Memphis Championship Wrestling
| Memphis Championship Wrestling logo | |
| Acronym | MCW |
|---|---|
| Founded | 20 February, 2000 |
| Headquarters | Memphis, Tennessee |
| Owner(s) | Terry Golden |
Memphis Championship Wrestling (MCW) was a professional wrestling promotion ran by Terry Golden, based in Memphis, Tennessee. The promotions first event was on 20 February, 2000, active up until mid-2001. It was also a World Wrestling Federation (WWF) developmental territory. As such, the roster was made up primarily with their up-and-coming wrestlers or WWF ones coming back from injury.
Memphis Championship Wrestling's television show Unleashed! aired on local UPN affiliate WLMT every Saturday morning at 11:00 am and early Sunday morning at 1:30 am. The show was hosted by Lance Russell and David Jett, with Kevin Kelly also later hosting.
Downfall
During June, 2001, it emerged that World Wrestling Federation had dropped Memphis Championship Wrestling as their developmental territory. Several of the wrestlers - American Dragon, Christian York, Joey Abs, Joey Matthews, Rodrageous, Shooter Schultz and Spanky - had also been dropped from their WWF contracts.
With the remaining WWF developmental talent - Steve Bradley, Victoria, Lance Cade, The Island Boyz (Ekmo & Kimo), and the Haas Brothers (Charlie & Russ) - now being reassigned from Memphis, to Heartland Wrestling Association, in Cincinnati, Ohio - it left the promotion with little or no wrestling talent left for the business to run.
The subsequent MCW television show was made up of candid interviews with many of the departing talents. Soon, these television shows would be made up of old replays and over the coming months it was eventually dropped by the television station.
Elsewhere
Another promotion called simply Memphis Wrestling opened in 2003. It airs on the same television station, and the same regional title belts are also up for grabs. Unlike MCW, the promotion is not currently a WWE developmental territory but does have good relations with them as several contracted WWE wrestlers have appeared on their arena shows.
Championships
- MCW Southern Heavyweight Championship
- MCW Southern Tag Team Championship
- MCW Television Championship
- MCW Hardcore Championship
- MCW Light Heavyweight Championship
Wrestlers that appeared in MCW
- American Dragon
- Bill Dundee
- Bobcat
- Brian Christopher
- Charlie Haas
- Chris Benoit
- Christian York
- Crash Holly
- Curtis Hughes
- Dawn Marie
- Derrick King
- Downtown Bruno
- Dudley Boyz
- Ekmo
- Ivory
- Jasmin St. Claire
- Jason Sensation
- Jerry Lawler
- Jerry Lynn
- Jim Neidhart
- Joey Abs
- Joey Matthews
- Just Joe
- K-Krush
- Kimo
- Kurt Angle
- Lance Cade
- Lord Humungous
- Molly Holly
- Pete Gas
- Raven
- Reggie B Fine
- Road Dogg
- Rodney
- Russ Haas
- Seven
- Sinn
- Shooter Schultz
- Simon Diamond
- Spanky
- Spellbinder
- Spike Dudley
- Steve Bradley
- Steven Richards
- The Acolytes
- The Blue Meanie
- The Dupps
- The Godfather
- The Kat
- Triple H
- Victoria
- William Regal