Continental Wrestling Association (CWA)

[7.0] "The original "sports entertainment" Wrestling territory, which is why I didn't like them growing up and only just now, this deep into life appreciate things. The biggest problem is i NEVER bought into Jerry Lawler and felt like compared to Ric Flair & Harley Race ~ he was essentially from GLOW (I know that's an extreme thought but i was young! ). I still can't stand Jerry Lawler & Bill Dundee is even worse. The promotion also liked to have abuncha NOBODIES out there more than other territories. There were also long stretches of talent droughts and the same few (not that great) guys working over and over again. With that bitching out of the way - you also have things like The Blonde Bombers, Koko Ware and Ricky Morton being blatant phenoms. The rapid ascension of Bobby Eaton. Dutch Mantell is some kind of MVP throughout. Lance Russel has one of THE BEST voices in all of wrestling history and he has such an idiosyncratic way of getting the angles and action across. The heels in Memphis were H E E L S by the way. I can't not love everything involving Jimmy Hart & there's still so much I've never seen that I'm excited for. But also, things here could get way WAY low rent. Even by my standards ~ which should be sincerely noted and understood. The lows are gutting. 6.75"

[10.0] "A very good promotion with an all-star cast so to speak. Jerry Lawler, Tojo Yamamoto, Ricky Morton, Tommy Rich, Austin Idol, etc. Lawler's feud with comedian Andy Kaufman was the stuff of legend. And it led to some of the best work in wrestling of all time. THIS is when wrestling seemed more real. As Jerry Jarrett said: "Personal issues draw money." And the feuds were believable. Those were the good old days."

[9.0] "Continental Wrestling Association is one of the best professional wrestling territory promotion of the 70s and 80s. They dominated Tennessee for years with extremely consistent cards, big matches and programs and one of the biggest feuds in wrestling with Jerry Lawler vs. Andy Kaufman. They produced some of the most innovate forms of television that are still seen by pro-wrestling fans to this day! So many future stars laced their boots here and went on to have the biggest careers that a pro wrestler can have. Overall, CWA was innovative and created history anywhere it went. [****1/2]"

[10.0] "The Memphis territory is definitely my favorite territory of all time, it's an unbelievable reunion of talent, aligned with a wrestling style that I enjoy very much, with emphasis on selling, and a lot of brawls, punches and blood. In Memphis kayfabe was sacred, you couldn't break it, even in real life, and that made the characters super interesting and captivating, the heroes and villains were always well defined, which indicates the minimalist style that I love so much about CWA. Lawler, Kaufman, Jimmy Hart, Cornette, Funk, Lance Russell... Memphis had a lot of people that are GOAT contenders for what they do, it's unbelievable, the quality is almost unmatched, and we also had very good and important guys like Dundee, Idol, Mantel, Rude, Koko Ware, Midnight Express, Rock 'n' Roll Express, and many more... guys like Ric Flair and Randy Savage had interesting appearances too, it's a barn of legends, Jerry Jarrett's company will forever live on, and the stories they told are absolutely immortalized in the wrestling world, long live the Rasslin'."

[10.0] "Jerry Jarrett's CWA promotion may be the most innovative wrestling promotion ever in pro wrestling history. Jerry Jarrett is a master genius at his bookings. It literally went from CWA to USWA to OVW in a 25 year span. Some good angles, and some really good matches. This promotion also helped establish the early careers of Shawn Michaels, Jeff Jarrett, Jerry Lawler, Bill Dundee, Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, King Kong Bundy, and Ron Bass. Just so many careers were started or helped by the CWA. Just like the guy said below me "It was NXT before NXT." Indeed it was."

[10.0] "A territory that has produced some of the all-time greats. It was NXT before NXT. I know that's a stretch, but I feel that's the case."

[8.0] "Great classic territory, one of the best when it came to pure entertainment. It gets an 8 for their tendency to push crazy gimmick wrestlers with limited ring skills though."

[10.0] "Whether it be red-hot angles, heated feuds, bloody brawls, or all-time classic matches, Memphis Wrestling has it all. They stood the test of time and had tons of fingerprints on a variety of wrestling nowadays (or even decades ago). Their stacked roster, which consisted of a broad range of talents, is amazingly only one of the numerous wonderful things about them. Simply the GOAT of all wrestling territories."

[10.0] "Maybe the best territory ever. The wrestling was incredible and the roster was great.many of the best matches ever happened in the cwa"

[10.0] "You 'member when a believable wrestling product wasn't a pipe dream? When they were allowed to bleed and junk?"

[10.0] "Jerry Jarrett's CWA might be the best promotion of the Territory Era, full of great matches, innovative angles and an excellent talent roster."

[10.0] "Of all the territories of the classic territory system, the CWA was the most derided. And yet the most innovative and copied. The CWA has been the blueprint of the ECW and the WWE ofr decades."

[10.0] "Possibly the greatest promotion of all time. The roster, headed by Jerry Lawler, featured Bill Dundee, Tommy Rich, Jeff Jarrett, and many more. It also included, from time to time, Shawn Michaels, Marty Jannetty, Sting, Randy Savage, and countless others. It had great feuds, sold out nearly every show it held, had wild stipulations, and had that good ol' brawling style."