Pro Wrestling USA

Did You Know?

• The peak event, SuperClash, drew over 21,000 fans to Comiskey Park in Chicago on September 28, 1985.
• The 1988 union of the AWA, CWA, and WCCW was not called Pro Wrestling USA; those shows were just advertised as cross-promotional events.

Background

By 1984, Vince McMahon had begun moves to take the World Wrestling Federation national, buying out Georgia Championship Wrestling and gaining the national TBS timeslot. He also aired wrestling cards on MTV and had Hulk Hogan as the most recognized wrestler in the industry. In response, various promoters across America decided to co-promote wrestling shows.

Joint venture

Jerry Lawler and Jerry Jarrett of the Continental Wrestling Association, Verne Gagne of the American Wrestling Association, Ole Anderson of Championship Wrestling from Georgia, Jim Crockett Promotions, and other NWA promoters formed a loose alliance called Pro Wrestling USA. The first show took place in Memphis, Tennessee, at the behest of Lawler and Jarrett. Shows were promoted across member territories and many were taped in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the heart of the WWF's traditional territory. The peak came at SuperClash in Chicago on September 28, 1985, with over 21,000 attendees. The arrangement lasted only a few more months; arguments between promoters, primarily Gagne and Crockett, severed the ties. Crockett left the group, and within months Pro Wrestling USA shows became repackaged AWA programs.

After Pro Wrestling USA

World Class Championship Wrestling, depending on a strong buy-rate for SuperClash III, became insolvent. A brief union of some promotions that co-promoted SuperClash III saw WCCW merge with Jarrett's CWA to form the United States Wrestling Association, another attempt at a third national promotion. The union was short lived; WCCW withdrew and soon went out of business. Jarrett's USWA remained for the next decade as the last traditional wrestling promotion but never achieved national success.