Continental Championship Wrestling

Professional wrestling promotion, active 1954–1990

Continental Championship Wrestling

Acronym| CCW
Founded| 1954
Defunct| 1989
Style| Professional wrestling
Headquarters| Knoxville, 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)
Formerly| Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling
Southeastern Championship Wrestling

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.

## History

[edit]

### The 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 over frustrations 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

[edit]

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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

[edit]

* Johnathan Holliday
* The Alaskan Hunters
* André 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
* 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 & 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 (wrestler)
* 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 Superstar

## Championships

[edit]

### GCCW (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 Southeastern 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 Championship

### CWF (1988–1989)

[edit]

* AWA World Heavyweight Championship
* CWF Heavyweight Championship
* CWF Tag Team Championship
* United States Junior Heavyweight Championship

## See also

[edit]

* List of National Wrestling Alliance territories
* List of independent wrestling promotions in the United States

## References

[edit]

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

[edit]

* 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
* 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

* v
* t
* e

Gulf Coast / Southeastern Championship / Continental Championship / Continental Wrestling Federation championships

GCCW|

* NWA World Heavyweight Championship
* NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship
* NWA World Tag Team Championship
* NWA United States Tag Team Championship
* NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship
* NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship
* NWA Southern Tag Team Championship
* NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship
* NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship
* NWA Southeast Alabama Heavyweight Championship
* NWA Louisiana Heavyweight Championship
* NWA Mississippi Heavyweight Championship
* NWA Mississippi Tag Team Championship
* NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship

SCW
CCW|

* NWA World Heavyweight Championship
* AWA World Heavyweight Championship
* NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship
* NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship
* NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship
* NWA Southeastern Continental Heavyweight Championship
* NWA Southeastern Television Championship
* NWA Southeastern Tag Team Championship
* NWA Southeastern Continental Tag Team Championship
* NWA Southern Tag Team Championship
* NWA Southeastern United States Junior Heavyweight Championship
* NWA Southeastern Alabama Heavyweight Championship
* NWA Southeastern Tennessee Heavyweight Championship
* NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship

CWF|

* AWA World Heavyweight Championship
* CWF Heavyweight Championship
* CWF Tag Team Championship
* United States Junior Heavyweight Championship

* v
* t
* e

National Wrestling Alliance

Championships|

| World|

* World's Heavyweight (reigns)
* World Television (reigns)
* World Tag Team (reigns)
* World Junior Heavyweight (reigns)

|

National|

* National Heavyweight (reigns)
* Mid-America Heavyweight (reigns)
* United States Tag Team (reigns)

Women's|

* Women's (reigns)
* Women's Television (reigns)
* Women's Tag Team (reigns)

Programming|

| Current|

* Powerrr

|

Former|

* Primetime Live
* Shockwave
* USA

Pay-per-view and major events|

| Current Signature Live Events|

* Anniversary Show
* Crockett Cup
* Hard Times
* Samhain

|

Pop-Up Events|

* New Years Clash
* By Any Means Necessary
* PowerrrTrip
* 1
* 2
* The World is a Vampire: NWA vs. AAA

Historical events|

* 312
* Alwayz Ready
* Back for the Attack
* Back to the Territories
* Break the Barrier
* EmPowerrr
* Into the Fire
* Looks That Kill
* Nuff Said
* Paranoia
* Shockwave
* Superbowl of Wrestling
* When Our Shadows Fall
* World Wrestling Peace Festival
* Wrestling Summit
* Pay-per-view and closed circuit events (1983–1990)
* Pay-per-view events (2002–2004)

Home bases|

* GPB Studios

Notable acquisitions|

* Houston Wrestling (video library)

Partnerships|

* All Japan Pro Wrestling
* Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
* Ohio Valley Wrestling
* WWE

Current territories|

* NWA Chicago
* NWA Exodus Pro Midwest
* NWA JCP Southeast
* NWA Kross Fire
* NWA New Mexico
* NWA Texas
* NWA World League Wrestling

Former partners|

* All Elite Wrestling
* Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
* Global Force Wrestling
* Pro Wrestling USA
* American Wrestling Association
* National Wrestling Federation
* New Japan Pro-Wrestling
* Ring of Honor
* Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
* United Wrestling Network
* Championship Wrestling from Hollywood
* Combat Zone Wrestling
* World Championship Wrestling

Related|

* All In
* Attendance records
* Billy Corgan
* Current champions
* Former territories
* Hall of Fame
* Hall of Heroes
* NWA All Access
* NWA (stable)
* Pinkie George
* Sam Muchnick
* Wrestling at the Chase

* v
* t
* e

Professional wrestling in the United States

Active promotions

| National promotions|

* All Elite Wrestling
* Major League Wrestling
* National Wrestling Alliance
* Ring of Honor
* Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
* WWE

Women's:|

* Women of Wrestling

Independent promotions|

* AAW Wrestling
* All Pro Wrestling
* Beyond Wrestling
* Championship Wrestling
* Chaotic Wrestling
* Combat Zone Wrestling
* Coastal Championship Wrestling
* Deadlock Pro-Wrestling
* DEFY Wrestling
* East Coast Wrestling Association
* Empire Wrestling Federation
* Exodus Pro Wrestling
* Full Impact Pro
* Game Changer Wrestling
* Hoodslam
* House of Glory
* Independent Wrestling Federation
* Innovate Pro Wrestling
* Juggalo Championship Wrestling
* Kaiju Big Battel
* Keystone State Wrestling Alliance
* Main Event Championship Wrestling
* MCW Pro Wrestling
* Northeast Wrestling
* Ohio Valley Wrestling
* PCW Ultra
* Pro Wrestling Guerrilla
* Premiere Wrestling Xperience
* Reality of Wrestling
* Southern States Wrestling
* Ultra Championship Wrestling-Zero
* Warrior Wrestling
* World League Wrestling
* World Xtreme Wrestling
* Xtreme Pro Wrestling

Women's:|

* Shine Wrestling
* Sukeban
* Women Superstars United
* Women's Wrestling Army

Puerto Rican promotions|

* IWA Puerto Rico
* La Liga Wrestling
* World Wrestling Council

Governing bodies and interpromotional alliances|

* United Wrestling Network
* WWNLive

Notable TV programs|

* AEW Collision
* AEW Dynamite
* TNA Impact!
* WWE NXT
* WWE Raw
* WWE SmackDown

Notable streaming programs|

* NWA Powerrr
* Ring of Honor Wrestling
* TNA Xplosion
* WWE Evolve
* WWE Main Event
* WWE Speed

Defunct promotions

| National promotions|

* American Wrestling Association
* Extreme Championship Wrestling
* Jim Crockett Promotions
* Lucha Underground
* Universal Wrestling Federation (Bill Watts)
* Universal Wrestling Federation (Herb Abrams)
* World Championship Wrestling
* World Class Championship Wrestling

|

Independent promotions and regional territories|

* 50th State Big Time Wrestling
* American Wrestling Federation
* Assault Championship Wrestling
* Big Time Wrestling (Boston)
* Big Time Wrestling (Detroit)
* Big Time Wrestling (San Francisco)
* Capitol Wrestling Corporation
* Century Wrestling Alliance
* Championship Wrestling from Florida
* Chikara
* Continental Championship Wrestling
* Continental Wrestling Association
* CWF Mid-Atlantic
* Deep South Wrestling
* Dragon Gate USA
* Extreme Rising
* Evolve
* Family Wrestling Entertainment
* Florida Championship Wrestling
* Fred Kohler Enterprises
* Front Row Wrestling
* Future of Wrestling
* Georgia Championship Wrestling
* Global Force Wrestling
* Global Wrestling Federation
* Hardcore Homecoming
* Heart of America Sports Attractions
* Heartland Wrestling Association
* House of Hardcore
* Houston Wrestling
* Incredibly Strange Wrestling
* Independent Professional Wrestling Alliance
* International Championship Wrestling
* International World Class Championship Wrestling
* IWA Mid-South
* IWF Promotions
* Jersey All Pro Wrestling
* Mason-Dixon Wrestling
* Memphis Wrestling
* Memphis Championship Wrestling
* Metro Pro Wrestling
* Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation
* Millennium Wrestling Federation
* National Wrestling Conference
* National Wrestling Federation
* New England Championship Wrestling
* NOVA Pro Wrestling
* NWA Mid-America
* NWA San Francisco
* NWA Wildside
* OMEGA Championship Wrestling
* Pacific Northwest Wrestling
* Phoenix Championship Wrestling
* Pro-Pain Pro Wrestling
* Pro Wrestling America
* Resistance Pro Wrestling
* Ring Warriors
* Smoky Mountain Wrestling
* South Atlantic Pro Wrestling
* Southern Championship Wrestling (Georgia)
* Southwest Championship Wrestling
* St. Louis Wrestling Club
* Steel City Wrestling
* Texas All-Star Wrestling
* Texas Wrestling Academy
* Top Rope Promotions
* Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling
* Ultimate Pro Wrestling
* United States Wrestling Association
* Warriors 4 Christ Wrestling
* West Coast Wrestling Connection
* Western States Sports
* Windy City Pro Wrestling
* World Wide Wrestling Alliance
* World Wrestling Alliance
* World Wrestling Association
* Worldwide Wrestling Associates
* World Wrestling Network
* Xcitement Wrestling Federation

Women's:|

* ChickFight
* Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling
* Ladies Major League Wrestling
* Ladies Professional Wrestling Association
* Naked Women's Wrestling League
* Professional Girl Wrestling Association
* Powerful Women of Wrestling
* Rise Wrestling
* Shimmer Women Athletes
* World Women's Wrestling
* Wrestlicious

Governing bodies and interpromotional alliances|

* American Wrestling Affiliates
* Global Professional Wrestling Alliance
* National Wrestling Association
* Pro Wrestling USA
* Wrestling Superstars Live

Notable programs|

* AEW Dark
* AEW Dark: Elevation
* AEW Rampage
* AWA All-Star Wrestling
* AWA Championship Wrestling
* Before the Impact
* ECW Hardcore TV
* ECW on TNN
* ECW on Syfy
* Lucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors
* Lucha Underground
* MLW Fusion
* MLW Underground Wrestling
* NWA USA
* Superstars of Wrestling
* UWF Fury Hour
* WCW Monday Nitro
* WCW Thunder
* WCW Saturday Night
* WCW WorldWide
* Wrestling at the Chase
* Wrestling Society X
* WWE 205 Live
* WWE Heat
* WWE NXT Level Up
* WWE NXT UK
* WWE Superstars
* WWE Velocity

* Attendance records
* Hall of Fame
* History

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