Main Event Championship Wrestling (MECW) is a privately owned professional wrestling promotion founded by Jason Daniel. The company is active in the integrated-media industry, broadcasting its events on television and the Internet. MECW also gains revenue from live events, product licensing, and direct product sales. Jason Daniel is also the President of the company and head booker for MECW events, but only currently works as a part-time wrestler on camera. The company has its headquarters in

Evansville, Indiana Evansville is a city in, and the county seat of, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. The population was 118,414 at the 2020 census, making it the state's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the largest city in ...

; its official company name Main Event Championship Wrestling, LLC operates out of its offices and studios in Evansville,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

and

Vincennes, Indiana Vincennes is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Indiana, United States. It is located on the lower Wabash River in the southwestern part of the state, nearly halfway between Evansville and Terre Haute. Founded in 1732 by French fur ...

. The current owner recognizes prior use of the "Main Event Championship Wrestling" name by

Reno Riggins Neal Hargrove, better known by his ring name, Reno Riggins, (born January 13, 1967) is an American professional wrestler. Riggins has competed in Southeastern independent promotions including the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) during th ...

and Steve Doll. The company also recognizes prior use of the MECW name by former promoter John Collins. Reno Riggins and Steve Doll started running a promotion under the MECW name in 1999. According to Jason Daniel, in early 2001,

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 Jason Daniel facilitated the assumed transactional purchase of the MECW set from Reno Riggins and Steve Doll on behalf of former promoter John Collins. This transaction only consisted of an 18 x 18 foot wrestling ring, MECW vinyl banners and 3 championship title belts. With the WWF buyout of

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nati ...

, many thought Main Event Championship Wrestling was going to be the next big professional wrestling promotion. In late 2001, John Collins found himself in legal trouble and the promotion ran by Collins, which used the MECW name, ceased to exist. Since then, Jason Daniel has not only revived the Main Event Championship Wrestling name, but he has also filed the Articles of Incorporation making Main Event Championship Wrestling, LLC a legal entity. On February 15, 2011, Main Event Championship Wrestling was filed to be a registered Trademark of Main Event Championship Wrestling, LLC.

History

Formation

The concept of the revival of the MECW name originated shortly after the end of Jason Cain's time as head booker at an

based local independent promotion, which ran out of the Evansville Veterans Memorial Coliseum. A group, which included: Jason Cain, Chris Thomas, Wade Givens, Josh Stratton, Kyle Wood and John Cooper walked away from the Coliseum group citing they no longer wished to be a part of the promotion as they didn't see it going anywhere, especially if the owners insisted on using untrained self-proclaimed wrestlers. With drawing a consistent 30+ fans each week, this group mentioned above no longer wanted to be associated with the Coliseum-based promotion. Later, with help from Jeremy Lewis and Eric Gilley, they all realized each had similar vision of a much bigger promotion, which led them to organize their debut show at The Centre in downtown Evansville, Indiana. This debut show, titled MECW Arrives, featured a double main event. The first main event match consisted of former TNA Tag Team Champion, "Natural"

Chase Stevens Chase Bradley Stevens (born January 17, 1979) is an American professional wrestler, best known under the ring name of "The Natural" Chase Stevens. He is known primarily for his work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where he was a member ...

vs TNA Founder,

Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett (born July 14, 1967) is an American professional wrestler and promoter. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also serves as Director of Business Development. Beginning his career in his father ...

. The headlined main event consisted of former OVW Superstar, Dirty Money vs WWE Hall of Famer,

Jerry "The King" Lawler Jerry O'Neil Lawler (born November 29, 1949), better known as Jerry "The King" Lawler, is an American color commentator and professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, although he has not performed as a full-time commentator since Ap ...

. This show received high praise as the show that featured two active wrestlers from both

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vari ...

and TNA under one roof.

Expansion

MECW aired its first TV show on this station on September 4, 2010. Shortly after, with the suggestion from the live commentators (Nic Wood and Kyle Wood), the company began its talk show segments known as the "Main Event Freestyle". With the success and local popularity of this TV show, this led MECW Management to make a decision to seek even more households via larger networks. MECW is currently in negotiations with a major affiliate network. MECW is also currently mapping out a new territory system, in which they hope to implement sometime in late 2011.

House shows and touring

Apart from their TV tapings, MECW has also produced DVDs of various live events. MECW Arrives, MECW Returns and MECW Supershow at

Vincennes University Vincennes University (VU) is a public college with its main campus in Vincennes, Indiana. Founded in 1801 as Jefferson Academy, VU is the oldest public institution of higher learning in Indiana. VU was chartered in 1806 as the Indiana Terri ...

. Since MECW's inception by Jason Daniel, the MECW live events have been held in Evansville, Monroe City, Cannelton and Vincennes, Indiana. Other shows and TV Tapings include, July 31, 2010 in Monroe City, IN. Also, August 14, 2010, which featured Former NWA/TNA Tag Team Champion,

vs Former WWE Superstar, 'Psycho' Sid Vicious in Evansville, IN. Also, an August 28, 2010 show featured Former

Spirit Squad member, Kenny Dykstra. Another show on January 15, 2011. MECW began using the title "Main Event Experience" for its TV Tapings, as well as its CBS Affiliate MY44 TV show. Benefit show - On July 31, 2010, Main Event Championship Wrestling participated in carrying out a wrestling show to help benefit three different organizations, Survivors of Suicide, Muscular Dystrophy Foundation and Helping Area Residents Through Tragedy. This show was put on last minute, because the group that was supposed to put on the show backed out at the last minute. Prior to this inception, MECW events spanned from Vincennes to

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, and

, as well as Nashville, Kingsport and various other cities in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Personnel

Creative team

In the John Collins era, the creative team consisted of Mark Mayhugh, Jeff Lane, Chase Stevens and Jason Cain. The Sandman booked the MECW Philly Show
MECW in Philly at the ECW Arena
. ClassicWrestlingDVDs.info. 08-11-2001 Philadelphia, PA show. This team was grouped for all other MECW business. This group also primarily booked towns for live events as well. Currently, Jason Daniel holds the position of head talent booker. He also leads the creative team of Chris Thomas and Wade Givens, with additional creative input from a TV production standpoint from Tracey Russell, Jeremy Lewis, Josh Stratton, Kyle Wood and Chad Matthews.

Authority figures

When MECW once again launched in 2010, it billed the on-air authority figure as a representative appointed by Main Event Championship Wrestling. This authority figure was known as MECW Executive Vice President, Alexander C. West. It did this for storyline purposes only. As storylines progressed, Alexander C. West became quite a notable heel with less than favorable "Management decisions". This later prompted the "release" of A.C. West and opened the door for a new authority figure, known as the new Executive Vice President, Chad Matthews. This person still currently holds this authority figure role. A.C. West since returned, once again as the Manager of Champions. The storyline found him returning, not as an MECW employee, but as an independently contracted Manager hired by each individual wrestler to get "around" his formal release.

MECW contracts

MECW wrestlers are not currently under any exclusive contract. The roster of MECW wrestlers are paid on a per appearance basis. This includes wrestlers currently under WWE and TNA contracts. Like

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and va ...

and

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promo ...

, MECW wrestlers are classified as

independent contractors Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any oth ...

and are not entitled to form workers' unions or employer health coverage.