Central States Wrestling
| Acronym | CSW |
|---|---|
| Founded | July 1948 |
| Defunct | 1988 |
| Style | American Wrestling |
| Headquarters | Kansas City, Missouri |
| Founder(s) | Orville Brown |
| Owner(s) |
Orville Brown (1948–63) Bob Geigel (1963–86, 1987–89) Jim Crockett, Jr. (1986–87) |
| Parent | National Wrestling Alliance |
| Sister | St. Louis Wrestling Club |
| Formerly | Central States Wrestling |
Heart of America Sports Attractions, also known as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa. Due to the promotion’s main office and base of operations being in Kansas City, Missouri the territory was often referred to simply as “Kansas City”. The promotion existed from July 1948 until it closed in 1988. The territory was one of the original territories of the National Wrestling Alliance with two of the 6 “founding fathers” of the NWA (Paul "Pinkie" George and Orville Brown) promoting in it.
Originally known as the Midwest Wrestling Association before the formation of the National Wrestling Alliance it controlled and booked shows territories in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa and was seen as a cornerstone of the NWA. It joined the NWA in October 1948. The territory was promoted by Pinky George and the first official NWA World Heavyweight Champion Orville Brown (Sonny Myers being the preceding unofficial one) from the creation of the NWA until 1958.
The MWA World Heavyweight Championship began in 1940, preceding the consolidation with CSW and WWA.
In 1958, wrestler/promoter Bob Geigel took over and partnered up with Pat O'Conner and Harley Race to form "Heart of America Sports Attractions, Inc." The promotion continued to be a cornerstone of the NWA with Geigel sitting on the board of directors and even served as chairman of the National Wrestling Alliance from 1978 until 1987, the period that is considered the last "glory years" of the NWA. Central States Wrestling did not become a household name across the United States until 1973 where Harley Race brought attention to CSW (and its "sister promotion" the St. Louis Wrestling Club) when he won the NWA World Heavyweight Title for the first time.
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