the first time in January 2000), WCW opted to bring Russo and Bischoff back in April 2000, in hopes that the duo might re-spark flagging fan interest in WCW. The two, however, did not get along well and Bischoff soon resigned from the sinking company. It was only a few months later that Russo would also depart after suffering from a concussion at the hands of Goldberg (although he remained under contract for the rest of WCW's existence). Following Russo's departure, creative was handled by a booking committee which included John Laurinaitis and Terry Taylor.

WCW in other media

From 2000 to 2001, Monster Jam had a series of monster trucks based on wrestlers' names. These include nWo (2000), Sting (2000–2001), Nitro Machine (2000–present; currently Inferno), Madusa (2000–present) and Goldberg (2000–present; currently Max-D). The first to go was nWo, which only ran for a season. Next, all but Goldberg, Nitro, and Madusa were retired after the WCW sponsorship was lost. Nitro then became 'Flashfire', and then was converted into 'Inferno'. 'Madusa' has stayed the same since its creation, driven by its namesake Debrah Miceli. As for 'Goldberg', it was changed to 'Team Meents' in 2002, then into 'Maximum Destruction' (later shortened to 'Max-D'), which debuted in 2003 and continues to compete in the series and rivals the legendary Grave Digger in popularity on the circuit.

WCW also had a presence in NASCAR from the mid-1990s to 2000, sponsoring the #29 team in the Busch Grand National Series full-time and the #9 Melling Racing team in the Winston Cup Series part-time. In 1996, Kyle Petty's #49 car in the Busch Grand National series was sponsored by the nWo, and Wally Dallenbach Jr. briefly drove a WCW-sponsored for Galaxy Motorsports.

Several WCW video games were made in the 1980s and 1990s, including WCW Mayhem, WCW/nWo Revenge, WCW/nWo Thunder, WCW vs. the World, and WCW Backstage Assault. Several other games were made as well.

Sale to World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.

In the early 2000s until the end of the year, a number of potential buyers for WCW were rumored to show interest in the company. Ted Turner, however, did not have influence at Time Warner prior to the final merger of AOL and Time Warner in 2001, and most offers were rejected. Eric Bischoff, working with Fusient Media Ventures, made a bid to acquire the company in January 2001[14] (shortly following the AOL/Time Warner merger), and it appeared that WCW would continue.

One of the primary backers in the WCW deal backed out after AOL Time Warner refused to allow WCW to continue airing on its networks; leaving Fusient to take that offer off the table while it attempted to bring a new deal around. In the meantime, the World Wrestling Federation founded W. Acquisition Company in late-2000 and began speaking to the new AOL Time Warner about acquiring the WCW brand. Jamie Kellner was handed control over the Turner Broadcasting division, and deemed WCW, along with Turner Sports as a whole, to be out of line with its image. As a result, WCW programming was cancelled on TBS and TNT, leaving Vince McMahon's company, which at the time had an exclusive deal with Viacom, free to acquire the trademarks, video libraries and a few contracts of World Championship Wrestling through its new subsidiary W. Acquisition Company and was renamed WCW Inc. afterwards.

During the sale, WCW was in litigation, with various lawsuits pending, and AOL Time Warner still had to pay various performers their guaranteed deals, as many had contracts directly with the parent company, and not with WCW. Since WCW Inc. had acquired select assets, the company that was once World Championship Wrestling was reverted to the Universal Wrestling Corporation once again.

Two separate subsidiary companies existed as immediate successors to WCW. WCW, Inc. is the WWE subsidiary established in Delaware in late 2000, initially as W. Acquisition Company, which holds the rights to the WCW video library and other intellectual property.[15] The former WCW entity, which retained liabilities not acquired by WWF, was renamed back to the Universal Wrestling Corporation;[16] it was listed as a subsidiary of Time Warner until 2017,[17] when it was merged into Turner Broadcasting System.[18] Its only purpose was to deal with old contracts and lawsuits.

Legacy

At the outset of WCW's existence, as well as that of its predecessors, the company was strongly identified with the Southern style of professional wrestling (i.e., "rasslin'"), which emphasized athletic and competitive in-ring performances over the showmanship and cartoon-like characterizations of the WWF.[19] This identity persisted into the 1990s, even as the company signed stars whom their audience had only ever known as WWF-only stars (e.g., Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage). WCW dominated pro wrestling's television ratings from mid-1996 to 1998 in the U.S. (i.e., for 84 straight weeks) mainly due to its incredibly popular New World Order storyline; but thereafter, began to lose heavy ground to the WWF, which had successfully rebounded from the WCW threat with its edgy, antihero-driven "Attitude" era that saw the rise of WWF superstars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin. Stale story lines; unimpressive pay-per-view main event performances; a policy of vastly overpaying all headliners – and even many middle-tier performers – exorbitant, guaranteed salaries; questionable booking decisions; plus eventual and sudden spending restrictions (imposed by corporate parent Time Warner), combined to eventually lead WCW to start operating at a quickly-ballooning loss. As a result, AOL Time Warner sold the trademark for WCW's name and logo to the WWF for $2.5 million, in 2001. Shortly after the purchase, Vince McMahon purchased the entire WCW videotape library for an additional $1.7 million, bringing the final tally of World Championship Wrestling's sale to $4.2 million.

After the closure of WCW, two new wrestling promotions, World Wrestling All-Stars (WWA) and Xcitement Wrestling Federation (XWF), were formed in 2001. These companies took WCW performers who did not sign with the WWF after the merge. XWF hosted events until 2002 and WWA closed in 2003. The formation of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling by WCW's Jeff Jarrett in 2002 would take WCW's market position in the mid-to-late 2000's as the secondary wrestling promotion in North America, before it was overtaken by Ring of Honor in the mid-2010s.

WCW started out as a regional promotion in the late-1980s, focusing mainly on the Deep South. It started growing nationally a few years later, which led to its rivalry with the WWF – the major wrestling company left in North America (after almost single-handedly wiping out the old regional territory system it was born from). Even though WCW folded in 2001, its legacy lived on in the WWF. The WWF initially kept the WCW United States Championship, the WCW Cruiserweight Championship, the WCW World Tag Team Championship, and even the WCW World Heavyweight Championship active. Eventually, the titles were unified into their respective WWF counterparts. In 2003, by which time the World Wrestling Federation was renamed World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the company resurrected the U.S. title.

When Hulk Hogan returned to WWE, it billed him as "Hollywood Hulk Hogan" – his WCW nickname. In 2004, WWE brought back WCW's Great American Bash pay-per-view; also that year, it released Starrcade: The Essential Collection as a three-disc DVD set. In August 2009, WWE released a DVD set, The Rise and Fall of WCW.[20] Commemorating the 10th anniversary of purchasing WCW, WWE re-opened WCW.com, highlighting the history of the company that had once had the upper-hand in the professional wrestling marketplace, at one point, even threatening to drive WWE out of business. WWE released three documentaries showing highlights from WCW Nitro's history, The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro, The Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 2 and The Best of WCW Monday Nitro Volume 3.[21] All three documentaries are hosted by Diamond Dallas Page.

Though the Great American Bash pay-per-view has since been retired, WWE resurrected the Clash of the Champions name as a 2016 pay-per-view (as WWE Clash of Champions). In 2017, WWE brought back Starrcade as a SmackDown brand show. Also that year, WWE brought back the WarGames match with their WWE Network event NXT TakeOver: WarGames featuring their NXT brand.

WCW was a major focus in the WWE '12 video game released by THQ for Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii in 2011. In the game's "Road to Wrestlemania" Story Mode, many WCW superstars are featured (e.g., Arn Anderson, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, Road Warrior Animal, Kevin Nash (a.k.a., Diesel in his initial WWF run), Booker T, and Vader).

WCW has also gone on to be featured in various modern WWE media. Various WCW programs can be seen on the WWE Network, including all episodes of WCW Monday Nitro from 1995–2001, Select episodes of WCW Thunder from 1998-2000, most WCW pay-per-views, and every WCW Clash of the Champions. WWE also has dedicated a section of their website specifically for WCW programming.

Championships

Championship Notes
NWA Western States Heritage Championship A National Wrestling Alliance championship intended for mid-card wrestlers. It was used in WCW from 1988 to 1989.
NWA World Heavyweight Championship The world title of the National Wrestling Alliance. It was defended within WCW from 1988 until 1993.
NWA World Tag Team Championship The world tag team title of the National Wrestling Alliance. It was defended within WCW from 1992 through 1993.
WCW Cruiserweight Championship The title was established under WCW in 1996 and would continue to be used after WCW's purchase by the WWF until March 2008, when it was retired as the WWE Cruiserweight Championship.
WCW Cruiserweight Tag Team Championship The title was established under WCW in March 18, 2001 but was retired eight days later after the WCW's purchase by the WWF.
WCW Light Heavyweight Championship The title was established under WCW in 1991 and was defended until September 1992, when the title was retired.
WCW Hardcore Championship The title was established under WCW in 1999 and was defended until January 2001, when the title was retired later that year due to WCW being bought by the WWF.
WCW International World Heavyweight Championship The second world title of WCW. It was established in 1993 under WCW and was defended until 1994, when it was unified with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship.
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship The second highest ranked title used in WCW. It was established in 1975 under NWA Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and would continue to be used after WCW's purchase by the WWF until November 2001, when it was unified with the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Under World Wrestling Entertainment, the title was revived as the WWE United States Championship in 2003.
WCW United States Tag Team Championship The title was established in 1986 under NWA Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and was defended within WCW until July 1992, when the title was retired.
WCW Women's Championship The title was established under WCW in 1996 and was defended until 1997, when the title was retired.
WCW Women's Cruiserweight Championship The title was established under WCW in 1997 but was retired the following year.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship The primary world title of WCW. It was established in 1991 under WCW and would continue to be used after WCW's purchase by the WWF until December 2001, when it was unified with the WWF Championship.
WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Championship The title was derived from the NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship of NWA Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and was defended within WCW until 1991, when the title was retired.
WCW World Tag Team Championship The world tag team title of the WCW. It was established in 1975 under NWA Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and would continue to be used after WCW's purchase by the WWF until November 2001, when it was unified with the WWF World Tag Team Championship.
WCW World Television Championship The title was established in 1974 under NWA Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and was defended within WCW until April 2000, when the title was retired.

Programming

Program Start date End date Notes
WCW Pro 1958 September 1998 Also known as NWA Pro Wrestling and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
WCW Saturday Night December 25, 1971 August 19, 2000 Also known as WCW Saturday Morning, Georgia Championship Wrestling, and World Championship Wrestling
Best of World Championship Wrestling 1973 1987
WCW WorldWide 1975 April 1, 2001 Also known as World Wide Wrestling
WCW Clash of the Champions March 27, 1988 August 21, 1997 Also known as NWA Clash of the Champions
WCW Main Event 1988 1998 Also known as NWA Main Event
WCW Power Hour June 23, 1989 March 5, 1994 Also known as NWA Power Hour
WCW Prime 1995 1997
WCW Monday Nitro September 4, 1995 March 26, 2001
WCW Thunder January 8, 1998 March 21, 2001

References

  1. ^ "Universal Wrestling Corporation". georgiacompanieslist.com.
  2. ^ "Eric Bischoff". Off the Record with Michael Landsberg. March 18, 1998. TSN. Monday night is that one time during the week when I can forget that I'm the president of WCW, that I've got 150 employees to worry about.
  3. ^ Jericho, Chris; Fornatale, Peter Thomas (2007). A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex. Grand Central. ISBN 0446408905. [Bischoff] constantly trumpeted to anybody who would listen that Hogan and the nWo were the sole reason why WCW had pulled ahead of WWF in the ratings war. He never stopped to think that another reason may have been the hard work of the leprosy-afflicted cruiserweights.
  4. ^ "Sting". WWE.com. WWE. 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
  5. ^ Mudge, Jacqueline (2013). Billy Kidman. Infobase. ISBN 1438146469. The cruiserweight division had become the most exciting aspect of WCW.
  6. ^ Bryan, Daniel; Tello, Craig (2015). Yes!: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania. St. Martin's. p. 70. ISBN 146687662X. WWE was looking to start a new cruiserweight division like the one that was popular in WCW.
  7. ^ Green, Jordan (December 14, 2005). "I was famous for getting beat up': The glorious and tragic story of Carolina wrasslin". YES! Weekly.
  8. ^ Assael, Shaun; Mooneyham, Mike (July 16, 2002). Sex, Lies and Headlocks: The Real Story of Vince McMahon and the World Wrestling Federation. Crown Publishers. p. 252. ISBN 0-609-60690-5.
  9. ^ "The WWF's Light Heavyweight Division: The 10 Ways to Make it a ss". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. 17 (12). London Publishing Co.: 33 December 1997. ISSN 1043-7576. The light heavyweight division, like WCW's cruiserweight division, can be a rousing success
  10. ^ "1980's TV Wrestling / 1970's - 1980's Mid-Atlantic Wrestling". tvparty.com.
  11. ^ Ratings Analysis, Pro Wrestling Illustrated May 1988
  12. ^ "NWA and WWF gain momentum - Is Wrestling Headed Towards A Two Party System?" Pro Wrestling Illustrated October 1987. Article contains copious examples of references to Jim Crockett Promotions as "World Championship Wrestling"/"WCW"/"the World Championship area".
  13. ^ "JCP 1973". Retrieved August 21, 2013.
  14. ^ "Time Warner Sells Ailing WCW". Classic Wrestling Articles. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
  15. ^ "Subsidiaries of World Wrestling Entertainment, inc".
  16. ^ "Eudy v. Universal Wrestling Corporation inc". Findlaw.
  17. ^ "Worldwide Subsidiaries and Affiliated Companies List" (PDF). Time Warner Inc. June 19, 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 28, 2017. Retrieved March 5, 2016.
  18. ^ "Certificate of Merger". State of Georgia. December 17, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  19. ^ Assael, Shaun; Mooneyham, Mike (July 16, 2002). Sex, Lies and Headlocks: The Real Story of Vince McMahon and World Wrestling Federation. Crown Publishers. p. 61. ISBN 0-609-60690-5.
  20. ^ Ross, Jim (May 3, 2009). "J.R.'s Place". J.R.'s Barbq. Retrieved May 13, 2009.
  21. ^ "WWE: The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro Vol. 3". August 11, 2015 – via Amazon.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=World_Championship_Wrestling&oldid=906021217"