Misplaced Pages

#867132

50-450: Professional wrestling championship TCW Heavyweight Championship Details Promotion Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling Date established July 6, 2000 Date retired September 14, 2002 Statistics First champion(s) Glacier Final champion(s) Glacier Most reigns Scotty Anton (3 reigns) The TCW Heavyweight Championship

100-610: A booker and television producer for Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship Wrestling , was able to get a television show aired in Atlanta and Macon, Georgia and soon began negotiating with the Sunshine Network hoping to build on the traditional wrestling fanbase in the Southern, Gulf Coast and Mid-Atlantic region. In early 2001, the closings of World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling resulted in

150-407: A jobber wrestled under the ring name Dave "The Observer" Meltzer. In 2014, The Young Bucks introduced a finishing move, combining a springboard 450 splash with a spike piledriver, dubbing it the "Meltzer Driver". In 2016, The Addiction introduced a finishing move, combining a double jump moonsault with a spike piledriver, dubbing it the "Best Meltzer Ever". Also, Ricochet and Matt Sydal introduced

200-445: A finishing move combining a shooting star press with a spike piledriver dubbing it the "Shooting Star Meltzer Driver". Meltzer's newsletter has led to a loyal fan following and radio shows. After getting a job with The National Sports Daily in 1990, Meltzer was finally able to open dialogue with Vince McMahon, leading to elevation in both Meltzer's reputation and readership. In his first autobiography , Mick Foley declared that it

250-483: A little more acceptance. Since major wrestling promotions would never acknowledge the existence of any " dirt sheets ", Meltzer had to find other ways to advertise his newsletter. Advertisements and other promotion were often published in kayfabe and semi-kayfabe publications. Early sources for knowledge of the WON 's existence were The Wrestling News published by Norman Kietzer, as well as Factsheet Five . The latter

300-423: A suburb of San Jose . The publication was originally a 16- to 24-page publication on 8½-by-14-inch paper, and published roughly every two or three weeks. Meltzer contemplated a career change during the mid-1980s. He was to be hired to cover soccer instead and just contribute to other wrestling newsletters. In 1985, he announced that he would be ceasing publication, citing disinterest in the wrestling landscape of

350-428: A week on the internet radio channel, eYada.com. eYada ceased operation on July 9, 2001, with Wrestling Observer Live , its highest-rated show, being the last show to broadcast on the station. On March 17, 2002, Wrestling Observer Live was picked up by Sports Byline USA , a radio syndicator based out of San Francisco, California , and has stayed broadcasting through Sports Byline ever since. Meltzer and Alvarez hosted

400-464: Is about preserving TCW legacy while adapting to the evolving landscape of entertainment. The TCW Heavyweight Championship was the primary professional wrestling singles title of Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling. It was originally won by Glacier who defeated Jorge Estrada in tournament final held in Ashburn, Georgia on July 6, 2000. It was defended primarily in the state of Georgia but throughout

450-616: Is different from Wikidata Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling TCW later became home to many high-profile wrestlers after the closure of World Championship Wrestling and later Extreme Championship Wrestling in 2001. Among the former WCW roster included Sean Evans , Disco Inferno , David Flair , Lodi , Daffney Glacier , Ron Reis , Sonny Siaki , Scotty Riggs , Larry Zbyszko , Scott Hall , and The Public Enemy ( Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge ), all of whom would win championship titles. Dusty's son Dustin Rhodes , who at

500-508: Is often considered the first " dirt sheet ", which is a wrestling publication covering the art from a real-life perspective. Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s The beginnings of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter date back to 1980, when Meltzer began an annual poll amongst those with whom he corresponded regarding professional wrestling. According to Meltzer, he

550-590: Is the alternative to the World Wrestling Federation. To me in my mind, my opinion, and my dad's opinion, we are the World Wrestling Federation's competition. We are not an independent, we are a company. We want to be treated as one. So we're going to do everything we can to make it a respectable, family entertainment business." Having begun holding events in Florida that year, Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling began branching out to rival promotions. Among these

SECTION 10

#1732895807868

600-839: Is vacated when Scotty Riggs forfeits the championship after suffering an elbow injury. Glacier 2 September 14, 2002 Carrollton, Georgia Defeated Damien to win the vacant title. References [ edit ] ^ Westcott, Brian; Richard Palma (2002). "TCW Heavyweight Title History" . Solie's Title Histories. ^ "Father-And-Son Wrestling Team Takes On Old Foes This Weekend". Macon Telegraph . 11 Aug 2000. ^ Woodward, Buck (2007-09-15). "This Day In History: Sting Begins His Metamorphosis, The Fabulous Moolah Wrestles At 80 And More" . PWInsider.com . Retrieved 21 September 2009 . ^ Martin, Calvin (2001-12-29). "Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling Results from Deland, Florida 12-28-01" . LordsofPain.net. Archived from

650-751: The Internet and wrestling web sites that are able to provide news in real time, today's WON differs in the way it covers the wrestling scene in that it provides more of an editorial and analysis on the news and what impacts it could have on the business. Wrestlers such as Konnan have noted seeing copies of the WON on Vince McMahon's office desk. It is believed many, if not most, of the biggest stars in WWE and other major promotions are subscribers, although few would admit it publicly. Several subscribed under their birth names, instead of ring names , thinking Meltzer would not find out their true identities. Howard Finkel 's wife

700-589: The NWA World Tag Team Championship from The New Heavenly Bodies. In the semi-main event, TCW Heavyweight Champion Scotty Riggs kept his title via disqualification against Barry Windham. The sixth and final match was an "ECW vs. TCW" match in which Steve Corino and Jack Victory took on father and son Dusty and Dustin Rhodes. On January 26, 2002, Dustin Rhodes defeated Scotty Riggs to win TCW Heavyweight Championship but surrendered

750-619: The Southern United States , most often in Dothan, Alabama , until the promotion's close in 2003. The TCW Hardcore Championship was the secondary professional wrestling singles title of Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling. It was first won by Lodi after defeating "Raging Bull" Manny Fernandez in Carrollton, Georgia on September 18, 2001. The Hardcore title, like the Heavyweight title ,

800-425: The WON from within the business. When readers first began hotly debating whether wrestling promoters actually read the publication or not, Meltzer published a letter to the editor from Watts, at the time still promoting. He also credited Houston promoter Paul Boesch for taking him under his wing in the 1980s and teaching him how the business works. As the business evolved along with the newsletter, Meltzer gained

850-883: The World Wrestling Federation as Tekno Team 2000 , also competed in the promotion. Dusty Rhodes began plans for organizing a new promotion based in the state of Georgia in 1999, later establishing offices in East Cobb County, Georgia . It would be, said Rhodes, a southern promotion that was "old school but with modern ideas". Early the next year, he started promoting local wrestling events in Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee as part of "The American Dream Tour 2000". The first official event held by TCW took place in Ashburn, Georgia on July 6, 2000, and crowned its first heavyweight champion, Glacier , defeating Jorge Estrada in tournament final. Rhodes, who had previous experience as

900-531: The Houston County Farm Center in Dothan, Alabama between July and December 2001. The next month, Rhodes teamed with his son Dustin, then making his TCW debut less than three days after his WCW contract expired, at a Dothan house show on August 4. Together they faced C. W. Anderson and the masked wrestler American Nightmare in the main event. Dustin Rhodes was highly supportive of TCW as he explained in an August 2001 interview with Greg Oliver, "TCW

950-775: The appearance of many of its former stars in TCW. Sean Evans , a trainer at the WCW Power Plant , joined the promotion early on and helped bring in several former WCW stars. One of these was former manager/valet Daffney whose ex-husband, Rich Ward , was a friend of Evans. She was one of four female wrestlers who competed for the promotion, the others being Kim Nielsen , Leilani Kai and Malia Hosaka . A house show in Winchester, Tennessee on February 17, later released on VHS, featured former ECW stars Yoshihiro Tajiri and Super Crazy , WCW veterans Ron Reis , Glacier , Scott Anton and, in

1000-600: The first TCW Tag Team Champions defeating Glacier and Jorge Estrada in Dothan, Alabama. In April, Rhodes announced that the promotion would be airing its first PPV event that fall, originally on Thanksgiving night in Charlotte, North Carolina , and that TCW would also be airing on television. The series, Rhodes claimed, would feature regular TV appearances by some of the more recognizable wrestlers in professional wrestling, most notably, his son Dustin Rhodes . Scott Hall also joined

1050-641: The first champion. Barry Windham 1 October 28, 2000 Warner Robins, Georgia Scotty Anton 1 June 2, 2001 Dothan, Alabama the match ended with Daffney counting the pinfall and Anton left with the title. Barry Windham 2 June 7, 2001 Milledgeville, Georgia Title is returned to Windham due to the controversial finish. Scotty Anton 2 September 15, 2001 Carrollton, Georgia Dustin Rhodes 1 January 26, 2002 Carrollton, Georgia Scotty Anton 3 March 1, 2002 Carrollton, Georgia Title

SECTION 20

#1732895807868

1100-588: The formation of the WON , which Meltzer first began publishing in 1982 as a way to keep fans informed of various wrestling regions that readers may not have been aware of or had no access to. The WON has been published from the start from various communities in Northern California , except for a six-month period in late 1983 and early 1984 when Meltzer resided in Wichita Falls, Texas . For most of its existence, it has been published from Campbell, California ,

1150-556: The main event against Buck Quartermaine . NWA Florida stars Buck Quartermain and The New Heavenly Bodies (Vito DeNucci and Chris Nelson) would appear at TCW house shows in late August. A secondary title, the TCW Hardcore Championship, was established when Lodi defeated "Raging Bull" Manny Fernandez in Carrollton, Georgia on September 15. The promotion held its first television taping, TCW Halloween Horror Slam I , which

1200-550: The main event, Glacier defended the TCW Heavyweight Championship against Barry Windham. On December 28, 2001, TCW and NWA Florida held an interpromotional event at the Volusia County Fairgrounds in DeLand, Florida . In singles matches, Lex Lovett defeated Steve Madison , Jorge Estrada defeated Luther Biggs and Buck Quartermaine defeated Spanky Malone. In a match lasting over 30 minutes, TCW's Glacier and Jason Sugarman won

1250-522: The main event, a tag team match between Dusty Rhodes and Barry Windham against Erik Watts and Steve Corino . Female wrestlers Leilani Kai and Malia Hosaka also participated in an exhibition match. The next night in Carrollton, Georgia featured a Rookies Battle Royal, showcasing the younger up-and-coming wrestlers in the promotion, and Dusty Rhodes with a mystery partner in a tag team match against Erik Watts and Steve Lawler. On March 3, Scott "The Clap" Anton and "The Extreme Dream" Erik Watts became

1300-474: The original on January 14, 2005 . Retrieved 21 September 2009 . Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=TCW_Heavyweight_Championship&oldid=1240787509 " Category : Heavyweight wrestling championships Hidden categories: CS1 maint: unfit URL CS1 maint: year All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from May 2016 Articles with short description Short description

1350-406: The original on July 20, 2008 . Retrieved 21 September 2009 . ^ Hoops, Brian (September 15, 2015). "Pro wrestling history (9/15): nWo wins War Games, Hennig wins WCW US title" . Wrestling Observer Newsletter . Retrieved January 25, 2020 . ^ Milner, John M.; Richard Kamchen (2006-06-04). "SLAM! Sports: Goldust" . SLAM! Wrestling Bios . SLAM! Sports. Archived from

1400-888: The original on July 20, 2012. {{ cite web }} : CS1 maint: unfit URL ( link ) CS1 maint: year ( link ) ^ Tate, Rich (2008-01-26). "Georgia Wrestling News, Notes, & Nostalgia: 1/26/08" . 1wrestling.com . Retrieved 21 September 2009 . ^ Cullen, Billy (2006-05-06). "Newsline, 9-15-2002" . 1wrestling.com. Archived from the original on January 14, 2005 . Retrieved 21 September 2009 . ^ PWInsider (2009-03-01). "Today in Wrestling History, 3/1: First-Ever Slammys on MTV, More" . AllWrestling.com . Retrieved 14 September 2009 . ^ Middleton, Marc (2009-03-01). "Today in Wrestling History - 3/1" . Wrestlenewz.com . Retrieved 14 September 2009 . ^ Goodman, Larry (2002-09-15). "Newsline, 9-15-2002" . 1wrestling.com. Archived from

1450-513: The promotion and made his official in-ring debut at a special house show in Dothan on May 12. On June 16 in Calhoun, Georgia , Larry Zbyszko made an appearance to take on Dusty Rhodes in the main event. Though starting off as a singles match, it was turned into a tag team match following outside interference by Luther Biggs and Bobby Hayes. The match was eventually won by Rhodes and Hayes. The promotion also continued to hold regular monthly shows at

1500-658: The promotion. Older stars such as father and son Bob and Scott Armstrong , Manny Fernandez , Bobby Eaton , Ricky Morton , female wrestlers Leilani Kai , Malia Hosaka and Kim Nielsen , and independent wrestlers Jorge Estrada , Jason Sugarman and Steve Lawler were part of the roster as well. Damian Steele , one-half of Ebony & Ivory with Ray Gordy in Deep South Wrestling , got his start in Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling. Erik Watts and Chad Fortune , who previously teamed together in

1550-535: The reports, claiming that they "constitute[d] defamation" and that they were "seek[ing] all legal remedies available", but TNA was off Destination America by January 2016 and no legal matters ever arose. Like other wrestling halls of fame, such as the WWE , WCW , TNA , and NWA halls of fame, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is not a physical place. Nonetheless, it is a respected honor in

TCW Heavyweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue

1600-667: The show every Sunday night from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. EST on the Sports Byline Radio Network. Meltzer stopped appearing regularly in September 2007, but still appears periodically. On Sunday nights, Meltzer regularly appeared in a segment on the radio show Live Audio Wrestling prior to the show's cancellation. Currently the Wrestling Observer Live is hosted by Bryan Alvarez Monday – Friday 3pm ET and Sundays by Andrew Zarian from 6pm ET – 7pm ET. On June 12, 2008,

1650-651: The singles titles, the tag team titles changed hands very often when the promotion toured outside the state of Georgia , as far away as Alabama and Tennessee . Wrestling Observer Newsletter The Wrestling Observer Newsletter ( WON ) is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts . Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer , the Wrestling Observer website merged with Bryan Alvarez 's Figure Four Weekly website in 2008, becoming Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Issues are offered in print and digital. The newsletter

1700-563: The time and too much time having to be spent on bookkeeping and mailing lists . At that point, he continued offering the WON on a "temporary" basis as an 8-page weekly on 8½-by-11-inch paper only to fill out the remainder of his subscriptions. Reader response convinced him to pursue the WON as his career instead. He started writing the WON full-time in 1987, retaining the smaller 8-page format. By this point, Meltzer began making appearances at major wrestling events, at first mostly in Japan . He

1750-469: The time was also wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment as Goldust , also had a central role in the promotion and briefly held the TCW Heavyweight Championship in early 2002. From ECW, Yoshihiro Tajiri and Super Crazy continued their long-running feud. The " heel stable " The Extreme Horsemen was formed by ex-ECW stars Steve Corino , Barry Windham and C. W. Anderson . Windham's brother, Kendall , also made occasional appearances for

1800-446: The title the following day with the announcement that he would be returning to WWE as a full-time competitor. Dustin wrestled a few last matches before leaving TCW. The first, on February 2, was a 6-man tag team TLC match with his father Dusty and Ron Studd against Scotty Riggs, Jason Sugarman and an impostor Goldust. A second match took place days later in Carrollton and resulted in a victory over Steve Corino. His third and last match

1850-630: The world of wrestling. Every year, Meltzer conducts a poll of selected "insiders" and wrestlers to determine new inductees into the WON Hall of Fame. Pro Wrestling Illustrated has adopted the WON Hall of Fame as their own. Meltzer was the former host of Wrestling Observer Live , a wrestling radio show. Co-hosting the show with Meltzer was Bryan Alvarez , editor of the Figure Four Weekly newsletter. The show debuted in October 1999 and aired five days

1900-412: The wrestling ranks. His newsletter was also known for its lengthy obituaries of deceased wrestling figures, as well as a desire to chronicle the deaths of every wrestling figure possible, no matter how minor. Meltzer stated that this new, more journalistic approach to covering wrestling earned him scorn from many within the wrestling business. However, Terry Funk and Bill Watts were early supporters of

1950-552: Was NWA Florida , a promotion Rhodes' himself competed earlier in his career, and two of their stars, Jason Sugarman and Jorge Estrada, appeared at the August 21st NWA Florida show at the Fort Homer W. Hesterly Armory in Tampa, Florida . Their match was to fill in for Cyborg and Horace Hogan , both men having been injured. Steve Corino, then NWA World Heavyweight Champion , defended the title in

2000-527: Was against Scotty Riggs who defeated him for the TCW Heavyweight Championship in Carrollton on March 1. With this victory, Riggs became a record 3-time heavyweight champion. In July 2003, Rhodes appeared alongside sports director Mike Raita on the Paul Finebaum Radio Network and discussed both his wrestling career and Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling. However, partially due to declining business as well as increased competition from WWE, Rhodes

2050-471: Was decidedly a non-wrestling publication, though the WON and other wrestling sheets made up a significant amount of its coverage. Other magazines such as Wrestling Main Event and Wrestling Eye also provided mention. Meltzer was also able to advertise his publication during various guest appearances on wrestling radio shows and guest editorials in various national newspapers . With the ubiquitous emergence of

TCW Heavyweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue

2100-466: Was exhaustively covered by the WON , including backstage events, including from Bret Hart himself. Meltzer published data-based evidence suggesting inflated record attendance figures for WrestleManias III and 23 . He gave extensive space to various wrestling scandals, including Vince McMahon 's 1990s steroid trial, the Chris Benoit murder investigation , and the high drug-fueled death rate within

2150-569: Was forced to close the promotion shortly after The Dusty 35th Anniversary Tour that same year. The announcement followed after Rhodes signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . In December 2023, Nightmare Factory LLC, under the leadership of WWE star Cody Rhodes , filed for the trademark of "Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling". This filing hints the revival of the original TCW brand, initially founded by Cody's father, Dusty Rhodes. The trademark application, covering various merchandise and entertainment services related to wrestling contests,

2200-414: Was just a fan at first. A short time later, he began maintaining a tape-trading list, and would occasionally send match results and news updates along with tape updates. Meltzer stated that he wanted to keep his friends in college "in the loop" for his tape trading as well as the happenings in the business, as the mainstream wrestling magazines catered to a somewhat younger demographic. This led directly to

2250-425: Was later released on VHS. It featured the tag team of Bobby Eaton and Ricky Morton , the two men having experienced a fierce rivalry during the 1980s as members of The Midnight Express and The Rock 'n' Roll Express respectively, in the semi-main event against Erik Watts and Chad Fortune . Watts and Fortune had previously teamed together in the World Wrestling Federation during the 1990s as Tekno Team 2000 . In

2300-580: Was mostly defended in Georgia but also in other parts of the Southern United States such as Dothan, Alabama . The TCW Tag Team Championship was the primary professional wrestling tag team title of Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling. It was originally won by Scott Anton & Erik Watts who defeated Glacier & Jorge Estrada , coincidentally opponents for the TCW Heavyweight Championship , in Dothan, Alabama on March 3, 2001. Unlike

2350-449: Was publicly acknowledged by Meltzer as an early WON subscriber, and at the time, the closest reach the publication likely had to McMahon, which was in response to a reader questioning the likelihood of McMahon himself reading the publication. Though he is not a wrestler or part of a promotion, Meltzer has occasionally been referenced within the professional wrestling ring. In the short-lived Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) promotion,

2400-563: Was seen as a spectator in the front row at Chi-Town Rumble in 1989, seated next to Brad Muster , at the time a fullback with the Chicago Bears . The WON 's earlier years were also marked by revealing insider news and various behind-the-scenes happenings in the industry, a groundbreaking approach in a kayfabe-heavy era. Meltzer's approach benefitted from professional contacts, a historic perspective, and his own analysis of trends, data, and events. The WWE 's 1997 " Montreal Screwjob "

2450-561: Was the WON 's coverage of his independent circuit matches that caused World Championship Wrestling (WCW) to consider signing him, since he was against "type". Foley also wrote that promoters such as Watts would sometimes change their entire booking direction based on the opinions expressed in Meltzer's newsletter. In May 2015, Meltzer reported that Destination America had decided to cancel Impact Wrestling by late September 2015. Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) vehemently denied

2500-613: Was the primary professional wrestling singles title of Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling . It was originally won by Glacier who defeated Jorge Estrada in tournament final held in Ashburn, Georgia on July 6, 2000. It was defended primarily in the state of Georgia but throughout the Southern United States , most often in Dothan, Alabama , until the promotion's close in 2003. Title history [ edit ] Wrestlers: Times: Date: Location: Notes: Glacier 1 July 6, 2000 Ashburn, Georgia Defeated Jorge Estrada in tournament final to become

#867132