 | |
| Acronym | SWCW |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1978 |
| Style | American Wrestling |
| Headquarters | San Antonio, Texas |
| Founder | Joe Blanchard |
| Owner | Joe Blanchard |
Southwest Championship Wrestling (SCW) was aprofessional wrestling promotion that was owned byJoe Blanchard and based[1] inSan Antonio, Texas, from 1978 to 1985, when it was purchased by Texas All-Star Wrestling and absorbed into that company.
Its television matches were usually taped at The Junction, a small boxing venue in San Antonio, although occasional matches from cards at San Antonio'sHemisFair Arena were also seen.
Starting on December 5, 1982,Southwest Championship Wrestling became the first weekly wrestling program on theUSA Cable Network, airing Sundays at 11:00 a.m.Eastern Time. As a result of the new national exposure, SWCW staged a one-night tournament inHouston, Texas, to determine an "Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion."Adrian Adonis was the winner of this tournament, and as a result he was presented with the oldest existing championship belt byLou Thesz as well as a brand new belt. The 75-year old belt is now on display at theGeorge Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame inWaterloo, Iowa
However, because of a particularly bloody match betweenTully Blanchard and "Bruiser"Bob Sweetan (which USA refused to air), the inability of the promotion to keep paying USA the$7,000 per week to keep the time slot, and a monetary offer made to the cable channel byWWF ownerVince McMahon to replaceSouthwest Championship Wrestling with his own programming,[2] In addition,Barry Diller, who as head ofParamount Pictures was also at the time the main shareholder in the USA Network, had by August 1983 secured a deal to make the USA Network a source forMadison Square Garden Network programming and wanted to focus more on having the network being tied to sporting organizations which could air events in New York City'sMadison Square Garden.[3] USA canceled the program (in spite of the highratings the show was garnering for the network) and turned the time slot over toWWF All American Wrestling. Adonis' "undisputed championship" simply faded from SCW storylines within a few months and was abandoned in September 1983, and in April 1985, the promotion was sold to Texas All-Star Wrestling.
Southwest Championship Wrestling had many working alliances with other wrestling promotions such as theAmerican Wrestling Association when its world championNick Bockwinkel defended his title at SWC cards. Southwest Championship Wrestling also had talent exchange deals withWorld Class Championship Wrestling inDallas and theWorld Wrestling Council inPuerto Rico.
In 2010, JADAT Sports Inc. bought all the footage of SCW and Texas All Star from Ronnie Martinez. They have released a DVD "Best of the 80s Volume I", which contains mostly SCW footage.[4] The Southwest Championship Wrestling tape library is one of the few classic wrestling tape libraries not owned byWorld Wrestling Entertainment. in 2021 JADAT Sports Inc. appointed Stream Go Media LLC as the exclusive distribution agents for both SCW and Texas All-Star Wrestling. Footage from both SCW and Texas All-Star Wrestling both appear on the streaming service "Wrestling Legends Network" built and operated by Stream Go Media, LLC launched on May 25, 2021, on the Roku platform and on www.WrestlingLegendsNetwork.tv.
For most of the promotion's existence, the World Heavyweight Champion of theAmerican Wrestling Association was recognized as SCW's top champion as well.
| Title | Final champion(s) |
| SCW Southwest Brass Knuckles Championship | Tony Atlas (abandoned in 1983) |
| SCW Southwest Heavyweight Championship | Kevin Sullivan |
| SCW Southwest Junior Heavyweight Championship | Ron Sexton |
| SCW Southwest Tag Team Championship | The Maoris (title renamed & continued in Texas All-Star) |
| SCW World Heavyweight Championship | Scott Casey (abandoned in 1983) |
| SCW World Tag Team Championship | The Sheepherders (abandoned in 1984) |
