Jim Crockett Promotions
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Jim Crockett Promotions was the name of a professional wrestling promotion owned by Jim Crockett up until the late 1980s. It was a member of the NWA, and was the forerunner to World Championship Wrestling.
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Eastern States Championship Wrestling
In 1935, Jim Crockett Sr. began promoting wrestling events under the banner Eastern States Championship Wrestling, or ESCW. 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 Jim Crockett took over the territory after his father retired. He decided to change the territory's name from ESCW to Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling or MACW. He managed to arrange television tapings at WRAL in Raleigh; an arrangement that would last until 1981. The shows were syndicated throughout the territory.
During this period MACW had a working agreement with Frank Tunney's Maple Leaf Wrestling in Canada that allowed Crockett to co-promote shows north of the border, while MLW talent would occasionally appear in Mid Atlantic. These combined to make Mid Atlantic perhaps the most influential and exciting wrestling federation in North America.
Recognizing this fact, Crockett would become president of the NWA in 1980. It would be a turbulent time to be NWA president.
By the 1980s, the wrestling world was undergoing significant changes. The old NWA territory system was collapsing under pressure from the nationalized WWF, now WWE. Jim Crockett's vision was to create a united NWA by purchasing out, or merging, all of its member territories.
In 1981, MACW switched from taping in the WRAL studios to taping in the WPCQ studios, in Charlotte.
Ted Turner had realised the value of pro wrestling for cable in the early 1980s (around 1982), when he began broadcasting Ole Anderson's Georgia Championship Wrestling on his TBS cable network. This was a smart move for Turner, as pro wrestling was a source of cheap, live entertainment; well suited to his cable network.
Jim Crockett would end his first term as NWA president in 1982.
Meanwhile, to make GCW more marketable on the fledgling national cable channel, it changed its name to "World Championship Wrestling" in 1983; though it reverted to its old name in 1984.
Also in 1983, MACW would go from recording its weekly shows in a television studio, to recording them live in an arena.
1984 saw the WWF purchase a majority interest in Georgia Championship Wrestling from a 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 and Crockett was given an early Saturday morning time slot on TBS. 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, Maple Leaf Wrestling 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 AWA, Mid Atlantic Championship Wrestling would create Pro Wrestling USA. It would collapse soon after, leaving Crockett to attempt to achieve his vision on his own. Crockett would not be involved in the AWA's subsequent (failed) unification attempt.
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 Ole Anderson's Georgia Championship Wrestling circuit, giving Crockett the power to run his shows as far south as Georgia, including in Atlanta.
The post-1985 history of Jim Crockett Promotions can be found in the entry for World Championship Wrestling.
Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup
A tag team tournament was held for three years among the NWA promotions to honor the late Jim Crockett. It was called the Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament. 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 battled Barry Windham to a time-limit draw.
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
- NWA World Heavyweight Championship
- NWA United States Heavyweight Championship
- NWA National Heavyweight Championship
- NWA World Television Championship
- NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship
- NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship
- NWA Western States Heritage Championship
- NWA World Tag Team Championship
- NWA United States Tag Team Championship
- NWA National Tag Team Championship
- NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship
- NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship
- NWA World Women's Championship
- NWA United States Women's Championship