The history of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) is concerned with the 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. The name came from a wrestling television program that aired on TBS in the 1980s, which in turn had taken the name from a previous Australian wrestling promotion of the 1970s.
In the 1990s, World Championship Wrestling, along with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), was considered one of the top two wrestling promotions in the United States. Its flagship show WCW Monday Nitro went head-to-head with WWF Raw in a ratings battle known as the Monday Night Wars. However, questionable booking decisions, the increasing popularity of the WWF's Attitude Era, interference and restrictions from Time Warner and lackluster angles eventually led to its decline and eventual acquisition by its main competition: Vince McMahon and the WWF.
Read more about History Of World Championship Wrestling: NWA Years, WCW Under Ted Turner, Eric Bischoff Era, Signs of A Decline, Acquisition By The World Wrestling Federation and Aftermath
Famous quotes containing the words history of, history, world and/or wrestling:
“When the history of this period is written, [William Jennings] Bryan will stand out as one of the most remarkable men of his generation and one of the biggest political men of our country.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“Three million of such stones would be needed before the work was done. Three million stones of an average weight of 5,000 pounds, every stone cut precisely to fit into its destined place in the great pyramid. From the quarries they pulled the stones across the desert to the banks of the Nile. Never in the history of the world had so great a task been performed. Their faith gave them strength, and their joy gave them song.”
—William Faulkner (1897–1962)
“The world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“There are people who think that wrestling is an ignoble sport. Wrestling is not sport, it is a spectacle, and it is no more ignoble to attend a wrestled performance of suffering than a performance of the sorrows of Arnolphe or Andromaque.”
—Roland Barthes (1915–1980)