World Championship Wrestling (Australia)

World Championship Wrestling (Australia) was a Territory pro wrestling promotion based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

The WCW AUSTRALIA promotion was founded on October 23, 1964 by Johnny Doyle & Jim Barnett, and it ceased operations on November 24, 1978.

Australia’s World Championship Wrestling began in 1964, when American promoter Jim Barnett and business partner Johnny Doyle left Detroit, Michigan to promote in the land down under. Barnett and Doyle established the International Wrestling Alliance (IWA) as a sanctioning body for the company, but would eventually join the NWA in August 1969.

After a television deal with Nine Network, WCW would regularly attract weekly crowds between 2,000 and 9,000 spectators, and were able to attract international stars such as Bruno Sammartino and Harley Race. The most famous local stars were the Fabulous Kangaroos, Roy Heffernan and Al Costello, NWA Hall of Famers who became one of the first great tag teams in all of pro wrestling.

When WCW lost its TV deal to World Series Cricket, the majority of its revenue would cease overnight, forcing the promotion to an abrupt end in 1978. Since then, the Australian market of wrestling has been dominated by indie wrestling, and has produced a variety of stars successful in North America and Japan.

World Championship Wrestling (Australia): Info