International Championship Wrestling (Mississippi)

This article is about the wrestling promotion based in Mississippi from 1977 to 1979. For the "outlaw" promotion run by the Poffo family in Kentucky from 1978 to 1984, see International Championship Wrestling. For the promotion run by Angelo Savoldi in the Northeastern United States from 1984 to 1995, see International World Class Championship Wrestling.
International Championship Wrestling
AcronymICW
Founded1977
Defunct1979
StyleRasslin'
HeadquartersJackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Founder(s)George Culkin
Owner(s)George Culkin
Gil Culkin
ParentMississippi Wrestling Enterprise[1]
SisterAmerican Wrestling Association (1978-1979)
FormerlyAWA International Championship Wrestling

International Championship Wrestling (also known as AWA International Championship Wrestling or AWA Mississippi) was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Mid-South area of the United States from September 1977 to August 1979, when it was run by George and Gil Culkin.[2][3] The promotion was based in Jackson, Mississippi, with offices in Vicksburg, Mississippi.[4]

Initially an "outlaw" wrestling promotion, the Culkins waged a near two-year promotional war against NWA Tri-State over the National Wrestling Alliance's Mid-South territory then controlled by Leroy McGuirk and Bill Watts.[5][6] Part of their efforts to combat McGuirk including filing an anti-trust lawsuit against the NWA promoter.[7][8] The company was briefly affiliated with the American Wrestling Association,[2] which saw Nick Bockwinkel defend the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in Mississippi for the first time, before joining the NWA in mid-1979.[1][9] The Culkins eventually allied with Bill Watts after he broke away from McGuirk and their promotion merged with Mid-South Wrestling.[2][5][7][10]

  1. ^ a b Tanabe, Hisaharu (ed.). "NWA Membership Rosters: 1979". Wrestling-Titles.com. Puroresu Dojo. Archived from the original on 2020-11-17.
  2. ^ a b c Tanabe, Hisaharu, ed. (August 2, 2018). "International Championship Wrestling (Mississippi)". Wrestling-Titles.com. Puroresu Dojo. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020.
  3. ^ Brian Last (November 20, 2018). "Episode 93: Selling Cups". 605pod.com (Podcast). 6:05 Superpodcast. Event occurs at 2:12:30. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference LOW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b Culkin, George (2001). "George "Curtis" Culkin". Extreme Midsouth Wrestling (Interview). Interviewed by Buddy Huggins. YouTube.com. Archived from the original on 2020-11-17. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  6. ^ Burke, Tom (1977). "Mississippi". Global Wrestling's Yellow Pages of Wrestling. Springfield, Massachusetts: Global Wrestling News Service. p. 17.
  7. ^ a b Klein, Greg (2014). The King of New Orleans: How the Junkyard Dog Became Professional Wrestling's First Black Superhero. Toronto: ECW Press. pp. 64–65. ISBN 978-1770902244.
  8. ^ Watts, Bill; Williams, Scott (2006). The Cowboy and the Cross: The Bill Watts Story. Toronto: ECW Press. p. 130. ISBN 1-55022-708-4.
  9. ^ Edwards, John. "1979 NWA Annual Meeting Minutes". KayfabeMemories.com. Archived from the original on 2020-11-17.
  10. ^ Langmead, Jon (October 19, 2020). "Culkin shares legendary Mississippi wrestling stories". SLAM! Wrestling.