GCW

Global Championship Wrestling
Type	Wrestling / Sports Entertainment
Founded	2001
Headquarters	Dallas, Texas
Key people	Steven Caldera, President Christian Zenith, Commissioner
Programming	WorldWide, Broadcast live on X:TV
Employees	50+ (as of 1st January 2010)
Website	Official Site

Global Championship Wrestling is an active federation that is part of the Primetime Community. It is owned and operated by Caldera Enterprises, Incorporated, headed by GCW Founder and President Steven Caldera. GCW was started in 2001 and has run on and off since then.

Pre-History

Steven Caldera began in 2000 in a federation called the American Championship Wrestling Federation. GCW fans may recognize the anagram as the very same as GCW's most legendary match. The ACWF was short lived, but it gave Caldera the contacts necessary to begin forming the core for GCW. There he first worked with Mr. Danger, Khan, Octavian, and best friend The Jhub.

During his time in the ACWF, Caldera suffered a severe knee injury that hampered him for the remainder of his career. Due to the nature of the injury, Caldera opted to find his next job as a leader rather than a wrestler. Caldera brought his ACWF friends to the Krotzer's CWU. The CWU operated very successfully under Caldera's guidance, but eventually a leadership dispute caused the CWU to close. Caldera took an expanded core, now including such originals as Toxic, Toad and Rich Rollins to his new promotion. GCW was born in 2001 from this core.

History of GCW: 2001-2002

The history of Global Championship wrestling is deep and rich indeed, and is inextricably linked to the history of its founder. Though GCW’s President Steven Caldera is fond of reminding us of it, it cannot be denied that his history and GCW’s are one in the same, and therefore we must examine his roots to find GCW’s.

The story of GCW goes back to the year 2000. It was then that a young Steven Caldera broke into wrestling, finding himself in a small promotion called the American Championship Wrestling Federation. The ACWF was run by a man called Mr. Danger, who quickly saw promise in Caldera. Within one month of breaking into the business, Caldera won his first World Championship belt. It was during this time that Caldera met a young Rock impersonator, who would later become better known as Octavian, linked up with future henchman Khan, met Mike Hardy and wrestled with lifelong friend The Jhub. Mr. Danger himself would become a sometime road agent for Caldera’s future ventures.

However, the ACWF shut down shortly thereafter and Caldera found himself unemployed. Then, through a series of odd circumstances, Caldera found himself in contact with the owner of a larger company, the CWU. The owner, Nathan K-------, offered Caldera a wrestling position, but Caldera opted for a spot backstage. Commissioner Caldera was born, and Caldera’s foray into management had begun. K------- departed a few months after Caldera arrived, and Caldera began a rapid rise to power, slowly assuming total control of the company. Despite the suspicious nature of his ascent, Caldera became wildly popular due to quickly rising ratings and the overall success of the company. The CWU thrived for several months until K------- returned and a struggle for power began. Ultimately Caldera stepped down and the CWU closed its doors, once again leaving Caldera unemployed, but setting the stage for GCW to be born. It was in the Cyber Wrestling Union that Caldera first came into contact with CWU mainstays Toad, John Reed, ‘Blockbuster’ Kurt Richards, and future GCW Hall of Famer Rich ‘The Renegade’ Rollins.

Caldera spent the next several weeks in hiding, regrouping after being forced out of the company and in quiet negotiations with his many contacts. When Caldera re-emerged, he had established a new company: Global Championship Wrestling. He invested every time he had in the new promotion and signed the majority of the former CWU roster to GCW contracts, forming the foundation for the company. GCW picked right up where the CWU had left off, and quickly surpassed the success of its predecessor due to Caldera’s limitless vision.

GCW’s first incarnation ran from February 2001 to July 2002, becoming known as one of the world’s premier wrestling organizations during this time. However, Caldera had formed his parent company, Caldera Enterprises, Incorporated, and his interest in GCW waned. With the established talent of GCW also in need of a break, the company closed its doors and would remain dormant for quite some time.

Caldera did attempt to resurrect the company under a new name, X:Wrestling, but the company lasted only five shows. Toxic won the X:Wrestling World Title against Twizzy, but the X:Wrestling Championship history has been merged with the GCW World Title and the two companies are now indistinguishable from one another.

GCW remained in stasis for some time. The talent scattered and Caldera began working for a variety of large promotions around the country. During this time a number of the world’s premier wrestlers began an exodus from their home companies, and Caldera was approached to re-open GCW to provide a home for these exiled stars. GCW very nearly re-opened in 2003 with this new incredible list of talent, but the situation calmed down and the relaunch was nixed.

After another two years of quiet, the core talent of GCW came together to reopen the company in February 2005. GCW has been running ever since.

Television

Current

GCW's current television program is WorldWide. It airs at 8PM EST on X:TV.

Former

GCW's former television program was Meltdown. It aired on Thursdays on USA before moving to X:TV.

Pay Per View

Rampage

Main Article: Rampage

January: Featuring GCW's Rampage Tournament scoring the winner a GCW World Title shot.

Warpath

Main Article: Warpath

May: The first GCW PPV ever annually pays homage to the birth of Global Championship Wrestling.

Dangerous Games

Main Article: Dangerous Games

August: GCW's most popular event, featuring a 30-wrestler battle royal for a World Title shot.

NC-17

Main Article: NC-17

November: The signature event on the GCW calendar, NC-17 features the best and biggest matches of the year.

Supercards

GCW also hosts eight supercards throughout the course of the year, aired on X:TV.

Championships

Current Champions

Championship	Current Champion	Won From
GCW World Heavyweight Title	Andy Murray	LeStatt Knight
GCW United States Title	Dan Black	AXEL Action
GCW Tag Team Titles	FishBough	Banned & Exiled~!
GCW Television Title	Cheap Labor	Cade Carson

Defunct Championships

GCW Hardcore Title
GCW Vanguard Title
GCW Cruiserweight Title
GCW Women's Title