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Continental Championship Wrestling

February 18, 2023

Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Dothan, Alabama from 1985 until 1989, owned by Ron Fuller. The promotion evolved out of the NWA-affiliated Southeastern Championship Wrestling and Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling territories owned by Fuller, who purchased the Knoxville territory from John Cazana in 1974 and the Alabama/Florida territory in 1977. When Fuller sold the promotion to David Woods in 1988, the name was changed to Continental Wrestling Federation.

Continental Championship Wrestling
AcronymCCW
Founded1954
Defunct1989
StyleProfessional wrestling
HeadquartersKnoxville, Tennessee; Dothan, Alabama
Founder(s)Roy Welch and Buddy Fuller
Owner(s)Roy Welch and Buddy Fuller (1954-1959)
Lee Fields (1960-1978)
Ron Fuller Knoxville (1974-1980, 1985-1988)
David Woods (1988-1989)
FormerlyGulf Coast Championship Wrestling
Southeastern Championship Wrestling

History

The Gulf Coast years (1954–1974)

Nashville promoter Roy Welch had purchased the Mobile-Pensacola end of Leroy McGuirk's Tri-State Wrestling. Unlike McGuirk, who only promoted in the Mobile-Pensacola area on special occasions called spot shows, Welch decided to make promoting in Mobile-Pensacola a frequent attraction in the summer. However, due to his obligations in Nashville, his son Buddy Fuller (Edward Welch) was made booker for Mobile-Pensacola, and Fuller eventually expanded the territory into Mississippi-Louisiana as well.

At this point, the territory didn't even have a name, its own belts, or even its own wrestlers (aside from members of The Welch Family of course). They often relied on wrestlers and champions from Buddy's and their Uncle Lester Welch's territory. He ran in places like Tampa, Florida, and Atlanta, Georgia (which would eventually become Championship Wrestling from Florida and Georgia Championship Wrestling), as well getting help from his father in Nashville, Tennessee, and some occasional help from his Uncles Herb and Jack. These early attempts would start to unravel when Buddy Fuller failed to make payments to the territory from his father Roy Welch. Buddy's cousin Lee Fields (Albert Lee Hatfield) would save the territory and gave it the name "Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling".

Lee Fields would eventually buy the territory from Roy Welch and Buddy Fuller, and run shows in the area for almost two decades with Rocky McGuire booking Dothan-Panama City and Bob Kelly booking Mobile-Pensacola and Mississippi after a falling out with promoters in Louisiana with Mobile-Pensacola only running in the summer months. Kelly turned the promotion around from holding monthly and seasonal shows in a few towns which only drew a few hundred people to holding weekly shows in a different town night after night with local television exposure in each market, which led to each arena drawing thousands. Bob Kelly left the wrestling business in 1976 to enter real estate and spend more time with family, and Lee Fields found it more difficult to operate both his wrestling promotion and Mobile International Speedway at the same time.. So he sold it to his cousin Ron Fuller around 1977-1978.

The Southeastern years (1974–1985)

In 1974, Ron Fuller purchased Southeastern Championship Wrestling based in Knoxville, Tennessee from John Cazana, where he focused mainly on the east Tennessee area. In 1977, Ron Fuller took over the territory his grandfather and father had founded when GCCW folded and Fuller expanded the SECW to run in the Southern Alabama, Northern Florida area in addition the Eastern Tennessee territory he already established. This was initially labelled ”the Southern Division” of the SECW treating them as two separate entities despite the original plan to run a talent exchange between the two involving talent spending sixteen months in one end of the territory and then spend eight months in another to regain momentum after losing steam in the previous one.

In June 1979, several members of the talent roster and behind the scenes personnel left SECW out frustration involving backstage politics with Ron's brother Robert Fuller who was considered lazy in terms of booking the territory, and spent many nights partying and felt his spot in Southeastern was owed to him since he was a member of The Welch/Fuller family. Led by Bob Roop, Ronnie Garvin, Bob Orton Jr. and Boris Malenko, All-Star Championship Wrestling fought a six-month promotional war over the Knoxville territory. Many of these defectors later joined the Kentucky based outlaw promotion International Championship Wrestling owned and operated by Angelo Poffo.

After this, the Knoxville end of Southeastern experienced financial losses, and sold to promotions such as Jim Crockett Promotions and Georgia Championship Wrestling for the next five years. Fuller then made Birmingham his main end of the territory with the Dothan end continuing to flourish, giving early exposure to future stars such as The Fabulous Freebirds, rising stars in the territory along the lines of Austin Idol, and appearances by Ric Flair who would defend the NWA World Heavyweight Title in the area each year.

The Continental years (1985–1989)

Continental Championship Wrestling (1985–1988)

Five years later, Fuller decided that it was time to reach beyond the Southern Alabama/Northern Florida area and re-purchased the Knoxville end of the territory, with this expansion came a name change to Continental Championship Wrestling. After a failed negotiation with CBS, he settled on moving the television show out of the small television studio and into the big arenas where they did house shows in order to give the promotion a national look and feel. While the name Southeastern restricted the promotion to a more regional feel, the name Continental gave fans the impression they toured all over the country, except Alaska and Hawaii.

Continental Wrestling Federation (1988–1989)

In 1988, WCOV-TV owner David Woods bought the controlling interest in the promotion from Ron Fuller, and he renamed it Continental Wrestling Federation in a further attempt to compete with Vince McMahon and appear to resemble a nationwide promotion, even to the point of getting a national TV deal with Financial News Network.[citation needed] Episodes also aired every Monday at 1:30 a.m. ET on the Sunshine Network, a regional sports cable channel that served the Southeastern United States.[1] Their last TV episode aired on November 25, 1989. The promotion closed after their final show on December 6, 1989.

Legacy

Despite many huge angles over the years, this territory often has the status as "the lost promotion". Such obscurity was due to the lack of media coverage during the Gulf Coast and Southeastern years since both Lee Fields and Ron Fuller believed that their promotions should not be covered by wrestling magazines and often did not allow reporters in the locker room to interview the wrestlers. This was to prevent the exposure to kayfabe and preserve the illusion of wrestling as a sport in the area. However, Fuller relented with the changeover to Continental in order to get national exposure for the promotion from the magazines. Such exposure was at an all-time high during the Eddie Gilbert period.

Due to the expensive nature of archiving at television stations before the home video boom of the 1980s, much of the footage from the Gulf Coast era and the Knoxville portion of Southeastern no longer exists, despite a few bits of rare footage turning up here and there. However, almost all of the Dothan portion of Southeastern along with the majority of Continental footage still exists. They are still owned by David Woods and Woods Communications.

Alumni

Championships

GCCW (1954–1974)

SECW and CCW (1974–1988)

CWF (1988–1989)

See also

References

  1. ^ Marvez, Alex (October 15, 1989). "Big Daddy says it's fake; fans don't care". The Miami Herald. Miami, Florida. p. 677. Retrieved October 14, 2022.

External links

  • GCCWhistory.com
  • Continental Championship Wrestling at Online World of Wrestling
  • Kayfabe Memories - Regional territories: GCW
  • Kayfabe Memories - Regional territories: SECW
  • Kayfabe Memories - Regional territories: SECW Knoxville
  • Kayfabe Memories - Regional Territories: CCW/CWF
  • NWA SECW & CCW Title Histories
  • CWF Title Histories
  • Interview with Nightmare Ken Wayne about The Continental Years

February 18, 2023
continental, championship, wrestling, professional, wrestling, promotion, based, knoxville, tennessee, dothan, alabama, from, 1985, until, 1989, owned, fuller, promotion, evolved, affiliated, southeastern, championship, wrestling, gulf, coast, championship, wr. Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville Tennessee and Dothan Alabama from 1985 until 1989 owned by Ron Fuller The promotion evolved out of the NWA affiliated Southeastern Championship Wrestling and Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling territories owned by Fuller who purchased the Knoxville territory from John Cazana in 1974 and the Alabama Florida territory in 1977 When Fuller sold the promotion to David Woods in 1988 the name was changed to Continental Wrestling Federation Continental Championship WrestlingAcronymCCWFounded1954Defunct1989StyleProfessional wrestlingHeadquartersKnoxville Tennessee Dothan AlabamaFounder s Roy Welch and Buddy FullerOwner s Roy Welch and Buddy Fuller 1954 1959 Lee Fields 1960 1978 Ron Fuller Knoxville 1974 1980 1985 1988 David Woods 1988 1989 FormerlyGulf Coast Championship WrestlingSoutheastern Championship Wrestling Contents 1 History 1 1 The Gulf Coast years 1954 1974 1 2 The Southeastern years 1974 1985 1 3 The Continental years 1985 1989 1 3 1 Continental Championship Wrestling 1985 1988 1 3 2 Continental Wrestling Federation 1988 1989 2 Legacy 3 Alumni 4 Championships 4 1 GCCW 1954 1974 4 2 SECW and CCW 1974 1988 4 3 CWF 1988 1989 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksHistory EditThe Gulf Coast years 1954 1974 Edit Nashville promoter Roy Welch had purchased the Mobile Pensacola end of Leroy McGuirk s Tri State Wrestling Unlike McGuirk who only promoted in the Mobile Pensacola area on special occasions called spot shows Welch decided to make promoting in Mobile Pensacola a frequent attraction in the summer However due to his obligations in Nashville his son Buddy Fuller Edward Welch was made booker for Mobile Pensacola and Fuller eventually expanded the territory into Mississippi Louisiana as well At this point the territory didn t even have a name its own belts or even its own wrestlers aside from members of The Welch Family of course They often relied on wrestlers and champions from Buddy s and their Uncle Lester Welch s territory He ran in places like Tampa Florida and Atlanta Georgia which would eventually become Championship Wrestling from Florida and Georgia Championship Wrestling as well getting help from his father in Nashville Tennessee and some occasional help from his Uncles Herb and Jack These early attempts would start to unravel when Buddy Fuller failed to make payments to the territory from his father Roy Welch Buddy s cousin Lee Fields Albert Lee Hatfield would save the territory and gave it the name Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling Lee Fields would eventually buy the territory from Roy Welch and Buddy Fuller and run shows in the area for almost two decades with Rocky McGuire booking Dothan Panama City and Bob Kelly booking Mobile Pensacola and Mississippi after a falling out with promoters in Louisiana with Mobile Pensacola only running in the summer months Kelly turned the promotion around from holding monthly and seasonal shows in a few towns which only drew a few hundred people to holding weekly shows in a different town night after night with local television exposure in each market which led to each arena drawing thousands Bob Kelly left the wrestling business in 1976 to enter real estate and spend more time with family and Lee Fields found it more difficult to operate both his wrestling promotion and Mobile International Speedway at the same time So he sold it to his cousin Ron Fuller around 1977 1978 The Southeastern years 1974 1985 Edit In 1974 Ron Fuller purchased Southeastern Championship Wrestling based in Knoxville Tennessee from John Cazana where he focused mainly on the east Tennessee area In 1977 Ron Fuller took over the territory his grandfather and father had founded when GCCW folded and Fuller expanded the SECW to run in the Southern Alabama Northern Florida area in addition the Eastern Tennessee territory he already established This was initially labelled the Southern Division of the SECW treating them as two separate entities despite the original plan to run a talent exchange between the two involving talent spending sixteen months in one end of the territory and then spend eight months in another to regain momentum after losing steam in the previous one In June 1979 several members of the talent roster and behind the scenes personnel left SECW out frustration involving backstage politics with Ron s brother Robert Fuller who was considered lazy in terms of booking the territory and spent many nights partying and felt his spot in Southeastern was owed to him since he was a member of The Welch Fuller family Led by Bob Roop Ronnie Garvin Bob Orton Jr and Boris Malenko All Star Championship Wrestling fought a six month promotional war over the Knoxville territory Many of these defectors later joined the Kentucky based outlaw promotion International Championship Wrestling owned and operated by Angelo Poffo After this the Knoxville end of Southeastern experienced financial losses and sold to promotions such as Jim Crockett Promotions and Georgia Championship Wrestling for the next five years Fuller then made Birmingham his main end of the territory with the Dothan end continuing to flourish giving early exposure to future stars such as The Fabulous Freebirds rising stars in the territory along the lines of Austin Idol and appearances by Ric Flair who would defend the NWA World Heavyweight Title in the area each year The Continental years 1985 1989 Edit Continental Championship Wrestling 1985 1988 Edit Five years later Fuller decided that it was time to reach beyond the Southern Alabama Northern Florida area and re purchased the Knoxville end of the territory with this expansion came a name change to Continental Championship Wrestling After a failed negotiation with CBS he settled on moving the television show out of the small television studio and into the big arenas where they did house shows in order to give the promotion a national look and feel While the name Southeastern restricted the promotion to a more regional feel the name Continental gave fans the impression they toured all over the country except Alaska and Hawaii Continental Wrestling Federation 1988 1989 Edit In 1988 WCOV TV owner David Woods bought the controlling interest in the promotion from Ron Fuller and he renamed it Continental Wrestling Federation in a further attempt to compete with Vince McMahon and appear to resemble a nationwide promotion even to the point of getting a national TV deal with Financial News Network citation needed Episodes also aired every Monday at 1 30 a m ET on the Sunshine Network a regional sports cable channel that served the Southeastern United States 1 Their last TV episode aired on November 25 1989 The promotion closed after their final show on December 6 1989 Legacy EditThis section possibly contains original research Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations Statements consisting only of original research should be removed October 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Despite many huge angles over the years this territory often has the status as the lost promotion Such obscurity was due to the lack of media coverage during the Gulf Coast and Southeastern years since both Lee Fields and Ron Fuller believed that their promotions should not be covered by wrestling magazines and often did not allow reporters in the locker room to interview the wrestlers This was to prevent the exposure to kayfabe and preserve the illusion of wrestling as a sport in the area However Fuller relented with the changeover to Continental in order to get national exposure for the promotion from the magazines Such exposure was at an all time high during the Eddie Gilbert period Due to the expensive nature of archiving at television stations before the home video boom of the 1980s much of the footage from the Gulf Coast era and the Knoxville portion of Southeastern no longer exists despite a few bits of rare footage turning up here and there However almost all of the Dothan portion of Southeastern along with the majority of Continental footage still exists They are still owned by David Woods and Woods Communications Alumni EditJohnathan Holliday The Alaskan Hunters Andre the Giant Randy Rose Pat Rose Les Thatcher Lee Fields Dynamite Dick Dunn Ronnie Garvin Dick Slater Butch Malone Bob Armstrong Jos LeDuc Ron Fuller Robert Fuller Whitey Caldwell Jerry Mr Olympia Stubbs Kevin Sullivan Paul Orndorff Tony Charles Mongolian Stomper Ron Miller Ron Wright Boris Malenko Bob Orton Jr Toru Tanaka Mr Fuji Jim Dalton Bob Roop Brickhouse Brown Norvell Austin Sterling Golden Tom Prichard The Bullet Wildcat Wendell Cooley Brad Armstrong Scott Armstrong Steve Armstrong Tracy Smothers Tommy Rich Johnny Rich Tim Horner Larry Hamilton Bill Kazmaier Frankie Lancaster Jimmy Golden Dutch Mantell Nature Boy Buddy Landel Jody The Flame Hamilton Jerry Stubbs Adrian Street The Midnight Rockers Michaels Jannetty The New Guinea Headhunters Don Wright Davey Rich Miss Brenda Britton Miss Linda Dirty White Girl Moondog Spot The Storm Trooper Doug Furnas Dennis Condrey Phil Hickerson David Schultz Austin Idol Nightmare Danny Davis Willie B Hert Shane Douglas Rikki Nelson Mark Young Eddie Gilbert Tony Dirty White Boy Anthony Brian Lee Nightmare Ken Wayne Lord Humongous Alan Martin Moondog Rex The D I Bob Carter The Wild Samoans Sika amp Kokina Todd Morton Downtown Bruno manager Paul E Dangerously manager Missy Hyatt announcer Ricky Morton Gordon Solie announcer Charlie Platt announcer Robert Gibson Ed Faulk referee Rick Gibson Gorgeous George Jr Sir Dudley Clements Cowboy Bob Kelly Ken Lucas Lester Welch Bobby Fields Buddy Fuller Herb Welch Mike Boyette Billy Spears Carl Fergie Cowboy Bob Kelly Mario Galentto The Wrestling Pro Don Fargo Eduardo Perez Duke Miller The Mysterious Medic Curtis Smith Rotten Ron Starr Don Duffy The Interns Bill Bowman and Joe Turner Ron Carson Eddie Sullivan and Rip Tyler The Dirty Daltons Rick Conners Maw Bass Spider Galento Ken Ramey Dr Jerry Graham Ric Flair Jerry Lawler Michael Hayes Arn Anderson Superstar Bill Dundee Roy Lee Welch Tommy Lane Mike Davis Jamie Dundee Mr Wrestling II Nelson Royal Mr Knoxville Hector Guerrero Rip Rogers Terrance Garvin Chris Colt Shogun Warrior The Tennessee Stud Terry Gordy Jacques Rougeau Curtis Hughes Tommy Weathers Mac Mcurray Phil Rainey announcer Kerry Von Erich The Great Kabuki Porkchop Cash Bill Ash The Honky Tonk Man Mike Stallings Cowboy Ron Bass Jonathan Boyd Luke Williams Stan Lane The Von Brauners the Tennessee superstars Sheik Abdullah Ray Candy Masa Saito The gladiator Jim Dalton Mick Cactus Jack Foley The SuperstarChampionships EditGCCW 1954 1974 Edit NWA World Heavyweight Championship NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship NWA World Tag Team Championship NWA United States Tag Team Championship Gulf Coast version 1965 1974 NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship NWA Southern Tag Team Championship Gulf Coast Version 1955 1967 NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship 1967 1977 NWA Gulf Coast 6 Man Tag Team Championship 1975 NWA Gulf Coast Brass Knuckles Championship 1971 NWA Gulf Coast Martial Arts Championship 1975 NWA Southeast Alabama Heavyweight Championship 1962 1974 NWA Alabama Tag Team Championship 1970 1977 NWA Louisiana Heavyweight Championship 1964 1968 NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Championship 1958 1976 NWA Mississippi Tag Team Championship 1968 1973 NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship 1967 1977 NWA City of Dothan Heavyweight Championship 1973 1977 NWA City of Laurel Tag Team Championship 1969 1971 NWA City of Mobile Heavyweight Championship 1969 1975 NWA City of Pensacola Heavyweight Championship 1970 1975 NWA Panama City Heavyweight Championship 1970 1975 SECW and CCW 1974 1988 Edit NWA World Heavyweight Championship 1987 AWA World Heavyweight Championship 1987 1988 NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship 1987 NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship Southern Division 1978 1980 NWA Continental Heavyweight Championship 1984 1987 NWA Continental Tag Team Championship 1986 1988 NWA Southeastern Television Championship NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship NWA Continental Tag Team Championship NWA Southern Tag Team Championship Southern Division 1978 1980 NWA Southeastern Brass Knuckles Championship 1983 NWA United States Junior Heavyweight Championship 1976 1989 NWA Alabama Heavyweight Championship 1974 1988 NWA Southeastern Tennessee Heavyweight Championship 1987 1988 NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship 1967 1977 NWA Southeastern 6 Man Tag Team ChampionshipCWF 1988 1989 Edit AWA World Heavyweight Championship CWF Heavyweight Championship CWF Tag Team Championship United States Junior Heavyweight ChampionshipSee also EditList of National Wrestling Alliance territories List of independent wrestling promotions in the United StatesReferences Edit Marvez Alex October 15 1989 Big Daddy says it s fake fans don t care The Miami Herald Miami Florida p 677 Retrieved October 14 2022 External links EditGCCWhistory com Continental Championship Wrestling at Online World of Wrestling Kayfabe Memories Regional territories GCW Kayfabe Memories Regional territories SECW Kayfabe Memories Regional territories SECW Knoxville Kayfabe Memories Regional Territories CCW CWF NWA SECW amp CCW Title Histories CWF Title Histories The Gulf Coast Years info esp pertaining to The Gulf Coast Heavyweight Title Interview with Cowboy Bob Kelly which provides more info on The Gulf Coast Years Interview with Nightmare Ken Wayne about The Continental Years Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Continental Championship Wrestling amp oldid 1115964249, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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