 | |
| Acronym | ICW |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1978 |
| Defunct | 1984 |
| Style | American Wrestling |
| Headquarters | Lexington, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Founder | Angelo Poffo |
| Owner(s) | Angelo Poffo (1978–1984) World Wrestling Entertainment (2023–present) |
| Parent | WWE Libraries (WWE) (2023–present) |
International Championship Wrestling was an independentprofessional wrestling promotion based inLexington, Kentucky, which operated from 1978 until 1984. It was run byAngelo Poffo, the father ofRandy Savage and"The Genius" Lanny Poffo.[1] Throughout its history, ICW was considered an "outlaw" promotion, as it was not a member of theNational Wrestling Alliance and promoted shows in direct competition againstNWA regional territories.[2] The rights to the ICW library are currently owned byWWE.
The promotion was founded in 1978 as a rival toRon Fuller'sSoutheastern Championship Wrestling andNick Gulas's NWA Mid-American territory, extending intoVerne Gagne'sAmerican Wrestling Association andDick Afflis'World Wrestling Association territories by 1981. Later on they'd come in direct competition withJerry Lawler andJerry Jarrett'sContinental Wrestling Association[1] as well, operating in their territories and even managed to get several wrestlers to leave Southeastern and the CWA to join ICW.[3] This, among other issues, would result in a series of lawsuits between Poffo and NWA-affiliated organizations during the late 1970s and early 80s.[4][self-published source]
The main stars of ICW were Poffo's sonsRandy (better known as "Macho Man" Randy Savage) andLanny (better known as "Leaping" Lanny Poffo) who frequently traded the promotion's heavyweight title between each other;[5] in fact only two other men (Ronnie Garvin and Paul Christy) held theICW Heavyweight Championship in the 6 years the title existed. While Randy and Lanny were the focus of the federation, it did feature many other stars such as The Original Sheik (Ed Farhat),Ronnie Garvin,Crusher Broomfield (later known as One Man Gang and Akeem),Bob Orton Jr.,Bob Roop,Rip Rogers,"Pistol" Pez Whatley,Ox Baker,George Weingeroff, and theDevil's Duo (Jeff Sword and Doug Vines) with their managerIzzy Slapawitz.
Elizabeth Hulette, who would later gain fame in theWWF andWCW asMiss Elizabeth, got her start in professional wrestling as an on-camera host (using the name "Liz Hulette", as she was known to her friends while growing up) of ICW's weekly TV show where she also started her romance with Randy Savage. They were later married.
In 1984 the promotion closed down due to dwindling attendance and its assets were bought by Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler. Due to the fans' knowledge of the extremely bitter rivalry between ICW and CWA, Randy Savage was able to migrate to the CWA and begin a memorable feud with Jerry Lawler that established Randy Savage as a world-class superstar.[1]
In 2023, it was reported thatWWE had purchased the ICW video library.[6]
Paul Christy, the wrestler who had ended Randy Savage's final reign as ICW World Champion, started a new ICW when Poffo's promotion folded. He ran the promotion for a few years with little publicity or success before closing it down in the late 1980s.
Another promotion calledInternational Championship Wrestling operated out of Boston in the late 1980s, promoted byAngelo and Mario Savoldi, and Mario's sonJoe Savoldi. After forming a working agreement withWorld Class Championship Wrestling, the Boston-based ICW was renamedInternational World Class Championship Wrestling (IWCCW). It included such stars as: The Russian Brute,Tom Brandi, Mike Kahula,Tony Rumble, andNikolai Volkoff.
International Championship Wrestling (ICW) is also a lesser known promotion based inCloverdale, BC. Past wrestlers includeBuddy Wayne andChico Alvarez.[7][8]
International Championship Wrestling held a variety of professional wrestling tournaments between 1980 and 1982 that were competed for by wrestlers that were a part of their roster.
TheICW Television Championship Tournament was a single-elimination tournament to crown the first-everICW Television Champion. It was held in the fall, with the finals occurring on September 9, 1980.[9]
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||
| 1 | Bob Roop | ||||||||
| 4 | The Best | ||||||||
| Bob Roop | |||||||||
| Randy Savage | |||||||||
| 3 | Randy Savage | ||||||||
| 2 | Pez Whatley | ||||||||
TheICW U.S. Tag Team Championship Tournament was a one-night tag team tournament held inJohnson City, Tennessee on January 5, 1982, for the vacantICW United States Tag Team Championship.[10][11]
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Rip Rogers andPez Whatley | ||||||||||||||
| Apache Lou and Bill Martin | ||||||||||||||
| Rip Rogers and Pez Whatley | ||||||||||||||
| Crusher Broomfield and Rick Star | ||||||||||||||
| Gary Royal and Plowboy Pete | ||||||||||||||
| Crusher Broomfield and Rick Star | ||||||||||||||
| Rip Rogers and Pez Whatley | ||||||||||||||
| Lanny Poffo and Hoot Gibson | ||||||||||||||
| The Great Tio and Tony Peters | ||||||||||||||
| Ronnie Garvin and Chief Tapu | ||||||||||||||
| The Great Tio and Tony Peters | ||||||||||||||
| Lanny Poffo and Hoot Gibson | ||||||||||||||
| BYE | ||||||||||||||
| BYE | ||||||||||||||
| Championship: | Last Champion(s): | Active From: | Active Till: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ICW World Heavyweight Championship | Paul Christy | May 10, 1978 | 1984 | [12] |
| ICW United States Tag Team Championship | Bart Batten and Johnny Wilhoit | June 14, 1978 | 1984 | [12] |
| ICW United States Heavyweight Championship | Paul Christy | 1981 | 1984 | [12] |
| ICW Television Championship | The Great Tio | September 9, 1980 | 1983 | [12] |
| ICW Southeastern Heavyweight Championship | Lanny Poffo | May 26, 1979 | 1984 | [12] |
| ICW Southeastern Tag Team Championship | Bob Roop and Big Boy Williams | July 1979 | August 1980 | [12] |
