| Florida Championship Wrestling | |
| Type: | Private |
| Founded: | June 26, 2007 |
| Defunct: | August 14, 2012 |
| Founder: | Steve Keirn |
| Industry: | Professional wrestling |
| Location: | Tampa, Florida, U.S. |
| Owner: | Steve Keirn |
| Fate: | Relaunched into NXT |
| Successor: | NXT (WWE brand) |
Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) was a professional wrestling promotion based on the former National Wrestling Alliance member promotion, Championship Wrestling from Florida, which operated from 1961 until 1987.[1] From October 2007[2] to August 2012,[3] the promotion served as the official developmental territory for WWE. In August 2012, WWE re-branded Florida Championship Wrestling into NXT for their developmental territory, with storylines and championships being discontinued.[4]
In March 2020 a documentary was released on WWE Network titled A Future WWE: The FCW Story, about the professional wrestlers that came up through the FCW system.[5]
The promotion was started by Steve Keirn in 2007[6] and became WWE's second developmental territory when they ended their relationship with the Georgia-based Deep South Wrestling in April 2007.[7] It became their sole developmental territory in early 2008 when they ceased affiliation with Ohio Valley Wrestling.[8]
FCW's debut show was on June 26, 2007 at Tampa, Florida's Dallas Bull. A 21-man Battle Royal was held during the show, to crown the first ever FCW Southern Heavyweight Champion.[9] The next year, the Florida Heavyweight Championship was introduced,[10] with Jake Hager becoming the first champion at a February 15 show after surviving a Battle Royal and defeating Ted DiBiase, Jr.[11] The Florida Tag Team Championship was also introduced in February, with the Puerto Rican Nightmares (Eddie Colón and Eric Pérez) beating Steven Lewington and Heath Miller to win it in the finals of a one night tournament.[12] The singles titles were later unified, keeping the "Florida Heavyweight" name and championship.[13]
On July 7, 2008, WWE confirmed that FCW was based on the original independent Championship Wrestling from Florida promotion, which operated from 1961 until 1987. The program's ending consisted of various clips from the ending of CWF's programs, featuring Gordon Solie's classic sign-off line "So long from the Sunshine State", accompanied by Solie winking one of his eyes and waving two fingers upward.
On July 17, 2008, the FCW Arena was officially opened,[14] and included a taping of the debut episode of FCW TV.[15]
On March 20, 2012, it was reported that WWE would cease operation at Florida Championship Wrestling; however, this statement was later refuted after Steve Keirn denied the claim.[16] WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and Live Events, Triple H, stated WWE will be ramping up their development system, not shutting it down.[17]
In August 2012, WWE dropped the FCW name, deactivated the titles, and began running all of its developmental events and operations under the "NXT Wrestling" banner. WWE had been using the NXT name for a television program featuring rookies from FCW competing to become WWE main roster wrestlers, though the reality television aspects of the show had been dropped earlier in 2012; WWE NXT now serves as the primary television program for the NXT Wrestling promotion.[4]
| FCW | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | Notes | ||||
| FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship | Contested for in their heavyweight division | ||||
| FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship | Retired after being unified with the FCW Florida Heavyweight Championship | ||||
| FCW Jack Brisco 15 Championship | Contested in 15-minute Iron Man matches | ||||
| FCW Florida Tag Team Championship | Contested for in the tag team division | ||||
| FCW Divas Championship | Contested for in the women's division | ||||
| Queen of FCW | A crown was held by the title holder, rather than a championship belt that is primarily used in professional wrestling. | ||||
The following is a list of notable FCW alumni that were called to the main roster of WWE.
| Ring name | Real name | |
|---|---|---|
| AJ Lee | April Mendez[18] | |
| Aksana | Živilė Raudonienė[19] | |
| Alberto Del Rio | José Rodríguez[20] | |
| Alex Riley | Kevin Kiley Jr.[21] | |
| Alicia Fox | Victoria Crawford[22] | |
| Tyler Kluttz[23] | ||
| Windham Rotunda[24] | ||
| Brianna Danielson[25] | ||
| Brodus Clay | George Murdoch[26] | |
| Big E | Ettore Ewen[27] | |
| Cameron | Ariane Andrew[28] | |
| Cesaro | Claudio Castagnoli[29] | |
| Brian Myers[30] | ||
| Curtis Axel | Joseph Hennig[31] | |
| Aron Haddad[32] | ||
| Bryan Danielson[33] | ||
| Frederick Rosser III[34] | ||
| David Otunga | David Otunga Sr.[35] | |
| Dean Ambrose | Jonathan Good[36] | |
| Dolph Ziggler | Nicholas Nemeth[37] | |
| Andrew Galloway[38] | ||
| Epico | Orlando Colón[39] | |
| Matthew Korklan[40] | ||
| Ezekiel Jackson | Rycklon Stephens[41] | |
| Fandango | Curtis Hussey[42] | |
| Heath Slater | Heath Miller[43] | |
| Donald Hager Jr.[44] | ||
| Nathan Everhart | ||
| Joshua Fatu[45] | ||
| Jonathan Fatu[46] | ||
| Yuvraj Dhesi[47] | ||
| Justin Gabriel | Paul Lloyd Jr.[48] | |
| Kaitlyn | Celeste Bonin[49] | |
| Kofi Kingston | Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah[50] | |
| Maryse | Maryse Ouellet | |
| Michael Tarver | Tyrone Evans | |
| Naomi | Trinity Fatu[51] | |
| Natalya | Natalie Neidhart[52] | |
| Stephanie Garcia-Colace[53] | ||
| Paige | Saraya-Jade Bevis[54] | |
| Primo Colón | Edwin Colón[55] | |
| Jesús Rodríguez[56] | ||
| Richard Blood Jr.[57] | ||
| Roman Reigns | Leati Anoaʻi[58] | |
| Milena Roucka[59] | ||
| Rusev | Miroslav Barnyashev | |
| Ryback | Ryback Reeves[60] | |
| Serena Deeb | Serena Deeb | |
| Seth Rollins | Colby Lopez[61] | |
| Sin Cara | Jorge Arias[62] | |
| Sheamus | Stephen Farrelly[63] | |
| Danielle Moinet | ||
| Sarona Snuka-Polamalu[64] | ||
| Theodore DiBiase Jr.[65] | ||
| Thaddeus Bullard Sr.[66] | ||
| Tiffany | Taryn Terrell | |
| Tonga Loa | Tevita Fifita[67] | |
| Gabbi Tuft[68] | ||
| Tyler Breeze | Mattias Clement | |
| Tyson Kidd | Theodore Wilson[69] | |
| Wade Barrett | Stuart Bennett[70] | |
| Yoshi Tatsu | Naofumi Yamamoto[71] |