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History of World Championship Wrestling
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World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that existed from 1988 to 2001. It began as a promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) that appeared on the national scene under the ownership of media mogul Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to the launch of WCW as a separate promotion, the "World Championship Wrestling" name was used for a television program produced by NWA promotions Georgia Championship Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions on TBS; the name came from an Australian wrestling promotion of the 1970s.
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Acronym | WCW |
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Founded | October 11, 1988 (as WCW) |
Defunct | March 23–26, 2001 (WCW assets sold to the World Wrestling Federation) December 16, 2017 (Universal Wrestling Corporation merged into Turner Broadcasting System) |
Style | Professional wrestling Rasslin' Sports entertainment |
Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia |
Founder(s) | Ted Turner |
Parent | Universal Wrestling Corporation: Turner Broadcasting System (1988–1996) Time Warner (1996–2017, as a legal entity) WCW, Inc.: WWE (WWE Libraries) (2001–present) |
Predecessor | Georgia Championship Wrestling Jim Crockett Promotions |
Website | WCW on WWE.com |
In the 1990s, WCW, along with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; now known as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)), were the top two wrestling promotions in the United States. Its flagship show WCW Monday Nitro went head-to-head with WWF Raw is War in a ratings battle known as the Monday Night Wars. However, poorly-received storylines, the increasing popularity of the WWF's Attitude Era, and restrictions from Time Warner eventually led to WCW's decline and eventual acquisition of key assets by its main competition, Vince McMahon and the WWF.