''WCW Pro'' is an American televised wrestling show that was presented by

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 ...

(WCW). Along with ''

WCW WorldWide ''WCW WorldWide'' was an American syndicated television show that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) that aired from October 8, 1975, to March 31, 2001. At the time of its cancellation, ''WorldWide'' was the longest-running, uni ...

'', it was part of the WCW Disney tapings. The rights to ''WCW Pro'' now belong to WWE and 161 episodes of Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling are available for streaming on the

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television t ...

History

''Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling'' (1958–1986)

''WCW Pro'' started off as ''Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling'', one of two official weekly syndicated wrestling programs presented by

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 other was ''World Wide Wrestling'', which in its final form was named ''

''). It started airing in 1958.

''NWA Pro Wrestling''/''WCW Pro Wrestling'' (1986–1994)

After the merger of JCP and

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 ...

in 1986, the show was renamed ''NWA Pro Wrestling''. It was later renamed ''WCW Pro Wrestling'' in December 1990 after

Turner Broadcasting Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner ( ...

bought JCP in 1988.

New York and Chicago editions (1990–1993)

In 1990, a hybrid edition of ''WCW Pro Wrestling'' began airing over

WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, it is operated under a local marketing agreement (LMA) by Nexstar Media Group, making it a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station and flagship of ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and

WGN-TV WGN-TV (channel 9) is an Independent station (North America), independent television station in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, it is sister station, sister to the company's sole radio property, talk ra ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

; these two shows featured the same matches as the national version, but with wraparound segments localized for the specific markets inserted.

Jim Ross James William Ross (born January 3, 1952) is an American professional wrestling commentator currently signed with All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a commentator, analyst, and senior advisor. Ross is best known for a long and distinguished career a ...

and

Paul E. Dangerously Paul Heyman (born September 11, 1965) is an American professional wrestling manager, former promoter, photographer, and executive. He is currently signed to WWE, appearing on the SmackDown brand as manager for Undisputed WWE Universal Heavyweight ...

hosted WPIX's ''WCW Pro New York''. In late-September 1991, the New York version moved to

WCBS-TV WCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Riverhead, New York–licensed independent station W ...

where the show aired in a late-night Saturday slot. However, after only a few weeks, the local version was dropped and WCBS-TV replaced it with the national version of the show. In April 1992, ''WCW Pro'' was replaced in New York altogether by ''WCW WorldWide'' (the show that ''WCW Pro New York'' replaced two years earlier on WPIX), which stayed on WCBS-TV for the next five years.

WPXN-TV WPXN-TV (channel 31) is a television station in New York City, airing programming from the Ion Television network. Owned and operated by the Ion Media subsidiary of the E.W. Scripps Company, the station maintains offices on Seventh Avenue ...

later picked up ''WCW Pro'' for its lineup, airing the show from 1996 until its cancellation. ''WCW Pro Chicago'' was hosted 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 ...

and veteran WGN sports broadcaster

Jack Brickhouse John Beasley Brickhouse (January 24, 1916 – August 6, 1998) was an American sportscaster. Known primarily for his play-by-play coverage of Chicago Cubs games on WGN-TV from 1948 to 1981, he received the Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Ha ...

. This show was also simulcast on WGN's national feed. Sometime in 1991, Brickhouse would leave commentary on the Chicago version to host his own segment on the program, "Brickhouse Bonus", and

Larry Zbyszko Lawrence Whistler (born December 5, 1951), better known by the ring name Larry Zbyszko, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his feud with his mentor, Bruno Sammartino, during the early 1980s as well as his w ...

took over Jack's old spot on commentary. ''WCW Pro Chicago'' would last until 1993.

''WCW Pro'' (1994–1998)

In 1994 the show, now available on very few local stations, was added to TBS on Saturday mornings in place of WCW's ill-fated ''

WCW Power Hour ''WCW Power Hour'' was the original Friday-night wrestling show for World Championship Wrestling (WCW), airing on TBS from June 23, 1989 to March 5, 1994. Unlike most television (and wrestling) shows that started their program either at the top ...

'' on March 12, 1994. Some stations continued to air it in syndication, however. The show title also was shortened to simply ''WCW Pro''. In November 1995, WCW started taping ''WCW Pro'' at the Disney/MGM Studios (and later to

Universal Studios Florida Universal Studios Florida (also known as Universal Studios or USF) is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. Primarily themed to movies, television and other aspects of the entertainment industry, the park opened to the public on June 7, 1990 ...

) as well. Starting August 25, 1996, the show moved from its established TBS timeslot of Saturday morning at 9:05am EST to Sunday afternoons at 5:05pm EST, where it remained until it was canceled by TBS and replaced by '' WCW Thunder'' in January 1998. Shortly afterwards the now syndication-only ''WCW Pro'' became a weekly highlights and recap show with one or two exclusive matches a week. Scott Hudson and

hosted the in-studio segments while Lee Marshall and

Mike Tenay Michael William Tenay (born March 1, 1955) is an American podcast presenter and retired professional wrestling play-by-play announcer known for his time as an announcer for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TN ...

called the matches. TBS would continue to air ''

Thunder Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...

'' and '' Saturday Night''. In late September 1998, ''WCW Pro'' was canceled.

Title changes

''WCW Pro'' had two title changes. *

Ron Garvin Roger Barnes (born March 30, 1945) is a Canadian former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin. He is best known for his appearances with Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federatio ...

and

Barry Windham Barry Clinton Windham (born July 4, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler. The son of wrestler Blackjack Mulligan, he is best known for his appearances with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). ...

defeated Krusher Khrushchev and

Ivan Koloff Oreal Donald Perras (August 25, 1942 – February 18, 2017) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff. He was the third wrestler to hold the WWWF Championship. Early life Perras was ...

to win the NWA United States Tag Team Championship on December 13, 1986 (taped December 9, 1986) *

The Steiner Brothers The Steiner Brothers are an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of brothers Robert "Rick Steiner" Rechsteiner and Scott "Scott Steiner" Rechsteiner. The brothers wrestled as amateurs at the University of Michigan. The team ma ...

( Rick Steiner and

Scott Steiner Scott Rechsteiner (born July 29, 1962), better known by the ring name Scott Steiner, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Steiner is perhaps best known for his time in World Championshi ...

) defeated

The Fabulous Freebirds The Fabulous Freebirds were a professional wrestling tag team who attained fame in the 1980s, performing into the 1990s. The team usually consisted of three wrestlers, although in different situations and points in its history, just two performed ...

(

Jimmy Garvin James Williams (born September 25, 1952) is an United States of America, American retired professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring names "Gorgeous Jimmy" Garvin and Jimmy "Jam" Garvin. A member of The Fabulous Freeb ...

and Michael Hayes) to win the

WCW World Tag Team Championship The WCW World Tag Team Championship (previously NWA (Mid-Atlantic) World Tag Team Championship) was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) ...

on March 9, 1991 (taped February 18, 1991).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wcw Pro Jim Crockett Promotions shows

Pro Pro is an abbreviation meaning " professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retire ...

TBS (American TV channel) original programming 1950s American television series 1960s American television series 1970s American television series 1980s American television series 1990s American television series 1958 American television series debuts 1998 American television series endings First-run syndicated television programs in the United States