Jim Crockett Promotions

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Jim Crockett Promotions was the name of a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett, Jr. up until the late 1980s. It was a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling (WCW).

Contents

1 Early History
2 Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling
3 Enter Ted Turner
4 NWA 'Unification'
5 Current Ownership
6 Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup
7 Titles in Jim Crockett Promotions
8 See also
9 External links

Early History

In 1935, Jim Crockett Sr. began promoting wrestling from his homebase of Charlotte, North Carolina, as well as other events (including musical concerts, threatrical plays, and minor league baseball and hockey) under the banner of Jim Crockett Promotions (with the company being officially incorporated as Jim Crockett Promotions in the 1950's).

JCP ran mostly under such generic brand names "Championship Wrestling" and "All Star Wrestling" until 1973 when they started using the name "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" as their primary brand name in print, radio, and other forms of advertising (the name was also used for their main television programs).

In 1975, they introduced the "Wide World Wrestling" brand and television show (which was changed to "World Wide Wrestling" in 1978 and which existed later as "NWA World Wide" and "WCW World Wide" after the company was sold to Turner Broadcasting). The "World Wide" brand was used concurrently with the "Mid-Atlantic" brand. JCP also occasionally used the brand name "East Coast Wrestling" but not as widely as the other two brands.

The older Crockett was an early member of the NWA, and his territory covered Virginia, North and South Carolina. He would promote shows in this region for 38 years, until 1973, when his son, Jim Crockett, Jr. (known to many fans simply as "Jim Crockett") took over.

Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling

In 1973, the younger Crockett took over the territory after his father died. Under the guidance of new creative force, former wrestler George Scott, the promotion moved away from a tag team product to focus more on singles wrestling, though tag team wrestling would continue to play a big part in the company.

JCP gradually phased out its multiple weekly television tapings in such cities as Charlotte, N.C.; Greenville, S.C.; and High Point, N.C. and eventually consolidated their taping schedule into one shoot, a Wednesday night affair at WRAL in Raleigh, an agreement that would last until 1981, when they moved to WPCQ studios in Charlotte (which ironically enough was a station once owned by Ted Turner).

"Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" (known briefly in 1978 as "Mid-Atlantic Championship Sports") and "Wide World Wrestling" (later "World Wide Wrestling") were syndicated throughout the territory. JCP later added a short-lived show called "The Best of NWA Wrestling" which was taped at WCCB studios in Charlotte (across the street from the old Charlotte Coliseum) and which featured then-active wrestler Johnny Weaver sitting down with top stars in a "coach's show" type environment, in which they would commentate over 16 millimeter films shot at local arenas.

JCP gradually began to expand, running shows in eastern Tennessee, parts of West Virginia, and Savannah, Georgia. In the late 1970's and early 1980's, they moved into Cincinnatti and Dayton, Ohio. Crockett and Scott also bought into Frank Tunney's promotion in Toronto, which ran under the Maple Leaf Wrestling brand name. "Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling" was seen on a station out of Buffalo, New York, which allowed the joint Tunney/Crockett/Scott effort to bring a full slate of shows to Ontario and upstate New York.

In 1980, Jim Crockett Jr. was elected President of the National Wrestling Alliance.

In 1982, Crockett partnered with wrestlers Ric Flair and Blackjack Mulligan to start a secondary company out of Knoxville, Tennessee, which operated under the brand name Southern Championship Wrestling. That group featured such stars as Mulligan, his son Barry Windham (then wrestling as Blackjack Mulligan Jr.), Kevin Sullivan, Wayne Ferris (the future Honkytonk Man), The Mongolian Stomper, Terry Taylor, Tim Horner, and others. The group lasted less than a year.

By the 1980s, the wrestling world was undergoing significant changes. The old NWA territory system was collapsing under pressure from the nationalized Titan Sports, which operated under the brand name World Wrestling Federation (WWF), now World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Jim Crockett's vision was to create a united NWA by purchasing, or merging, all of its member territories.

Enter Ted Turner

Ted Turner had realized the value of pro wrestling for cable television in the early 1970's. This was a smart move for Turner, as pro wrestling was a source of cheap, live entertainment; well suited to his cable network. He could run per inquiry ads (Slim Whitman albums, ginsu knives, etc.) and take part of the sales profits just by bringing in a big audience through pro wrestling (which generally didn't attract big ad revenue due to its perceived demographic).

As Jim Crockett ended his second year (as his first term) as NWA president in 1982, the winds of change were starting to whip up in the wrestling industry. Turner's SuperStation TBS had asked Georgia Championship Wrestling, Inc. to change its public brand name to "World Championship Wrestling" and there were rumblings that the Jim Barnett-controlled company would go national.

By 1983, JCP would go from recording its weekly shows in a television studio, to recording them live in arenas. After purchasing a mobile television unit for $1 million, Crockett started thinking big. In some people's eyes, too big.

1984 saw the WWF purchase a majority interest in Georgia Championship Wrestling from a number of its shareholders, including the Brisco brothers and Jim Barnett, and thus controlled GCW's timeslot on WTBS. This was part of the WWF's attempt to go national; in part by co-opting local wrestling timeslots. However, TBS received many complaints for the move, that another promotion backed by holdout GCW shareholder and NWA member Fred Ward was given an early Saturday morning time slot on TBS. This company (and its television show and brand name) was Championship Wrestling from Georgia.

The decline in ratings for the Saturday evening show, and the fans clamoring for GCW began to make the WWF's move one that lost the federation money. Also around this time, it is rumored that Ted Turner attempted to purchase the WWF, though Vince McMahon refused to sell. Eventually McMahon cut his losses and sold the WWF timeslot to Crockett for $1 Million. This chain of events and McMahon's refusal to sell to Turner would be critical in Turner's later decision to purchase WCW.

An extra sense of urgency was added to Crockett's national ambitions when, after Frank Tunney's death, controlling interest in the Toronto promotion was sold to the WWF. If Crockett wanted to run shows outside the Mid Atlantic states, he'd have to either find other willing promoters, or buy out their territories.

This period would also mark Crockett's first attempt to create a national federation. Together with Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association (AWA), Championship Wrestling from Georgia, and Memphis-based Jarrett Promotions, Jim Crockett Promotions would create Pro Wrestling USA. It would collapse soon after, leaving Crockett to attempt to achieve his vision on his own.

NWA 'Unification'

1985 would be a big year for Jim Crockett. First, Crockett was re-elected NWA president. Crockett also purchased the Saturday evening TBS timeslot from McMahon, and reverted it to the name "World Championship Wrestling". He would also buy out the Ole Anderson-booked-Championship Wrestling from Georgia circuit (not to be confused with Georgia Championship Wrestling, which had been bought out earlier by Vince McMahon), giving Crockett the power to run his shows as far south as Georgia, including in Atlanta.

By 1987 Crockett would be elected to a third term as NWA president and would go on to gain control (either through purchase or working agreements) the St. Louis Wrestling Club, Heartland of America Promotions (Bob Geigle's Central States brand), Championship Wrestling from Florida, and Bill Watts' Mid-South Sports (which operated under the Mid-South Wrestling, and later, upon expansion, Universal Wrestling Federation brand names).

Despite having six consolidated territories under his banner and being NWA president, it must be pointed out that JCP and NWA were two separate entities and that Crockett, like all NWA promoters before him and since, was simply licensing the NWA brand name. This despite the fact that during his reign, Crockett had what can only be termed an iron clad grip on the NWA World heavyweight championship.

On the verge of bankruptcy, Crockett would sell his company to Ted Turner in November 1988.

For history of the circuit thereafter, see the World Championship Wrestling article.

Current Ownership

Jim Crockett Promotions, Inc. sold its wrestling assets to Turner Broadcasting in 1988, which then established a new company first called the Universal Wrestling Corporation, then World Championship Wrestling, Inc., to manage those assets.

JCP remained an active company for several years following the sell to TBS, mostly to settle up debts with creditors. Jim Crockett Jr., followinng the expiration of his contract and no-compete clause with TBS, formed a new company in the early 1990's called Jim Crockett Promotions II, Inc. He briefly ran wrestling shows, once again licensing the NWA name.

Through its purchase of certain assets belong to World Championship Wrestling, Inc., WWE is now the owner of the old Jim Crockett Promotions tape library. Matches from that library are featured on the WWE 24/7 video on demand service.

WWE did not, however, "buy WCW" or Jim Crockett Promotions (though for televised storyline purposes, that appearance was given).

Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup

A tag team tournament was held for three years among the NWA promotions to honor Jim Crockett. It was called the Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament. The cards which featured the tournaments were also headlined by NWA World Title Matches.

The 1986 show was held on April 19, 1986 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Road Warriors won the tournament by defeating Ron Garvin & Magnum T.A. in the finals. NWA World Champ Ric Flair defeated Dusty Rhodes by disqualification.

The 1987 show was held on April 10 & 11, 1987 in Baltimore, Maryland. The Super Powers (Dusty Rhodes & Nikita Koloff) won the tournament by defeating Tully Blanchard & Lex Luger in the finals. NWA World Champ Ric Flair pinned Barry Windham. What made this show memorable was Magnum T.A. appearing in support of Rhodes and Koloff. This was Magnum T.A.'s first appearance at a wrestling show since suffering career-ending injuries in an automobile accident on October 14, 1986.

The 1988 show was held on April 22, 1988 in Greenville, South Carolina and on April 23, 1988 in Greensboro, North Carolina. Sting & Lex Luger won the tournament by defeating Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard in the finals. Nikita Koloff defeated NWA World Champ Ric Flair by disqualification.

Titles in Jim Crockett Promotions

External links

[Wrestling-Titles.com: Jim Crockett Promotions]

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