MCW Pro Wrestling

History

Established by wrestlers Dan McDevitt and Mark Shrader as an extension of the wrestling school Bone Breakers Training Center, Maryland Championship Wrestling held its first card at Baltimore's Patapsco Arena on July 19, 1998, featuring Jerry Lynn, Devon Storm, Little Guido, Balls Mahoney, manager Jim Cornette and The Headbangers.

During that event, MCW held a six-man match to crown the first ever Light Heavyweight Champion. The winner of the match was Shane Shamrock and due to his shooting death by police the following month, MCW named him as the lifetime Light Heavyweight Champion and replaced it with the Cruiserweight Championship.

Throughout the next year, the promotion featured veteran wrestlers such as Ricky Steamboat, Ricky Morton, Bobby Eaton, Tito Santana, The Iron Sheik, Sherri Martel, The Road Warriors, King Kong Bundy and Jerry "The King" Lawler, the latter two winning the promotion's heavyweight championship. Longtime mainstays such as Joey Matthews, Jimmy Cicero, Judas Young and Mickie James also began gaining popularity in the promotion.

On March 27, 2002, Steve Wilkos of The Jerry Springer Show made a one night appearance teaming with Gillberg to defeat The Slackers, Chad Bowman and Dino Devine, in a tag team match in Glen Burnie, Maryland; the 1,267 in attendance setting a new record for its home arena Michael's Eighth Avenue ballroom.

After holding its final card The Last Dance: Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup on July 16, 2003 at Michael's Eighth Avenue ballroom, in which over 1,000 fans were in attendance, the promotion announced its intentions to merge Maryland Championship Wrestling with its longtime rival the Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation (McDevitt and Shrader had originally left the promotion due to a business dispute with half its roster subsequently leaving for the newly established Maryland Championship Wrestling).

Although operations officially ceased in 2003, McDevitt continued holding occasional cards exclusively at Fort Meade under the "Fort Meade Wrestling" banner during the next several years before returning booking regular MCW events again as of February 26, 2006.

MCW made Baltimore headlines in October, 2006, with the booking of WIYY morning show personalities Kirk McEwen and Mark Ondayko as part of an eight-man tag match. Participating would have been a breach of their contract with their radio station, however. In the ensuing controversy, the longtime DJs left WIYY for rival WHFS.

Although MCW had reportedly been in negotiations to become a developmental territory for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the promotion has had a longtime working relationship with the WWE as early as 2000 when a number of former WWF wrestlers made an appearance at an event at Bally's at Ocean Downs.

On April 22, 2016, it was announced that the promotion was changing its name from Maryland Championship Wrestling to MCW Pro Wrestling.

Rage TV

The promotion also has a syndicated television show, Rage TV, which is also broadcast via the internet and now in its second season. Episodes of Rage TV has also been released on DVD.

In December 2000, local television producer Natasha Small filed a complaint to city officials in Bowie, Maryland in which she claimed she and her daughter had been subject to harassment stemming from a verbal confrontation with Rage TV host Jeff Jones during a television taping at the Bowie Community Television station on October 1, 2002. Although a written response by the city manager's office condemned both parties, no criminal or civil charges were filed against Jones or Maryland Championship Wrestling. Small's claims were supported by former studio director Milly Hall who had previously filed a complaint accusing Jones of using the studio to produce tapes for sale over the internet and what she described as "pornographic-like images" appearing on the show's official website. Maryland Championship Wrestling denied these charges however and, while city officials admitted the possibility of the promotion using the show to "assist a commercial venture", the city notified producers of new policy updates to guard against such assistance.

In April 2011, Rage TV came back to the air waves with shows taped at Gillberg's Professional Wrestling Academy in Severn, MD. The show is hosted by country music singer and "the voice of MCW", Mark Bray and Maryland Wrestling representative Duane "Gillberg" Gill. MCW Rage episodes run 30 minutes each week.

Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup

One of the featured events held by Maryland Championship Wrestling, the Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup, is an annual tournament held since 1999. The format of the tournament sees twelve wrestlers competing in six one-on-one matches, and the six winners advance to an elimination match finale. The tournament is named in honor of Shane Shamrock, a popular MCW wrestler who was shot and killed during an altercation with police officers in 1998. The previous month, Shamrock had become first and only MCW Light Heavyweight Champion, having won the belt in a six-way match and was retired following his death.

Ring of Honor: Survival of the Fittest

When MCW closed its doors in 2003, an arrangement was made with Ring of Honor, when it made its debut in the Baltimore area, to carry on the tradition of the Shane Shamrock Cup. At ROH's The Last Stand, it was announced ROH would continue the Shane Shamrock Cup on June 24, 2004. In March 2004, Rob Feinstein was forced to step down as owner of ROH when his legal problems became public. Less than a week before the tournament, Feinstein sold his share of ROH to Cary Silkin, proving he had actually had stake in the company for the past three months. This upset Maryland promoter Dick Caricofe, who was letting ROH use his Maryland Promoter's License, so he pulled out of the show. ROH was forced to move the show to Philadelphia, PA and renamed the show Survival of the Fittest. Survival of the Fittest has since become an annual ROH tournament.

Return of the Shane Shamrock Cup

When MCW reopened in February 2006, it was announced that they were bringing back the Shane Shamrock Cup. On July 9 in Dundalk, Maryland, the 2006 Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup took place with Ruckus ending up winning the tournament. He also won the MCW Cruiserweight Championship during the tournament's finals.

MCW Shamrock Cup X

Maryland Championship Wrestling held its 10th Annual Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup (Branded as "MCW Shamrock Cup X") on July 31, 2010. The number one contender for the MCW Heavyweight Championship title, Ryan McBride opened the night in singles competition against reigning and defending champion Patrick Brink, defeating him (despite interference by Adam Cole and Tyler Hilton who were headed off by Cobian and Tommy Dreamer) with the 450° Splash to become the new MCW Heavyweight Champion.

Defending tag-team champions Team MackTion would face off against The Hit Squad, CA Elliott and Nui Tofiga, and The Holy Rollers in a Fatal Four-Way Tag Team match. As a result of an attack on Nui Tofiga by his partner, CA Elliot, The Holy Rollers were able to pin Nui Tofiga and become the new Tag Team Champions.

Later in the night, Adam Cole and Tyler Hilton would issue a challenge to Tommy Dreamer that if they won, they would be able to participate in the upcoming TNA Pay-per-view event, Hardcore Justice. Tommy Dreamer accepted under the provision that if he won, his tag team partner, Cobian, would become the new MCW Rage champion. Adam Cole would be made to submit by Cobian by way of a Backbreaker. MCW Shamrock Cup X also saw the return of Mickie James to Maryland Championship Wrestling in a singles competition against Mia Yim, who she defeated with a Mickie-DT; and a "Battle of the Blogs" match featuring The Baltimore Sun's sports columnist, Peter Schmuck, and Fed-Up who were defeated in a Six-Man Tag Team match against The Baltimore Sun wrestling columnist, Kevin Eck, Cole Calloway, and Ronnie Zukko by way of a Cutter from Kevin Eck to Peter Schmuck.

Prior to the nights events, several qualifying matches were held in a tournament to find out who would be participating in the six-man elimination-style bout. Because Ryan McBride had won the previous year, he did not have to qualify for the match. Rich Swann defeated Ruckus, Sami Callihan defeated Scott Reed, Teddy Stigma defeated Joe Ettell, and Tommaso Ciampa defeated Bobby Shields to qualify for The Cup. Christian York, taking the place of a recently retired Jose Maximo, would qualify for the Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup by defeating The Best Around. He would then go on to defeat (in order of elimination from last to first) Ryan McBride, Teddy Stigma, Tommaso Ciampa, Rich Swann, and Sami Callihan to win the Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup, making him becoming the first man to do so three times.

MCW Shane Shamrock Cup 13

The 13th MCW Shane Shamrock Cup was held on August 10, 2013.

MCW Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup 2014

The 14th Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup was held on July 19, 2014 in Joppa, Maryland.

MCW Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup XV (2015)

The 15th annual Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup took place on July 18th, 2015 at the MCW Arena in Joppa, Maryland.

MCW Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup XVI (2016)

The 16th annual Shane Shamrock Memorial Cup took place on July 16th, 2016 at the MCW Arena in Joppa, Maryland.

MCW Hall of Fame

The MCW Hall of Fame is an American professional wrestling hall of fame maintained by the Dundalk-based promotion Maryland Championship Wrestling (MCW). It was established in 2009 to honor wrestlers who have wrestled for the promotion.

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