(Top) The original WCW logo, (Middle) The logo used from 1999 to 2001, (Bottom) The logo used briefly by WWE post-acquisition to represent WCW.
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1988–1996 Private (subsidiary of Turner Broadcasting System) 1996 Public (subsidiary of Time Warner division Turner) 2001–present Private (subsidiary of WWE) |
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Industry |
Professional wrestling Sports entertainment |
Predecessor |
Georgia Championship Wrestling Jim Crockett Promotions |
Founded | October 11, 1988 |
Founder | Ted Turner |
Headquarters | One Centennial Tower Atlanta, Georgia 30303 United States |
Area served
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Worldwide |
Products | Television, Internet, merchandise |
Parent |
Turner Broadcasting System (1988–1996) Time Warner (1996-2001) World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment Inc (2001-present) WCW Inc. Time Warner (2001-present) Universal Wrestling Corporation |
Website | WCW at WWE.com |
WCW Inc. (formerly known as World Championship Wrestling, Inc.) was an American professional wrestling promotion, historically based in Atlanta, Georgia. It began as a regional (mid-Atlantic U.S.), National Wrestling Alliance (NWA)-affiliated "territory" promotion – Jim Crockett Promotions – until November 1988, when Ted Turner (through his Turner Broadcasting System business) bought the promotion, whose struggle to compete with Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment (then WWF now WWE) had left it near bankruptcy. Immediately after the buyout, the business was renamed the Universal Wrestling Corporation (UWC) and consisted of Crockett's business assets not picked up by World Wrestling Federation Entertainment.
In the mid-1990s, WCW dramatically improved its economic performance, largely due to the promotion of Eric Bischoff to Executive Producer (to guide the overall direction of the on-screen product); the strategy of hiring former WWF main eventers; the introduction of the Monday Nitro series on cable TV, and the resultant Monday Night Wars with the WWF's Monday Night Raw; the creative and marketing execution of the New World Order (nWo) brand/stable of wrestlers; and other innovative concepts. WCW also had a successful cruiserweight division (an acrobatic, faster-paced, lucha libre-inspired style of wrestling).