International Championship Wrestling (Mississippi)
[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.
[15] A secondary singles title, the ICW Missouri State Heavyweight Championship, was created after a 16-year-old Terry Gordy defeated Bill Ash in tournament final on January 14, 1978, in Greenwood, Mississippi.
[3] Culkin took great care in developing a loyal fan base for the live audience at the TV tapings which included offering a special "dark match" to open the event.
[21] Cascio claimed it was WABG-TV's highest rated regular program and "on Saturday afternoons, 72 percent of all televisions in use within the WABG viewing area were tuned to the show".
There are very few Mississippi National Guard Armories and High School Gyms that I have never been to.If it wasn't for George, his son Gil Culkin, and Frankie "The Great Memphisto" Cain, I certainly would not have accomplished what I have in my 25+ years in the industry.
Its weekly television show, which had replaced NWA Tri-State's TV programming, was broadcast live from the Greenwood Sportatorium and syndicated throughout the state.
ICW's event tours also included high school gyms, national guard armories and small arenas throughout the Mississippi Delta and Gulf Coast regions.
The latter group, managed by Izzy Slapawitz,[24] was featured heavily throughout their near six-month run as they worked storyline feuds with Joey Rossi, Percy Pringle and The Mongolians (Tio and Tapu).
In addition to Rossi, Pringle and Slapawitz, ICW also featured a number of younger wrestlers who had not yet made their mark in a major wrestling territory,[3] including Kamala (then known as James "Sugar Bear" Harris), King Cobra,[25] Johnny Mantell, Nightmare Danny Davis, Rip Rogers, Troy Graham (The Dream Machine), Michael Hayes and Terry Gordy.
Cain was impressed by the young man's performance and invited him back the following night in Biloxi to make his debut as "Percy Pringle III".
The angle, while popular with the fans, was cut short in December 1978 when Hayes got into an argument with Gil Culkin over a house show payoff in Natchez, Mississippi.
He also believed that the promotion's wide television exposure and 6-day wrestling schedule provided an excellent spot for young talent to hone their craft.
[34] The promotion garnered some more publicity the following month when The Great Mephisto and Grizzly Smith were arrested by police after fighting in the streets of downtown Jackson, Mississippi.
[41] In 1979, Izzy Slapawitz arrived in ICW and quickly formed his own "heel" stable with Rip Rogers and The Japanese Wrecking Crew (Oki Shikina and Mr.
[47] While the Mississippi Coliseum was the bigger venue, ICW also drew large crowds at the nearby Greenwood Sportatorium where the weekly TV tapings were held.
A bout between Oki Shikina and Johnny Mantell turned into a wild brawl that ended up in the parking lot, then across U.S. Highway 49, where they briefly stopped traffic, before eventually returning to the building.
[5][11] McGuirk's booker Bill Watts later expressed surprise at Culkins' decision given that his crew of wrestlers sometimes traveled directly from the NWA's Florida territory and sold out the Jackson Coliseum on several occasions.
He had close political connections with local officials.,[3] much like Bill Watts did in neighboring Louisiana, which made it very difficult for potential rivals to run shows in the area.
Culkin, an ex-wrestler himself,[54] also enjoyed a degree of celebrity among local wrestling fans having been part of a popular tag team with half-brother Jack Curtis during the late-1940s and 1950s.
Jack Curtis Jr., who would represent the NWA in Mississippi,[3][29] got ABC affilitate WAPT (Channel 16) to air McGuirk's show on a Saturday night time slot.
Curtis Jr. ran smaller venues in and around Jackson though NWA Tri-State eventually entered head-to-head competition with the Culkins on Wednesday nights.
According to former NWA Tri-State ring announcer Jeff Steele, however, the lack of suitable venues damaged the promotion's credibility with local fans which was "the toughest part of the war for Watts".
[6] A handful of McGuirk's wrestlers chose to join the Culkins including Bill Ash, Doctor X, Gene Lewis, Mr. Ito and Pork Chop Cash.
Bill Watts was so upset at Doctor X's jumping to ICW that he revealed the masked wrestler's real life identity on "Championship Wrestling".
[23] Ladd eventually returned to the Tri-States territory, however, he remained loyal to Culkin and finished up his dates despite early attempts by Watts to lure him away.
The rival promoter hoped "to bleed [George Culkin] dry" while Smith intentionally sabotaged ICW's shows with poor booking decisions.
[7] Bill Watts has claimed that while he felt Culkin had no chance of winning the heavy legal fees associated with fighting the case could cause serious financial problems for them.
[9][67] ICW's final show was held at the Mississippi Coliseum on August 18, 1979, as a co-promotional event with Bill Watts and Dusty Rhodes vs. Ole Anderson and Ivan Koloff as the main attraction.
On the undercard, Mike George defeated King Cobra to unify the ICW Mississippi State Championship with the NWA Tri-State version.
He has also used the group to bring attention to former ICW alumni who have fallen on hard times including, most notably, supporting GoFundMe campaigns for Frankie Cain (The Great Mephisto) and Kamala.
