Innovate Pro Wrestling (formerly Championship Wrestling Alliance and NWA Smoky Mountain) is an American

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

promotion based in

Kingsport, Tennessee Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 55,442. Lying along the Holston River, Kingsport is commonly included in what is known as the Mountain Empire, w ...

. The company was established in 2004 and until 2017 it was associated with the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

. During its time in the NWA, NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling was considered the flagship promotion of the

History

The promotion was founded by wrestler Tony Givens in 2004, as the Championship Wrestling Alliance, after breaking away from

Southern States Wrestling Southern States Wrestling is an American independent professional wrestling promotion based in Kingsport, Tennessee. Founded by wrestler Beau James in early 1991, SSW (along with NWA Bluegrass) succeeded Smoky Mountain Wrestling as the top promo ...

. That same year, ''Championship Wrestling TV'' began airing locally on WCYB-DT2 and was later syndicated nationally on AMG-TV. It held weekly television tapings at the

National Guard Armory A National Guard Armory, National Guard Armory Building, or National Guard Readiness Center is any one of numerous buildings of the U.S. National Guard where a unit trains, meets, and parades. A readiness center supports the training, administrati ...

Morristown, Tennessee Morristown is a city in and the county seat of Hamblen County, Tennessee, United States. Morristown also extends into Jefferson County on the western and southern ends. The city's population was recorded to be 30,431 at the 2020 United States cen ...

as well as house shows throughout

East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 count ...

. The promotion joined the

as NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling in early-2011. The announcement was made by CWA Commissioner Robbie Cassidy on the March 13th TV taping of ''Championship Wrestling TV'' in

Gray, Tennessee Gray is a census-designated place (CDP) in Washington County, Tennessee, United States and a rural suburb of Johnson City. It is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City– Kingsport&nda ...

. On July 7, 2012, an unidentified fan attacked Cassidy and Tony Givens at an interpromotional show co-hosted by the Pro Wrestling Federation. The fan was subdued by Cassidy and police escorted him out of the building. On April 6, 2013, NWA Smoky Mountain drew its biggest crowd to date with 2,017 fans attending a ''NWA Smoky Mountain TV'' television taping at

Elizabethton High School Elizabethton is a city in, and the county seat of Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Elizabethton is the historical site of the first independent American government (known as the Watauga Association, created in 1772) located west of both t ...

. In October 2013, Givens attempted to raise $15,000 on Kickstarter.com to improve the production values for ''NWA Smoky Mountain TV''. The appeal raised only $1,485 before the 60-day deadline. The show became available on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

the following year. NWA Smoky Mountain is advertised as a "

spiritual successor A spiritual successor (sometimes called a spiritual sequel) is a product or fictional work that is similar to, or directly inspired by, another previous work, but (unlike a traditional prequel or sequel) does not explicitly continue the product lin ...

" of the original

Smoky Mountain Wrestling Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette. The promotion was based in Knoxville, Tennessee, wit ...

and has used a mix of SMW alumni and younger Southern independent wrestlers since its inception. Among the SMW talent to appear for the promotion include, most notably,

Bunkhouse Buck James "Jimmy" Golden (born August 1, 1950) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under the ring name Bunkhouse Buck. He also appeared in WWE as Jack Swagger Sr. A member o ...

Eddie Golden Harold Edward Cox (born November 4, 1973) is a semi-retired American professional wrestler and trainer better known by his ring name Eddie Golden. He was one of the top junior heavyweights in the Southern United States during the 1990s and won nu ...

Tom Prichard Thomas Prichard (born August 18, 1959) is a retired American professional wrestler and author. He is the older brother of Bruce Prichard. Professional wrestling career Early career (1979–1986) Tom Prichard began his career in Los Angeles ...

Tracy Smothers Tracy Stanton Smothers (September 2, 1962 – October 28, 2020) was an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation, and Extreme Champ ...

and

Ricky Morton Richard Wendell Morton (born September 21, 1956) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, currently performing on the independent circuit. He is the current GCW Television Champion, after pinning Matt Cardona at GCW Say You Wi ...

. On January 6, 2014, Morton defeated

Chase Owens Chase Owens (チェーズ・オーエンズ ''Chēzu Ōenzu'', born March 7, 1990) is an American professional wrestler currently signed with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a member of Bullet Club. He is a former IWGP Tag Team Champ ...

at an NWA Smoky Mountain show to win the

NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship The NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Created in 1945, the title is competed for by junior heavyweight wrestlers. History The first NWA World Junior ...

. A number of top NWA stars have also visited the promotion. In February 2015,

Jason Kincaid Jason Kincaid is an American professional wrestler best known for his time in Evolve, Dramatic Dream Team (DDT) in Japan and Ring Of Honor. He is also known for competing on the United States independent scene and within the National Wrest ...

was interviewed on ''Pipebomb Radio''. He was billed as the longest-reigning

NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship The NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship or ''Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship'' was one of two identically named regional championship titles, a Southern and Northern division promoted by Southeast Championship Wrestling. The Southern d ...

in the company's history. On April 17, 2015,

Jax Dane Jackson Dane Laymon (born April 10, 1981) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Jax Dane. He is known for his tenure with various National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) member promotions. He is a former NWA World Hea ...

won the '' Smoky Mountain Cup'' and earned a title shot for the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship is a world heavyweight professional wrestling championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professional wrestling promotion. The current champion is Tyrus, who is in ...

. He defeated then champion

Hiroyoshi Tenzan is a Japanese professional wrestler who currently works for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and is better known by his ring name . With Satoshi Kojima, in 2008, they won the World's Strongest Tag Determination League in All Japan Pro Wrestling and the G ...

for the title four months later. NWA Smoky Mountain's "Collision Course 10", held on May 9, 2015, nearly sold out the Civic Auditorium in

Bobby Eaton Bobby Lee Eaton (August 14, 1958 – August 4, 2021) was an American professional wrestler best known as "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton. He was most famous for his work in tag teams, especially as one-half of The Midnight Express. Under the managemen ...

also made a special appearance managing Eddie Golden against Jeff Tankersley on the undercard. Larry Goodman of GeorgiaWrestlingHistory.com claimed that the show, headlined by an

A.J. Styles Allen Neal Jones (born June 2, 1977), better known by his ring name AJ Styles (also stylized as A.J. Styles), is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Regarded as one of the best ...

versus Chase Owens bout, " hatteredthe company's attendance and gate records". NWA President R. Bruce Tharpe visited Kingsport for the first time at this event. On October 17, 2015, NWA Smoky Mountain held a special tribute show, "Enter the Dragon", for

Ricky Steamboat Richard Henry Blood Sr. (born February 28, 1953), better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his work with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Jim Crockett Promot ...

. Steamboat served as Ricky Morton's cornerman in a "student vs. teacher" grudge match against

Kid Kash David Tyler Cash (born July 31, 1969) better known by his ring name Kid Kash, is an American mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, best known for his tenures with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (T ...

as part of Kash's retirement tour. This turned a no-holds-barred grudge match after a falling out between the two during a tag team bout. At ReGenesis on August 19, 2017; promoter Tony Givens announced that NWA Smoky Mountain Wrestling was leaving the NWA, and thus the promotion was changing their name to Innovate Wrestling.