 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Professional wrestling |
| Founded | June 26, 2007 |
| Founder | Steve Keirn |
| Defunct | August 14, 2012 |
| Fate | Relaunched intoNXT |
| Successor | NXT |
| Headquarters | Tampa, Florida, U.S. |
| Owner | Steve Keirn |
Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) was aprofessional wrestlingpromotion based on the formerNational Wrestling Alliance member promotion,Championship Wrestling from Florida, which operated from 1961 until 1987.[1] From October 2007[2][3] to August 2012,[4] the promotion served as the officialdevelopmental territory forWWE. In August 2012, WWE re-branded Florida Championship Wrestling intoNXT for their developmental territory, with storylines and championships being discontinued.[5]
In March 2020 a documentary was released onWWE Network titledA Future WWE: The FCW Story, about the professional wrestlers that came up through the FCW system.[6]
The promotion was started bySteve Keirn in 2007[7] and became WWE's second developmental territory when they ended their relationship with the Georgia-basedDeep South Wrestling in April 2007.[8] It became their sole developmental territory in early 2008 when they ceased affiliation withOhio Valley Wrestling.[3]
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FCW's debut show was on June 26, 2007 at Tampa, Florida's Dallas Bull. A 21-manBattle Royal was held during the show, to crown the first everFCW Southern Heavyweight Champion.[9] The next year, theFlorida Heavyweight Championship was introduced,[10] withJake Hager becoming the first champion at a February 15 show after surviving a Battle Royal and defeatingTed DiBiase, Jr.[11] TheFlorida Tag Team Championship was also introduced in February, with the Puerto Rican Nightmares (Eddie Colón andEric Pérez) beatingSteven Lewington andHeath Miller to win it in the finals of a one nighttournament.[12] The singles titles were laterunified, keeping the "Florida Heavyweight" name and championship.[13]
On July 7, 2008, WWE confirmed that FCW was based on the original independentChampionship Wrestling from Florida promotion, which operated from 1961 until 1987.[1] The program's ending consisted of various clips from the ending of CWF's programs, featuringGordon Solie's classic sign-off line "So long from the Sunshine State", accompanied by Solie winking one of his eyes and waving two fingers upward.
On July 17, 2008, the FCW Arena was officially opened,[14] and included a taping of the debut episode ofFCW TV.[15]
On March 20, 2012, it was reported that WWE would cease operation at Florida Championship Wrestling; this claim was initially refuted by both Steve Keirn and WWE executivePaul "Triple H" Levesque, though Levesque noted WWE's developmental system would be "revamped".[16][17]
Five months later, WWE dropped the FCW name, desactivated the titles, and began running all of its developmental events and operations under the "NXT" banner. WWE had been using theNXT name for a television program featuring rookies from FCW competing to become WWE main roster wrestlers, though thereality television aspects of the show had been dropped earlier in 2012. A revampedWWE NXT thereafter served as the primary television program for the new developmental brand.[5]
| FCW | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | Notes | ||||
| FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship | Contested for in their heavyweight division | ||||
| FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship | Retired after beingunified with theFCW Florida Heavyweight Championship | ||||
| FCW Jack Brisco 15 Championship | Contested in 15-minuteIron Man matches | ||||
| FCW Florida Tag Team Championship | Contested for in thetag team division | ||||
| FCW Divas Championship | Contested for in thewomen's division | ||||
| Queen of FCW | Acrown was held by the title holder, rather than achampionship belt that is primarily used in professional wrestling. | ||||
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The following is a list of notable FCW alumni that were called to the main roster of WWE.
| Ring name | Real name |
|---|---|
| AJ Lee | April Mendez[18] |
| Aksana | Živilė Raudonienė[19] |
| Alberto Del Rio | José Rodríguez[20] |
| Alex Riley | Kevin Kiley Jr.[21] |
| Alicia Fox | Victoria Crawford[22] |
| Brad Maddox | Tyler Kluttz[23] |
| Bray Wyatt | Windham Rotunda[24] |
| Brie Bella | Brianna Danielson[25] |
| Brodus Clay | George Murdoch[26] |
| Big E | Ettore Ewen[27] |
| Cameron | Ariane Andrew[28] |
| Cesaro | Claudio Castagnoli[29] |
| Curt Hawkins | Brian Myers[30] |
| Curtis Axel | Joseph Hennig[31] |
| Damien Sandow | Aron Haddad[32] |
| Daniel Bryan | Bryan Danielson[33] |
| Darren Young | Frederick Rosser III[34] |
| David Otunga | David Otunga Sr.[35] |
| Dean Ambrose | Jonathan Good[36] |
| Dolph Ziggler | Nicholas Nemeth[37] |
| Drew McIntyre | Andrew Galloway[38] |
| Epico | Orlando Colón[39] |
| Evan Bourne | Matthew Korklan[40] |
| Ezekiel Jackson | Rycklon Stephens[41] |
| Fandango | Curtis Hussey[42] |
| Heath Slater | Heath Miller[43] |
| Jack Swagger | Donald Hager Jr.[44] |
| Jason Jordan | Nathan Everhart |
| Jey Uso | Joshua Fatu[45] |
| Jimmy Uso | Jonathan Fatu[46] |
| Jinder Mahal | Yuvraj Dhesi[47] |
| Justin Gabriel | Paul Lloyd Jr.[48] |
| Kaitlyn | Celeste Bonin[49] |
| Kofi Kingston | Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah[50] |
| Maryse | Maryse Ouellet |
| Michael Tarver | Tyrone Evans |
| Naomi | Trinity Fatu[51] |
| Natalya | Natalie Neidhart[52] |
| Nikki Bella | Stephanie Garcia-Colace[53] |
| Paige | Saraya-Jade Bevis[54] |
| Primo Colón | Edwin Colón[55] |
| Ricardo Rodriguez | Jesús Rodríguez[56] |
| Richie Steamboat | Richard Blood Jr.[57] |
| Roman Reigns | Leati Anoaʻi[58] |
| Rosa Mendes | Milena Roucka[59] |
| Rusev | Miroslav Barnyashev |
| Ryback | Ryback Reeves[60] |
| Serena Deeb | Serena Deeb |
| Seth Rollins | Colby Lopez[61] |
| Sin Cara | Jorge Arias[62] |
| Sheamus | Stephen Farrelly[63] |
| Summer Rae | Danielle Moinet |
| Tamina Snuka | Sarona Snuka-Polamalu[64] |
| Ted DiBiase Jr. | Theodore DiBiase Jr.[65] |
| Titus O'Neil | Thaddeus Bullard Sr.[66] |
| Tiffany | Taryn Terrell |
| Tonga Loa | Tevita Fifita[67] |
| Tyler Reks | Gabbi Tuft[68] |
| Tyler Breeze | Mattias Clement |
| Tyson Kidd | Theodore Wilson[69] |
| Wade Barrett | Stuart Bennett[70] |
| Yoshi Tatsu | Naofumi Yamamoto[71] |
From the birth of the promotion in the 1960s, until 1987, "Florida Championship Wrestling" was regarded as one of the premier wrestling territories in the country...Florida Championship Wrestling is now an official developmental territory of World Wrestling Entertainment. FCW and the WWE are proud to bring back Florida Championship Wrestling.
