SECW - Southeastern Championship Wrestling (1974-1985)
The pro-wrestling landscape in Tennessee had changed greatly when Jerry Jarrett began booking Western Tennessee as part
of “Gulas-Welch Promotions.” Western and Central Tennessee were doing very well and Eastern Tennessee promoter John Cazana
had been relying on Gulas’s talent for years. He sold Knoxville to Ron Fuller (Ron Welch - Buddy Fuller’s son), who was
able to turn Knoxville into one of the hottest small markets in the whole United States in a couple years. Fuller slowly
weaned his group off of the Gulas promotion and developed a strong core of talent. His own crew consisted of himself, his
brother Robert, and local heels Ron and Don Wright as well as various southern journeymen and upstarts who found a home in
SECW. The promotion grew steadily and finally found a larger venue to run weekly that cemented their legacy. Although
they did not get much coverage in pro-wrestling magazines and their native stars were not big outside the Eastern Tennessee
area, SECW certainly was a success in the late 1970s. In 1978, Lee Fields (a member of the Welch family) sold his company,
Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling, to Ron Fuller. Fuller wisely established two separate SECW brands. It was around this
time, the ICW started up in Fuller's backyard and began raiding his talent. Rather than fight it out, he sold his assets
in 1980 and turned his attention to the "Gulf Coast" SECW. The company was a great mixture of veteran talent and young
studs that the fans in the Deep South loved to see in wild rasslin’ matches fueled by exciting angles. When the WWF went
national, Fuller decided to modify his product a bit to secure his investments and the second version of SECW came to close
(of sorts).
CCW - Continential Championship Wrestling (1985-1988)
In the summer of 1985, Ron Fuller tried to take his promotion to the next level. It had been a popular and successful
throughout Alabama and the Florida panhandle, but with the expanding promotions around the US, Fuller needed to change. He
shifted from the old tradition of taped studio wrestling shows to an arena show from his new main city, Birmingham, Alabama.
He also brought in Gordon Solie, the premier pro-wrestling announcer, to call the action. Fuller also began
expanding into northern Alabama, eastern Mississippi and he soon returned to Eastern Tennessee. To cap off all these
changes, the promotion was renamed from regional “Southeastern” to the broader “Continental.” The company remained largely
the same though with the same regulars. Continental was an NWA affiliate, until the Pro Wrestling USA deal fell apart in
the late 1980s with Crockett and the NWA pulling out. Continental, along with Memphis, aligned itself with the AWA.
However, the following year, Fuller sold the company to return Knoxville and promote there again. Continental began its
new and final phase.
CWF - Continental Wrestling Federation (1988-1990)
In 1988, CCW was not as strong as it had been and Ron Fuller decided to focus on promoting Knoxville again. So, he
sold Continental to David Woods, a television executive out of Montgomery, Alabama. Gordon Solie also left, but Eddie
Gilbert came in as booker. Gilbert revitalized the territory with some outrageous angles that cemented his legacy as a
cutting edge booker, but a falling out with Woods saw his departure after only a few months. Many of the old stars had
left and Continental was not producing the quality of new talents to replace them. The company only lasted into 1990,
before Woods closed its doors.
I'd like to thank Tim Dills, Mike Norris, Mike Calloway, Steve Webber, Mitch Lucas, Jeff Luce, Eric Westlund,
David Williamson (in no particular order) for their contributions at kayfabememories.com. As well as well as Royal Duncun
and Gary Will's contributions to wrestling-titles.com
