''Best of World Championship Wrestling'' (a.k.a. ''Best of Championship Wrestling'') is an hour-long show, that was the Sunday evening edition of TBS' Saturday night wrestling shows, ''

Georgia Championship Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades before, the National W ...

'' and ''

NWA World Championship Wrestling ''WCW Saturday Night'' is an American weekly Saturday night television show on TBS that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Launched in 1971 initially by Georgia Championship Wrestling, the program existed through various incarna ...

''. The rights to ''Best of World Championship Wrestling'' now belong to

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

(WWE).

Early years

''Best of World Championship Wrestling'' began in the 1970s to complement ''GCW'', which by 1984 had been renamed ''World Championship Wrestling''. It became inactive shortly after

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon (; born August 24, 1945) is an American media proprietor and retired professional wrestling promoter, executive, and performer. From 1982 to 2022, he served as the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of WWE, the ...

bought GCW on July 14, 1984 (a.k.a. '' Black Saturday''). When McMahon sold the Saturday Night time slot to

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promot ...

, the Sunday edition of ''World Championship Wrestling'' was resurrected, first as ''Best of Championship Wrestling'' and later as ''Best of World Championship Wrestling''. However, airings of Sunday editions became infrequent due to TBS' coverage of the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

and the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

Format

''BoWCW'''s format was essentially a magazine format, mainly featuring recaps of matches which had previously aired on other related programming. In addition, Bill Apter, then of ''

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publi ...

'', had a sit-down interview segment called the ''PWI Scouting Report''. During the show's GCW years, the show was hosted solo by Freddie Miller. During the show's JCP years, it was hosted solo by

Tony Schiavone Noah Anthony Schiavone (, ; born November 7, 1957) is an American sports announcer, professional wrestling commentator and podcaster currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a play-by-play commentator and senior producer. He has pr ...

Notable angles

One of the most-remembered wrestling

angles The Angles ( ang, Ængle, ; la, Angli) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England. Their name is the root of the name ...

to air on this show was the announcement of then-NWA president

Bob Geigel Robert Frederick Geigel (October 1, 1924 – October 30, 2014) was an American professional wrestling promoter and professional wrestler. He operated the Kansas City, Missouri-based Heart of America Sports Attractions promotion from 1963 to 19 ...

stripping Magnum T. A. of the NWA U.S. Heavyweight Title for "conduct unbecoming a champion" due to Magnum clotheslining Geigel after Geigel reprimanded him for an attack on

Nikita Koloff Nikita Koloff (born Nelson Scott Simpson on March 9, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and its successor, World Championship Wrestling between 1984 and 1992, where ...

. This set up the famous "best-of-seven" wrestling series to fill the title vacancy. Koloff defeated Magnum 4–3 to win the vacant title. The show also (during its GCW days) featured Tommy Rich as NWA World Heavyweight Champion during his short reign as champion (possibly the only videotape showing him with the belt) and also the announcement of Magnum T. A.'s car accident and an address to send get well cards and letters.

Cancellation

In early

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he ...

expressed interest in a new Sunday evening wrestling show which featured original matches. Turner got his wish when '' NWA Main Event'' debuted to strong ratings. In November 1988, Jim Crockett Promotions was sold to Turner, who renamed the organization

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nati ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best Of World Championship Wrestling 1973 American television series debuts 1987 American television series endings English-language television shows Jim Crockett Promotions shows TBS (American TV channel) original programming Television shows filmed in Atlanta Sunday Edition