Southwest Championship Wrestling

Pwcompanybox
name=Southwest Championship Wrestling


acronym=SCW
established=1978
style=American Wrestling
location=flagicon|Texas San Antonio, TX
founder=Joseph Blanchard
owner= Joseph Blanchard
parent=
sister=
formerly=
website=|

Southwest Championship Wrestling (SCW) was a professional wrestling promotion that was owned by Joseph Blanchard and based in San Antonio, Texas, from 1978 to 1985, when it was purchased by Texas All-Star Wrestling and absorbed into that company.

History

Alumni

Among SCW's star wrestlers were Adrian Adonis, Gino Hernandez, Tully Blanchard, "Bruiser" Bob Sweetan, Scott Casey, Terry Allen, Bob Orton, Jr., and Eric Embry. For most of the promotion's existence, the World Heavyweight Champion of the American Wrestling Association was recognised as SCW's top champion as well.

Commentators

During the promotion's days of national television distribution in the early 1980s, its announcers were Gene Kelly, Gene Goodsen, Steve Stack (all in English) and Rapido Rodriguez (in Spanish).

Venues

Its television matches were usually taped at The Junction, a small boxing venue in San Antonio, although occasional matches from cards at San Antonio's HemisFair Arena were also seen.

Television run on the USA Network

Starting on December 5, 1982, "Southwest Championship Wrestling" became the first weekly wrestling program on the USA Cable Network, airing Sundays at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. As a result of the new national exposure, SWCW staged a one-night tournament in Houston, Texas, to determine an "Undisputed World Champion." Adrian Adonis was the winner of this tournament, and as a result he was presented with the oldest existing championship belt by Lou Thesz, as well as a brand new belt made specifically for the championship.

Cancellation

However, because of a particularly bloody match between Tully Blanchard and "Bruiser" Bob Sweetan (which USA refused to air), the inability of the promotion to keep paying USA the $7,000 per week to keep the time slot, and a monetary offer made to the cable channel by WWF owner Vince McMahon to replace "Southwest Championship Wrestling" with his own programming [ [http://www.infinitecore.com/superstar/index.php?threadid=44371 KM : Reading Topic : swc on usa ] ] , USA cancelled the program (in spite of the high ratings the show was garnering for the network) and turned the time slot over to "WWF All American Wrestling". Adonis' "undisputed championship" simply faded from SCW storylines within a few months and was abandoned in September 1983, and in April 1985, the promotion was sold to Texas All-Star Wrestling.

Championships (when SCW was sold in 1985)

References

External links

* [http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tx/san_antonio/scw/ Southwest Championship Wrestling title histories]