CPWA

Chesapeake Professional Wrestling Association

Formerly	Tidewater Professional Wrestling, inc.
Sport	professional wrestling
Founded	20 March 1976 (as Tidewater Professional Wrestling) 1 January 1980 (as CPWA)
Founder	Thomas J. Daniels, Sr. (Tidewater Professional Wrestling) Thomas J. Daniels, Jr., Ray Jackson, Mark Donovan (CPWA)

The Chesapeake Professional Wrestling Association, commonly referred to as the CPWA, is an American professional wrestling company that serves the Chesapeake Bay area, hosting live events in the states of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia. Founded in 1980 after the incorporation of the Chesapeake Wrestling Alliance, the CPWA became a major player in the wrestling landscape of the Mid-Atlantic region during the height of the territory era, becoming a member of the NWA. The company is headquartered out of Norfolk, Virginia.

History

Tidewater Professional Wrestling (1976 - 1980)

Established on March 20 1976 in Virginia Beach, Tidewater Professional Wrestling (TPW) was the creation of local businessmen Thomas J. Daniels, Sr. and his son, Thomas J. Daniels, Jr. According to the younger Daniels in his memoir, his father "wanted to establish the old Tidewater not as direct competition to the big guys, but as a provider of the sport to an area that was sometimes and often neglected by them." The company held their first event on June 1 in Norfolk, where Jack "the Admiral" Dawson defeated William Wheaton to become the inaugural champion.

Tidewater Professional Wrestling would remain independent until 1978, when they joined with Northern Virginia Wrestling (NVW) and the Northern Chesapeake Wrestling Association (NCWA) to form the Chesapeake Wrestling Alliance as an attempt to avoid territorial takeover by bigger promotions such as the well-established Jim Crockett Promotions and the quickly-emerging WWF. While the three companies would retain their independence, the companies would often share and send wrestlers to each other. It was through this sharing system where the Daniels would first meet the reigning champion of the NVW, "Sweetness" Ray Jackson. Jackson would be involved in one of the first major rivalry in the company's history, challenging Dawson for the TPW Championship. On April 21 1979, Jackson defeated Dawson to become the unified champion of both NVW and TPW. NCWA champion, "Ruthless" Mark Donovan, would appear in TPW for several matches throughout May and June 1979, often challenging both Jackson and Dawson, although he himself never challenged for the TPW Championship.

Death of Thomas J. Daniels, Sr. and Dissolution of the CWA

On July 8 1979, one month after his 61st birthday, the elder Daniels suffered a massive cardiac event. He was rushed to the hospital where he later died. The death of Thomas J. Daniels, Sr. had major repercussions, both for TPW and the state of professional wrestling in the Chesapeake area as a whole. Following his will, ownership of TPW passed to Thomas J. Daniels, Jr., who saw the Chesapeake Wrestling Alliance as a way to monopolize professional wrestling on a local scale throughout the Chesapeake area.

While TPW saw a financial boom in the immediate months, thanks in part to the arrival of "Tsunami" Afa Tanaka in September, both the NCWA and NVW was on the brink of bankruptcy. On October 10, Daniels officially offered the owners of the NCWA and NVW $500,000 each to purchase their companies. While Terry Joseph, owner of NVW, agreed to the deal almost immediately, Frederick Thompson, the owner of the NCWA, held out for another month until November 10. It was rumored that Mark Donovan, who was close friends with Daniels, convinced Thompson to sell the company. With all three companies under his control, Daniels officially dissolved the Chesapeake Wrestling Alliance the following day.

Chesapeake Professional Wrestling Association

Establishment

Following his purchase of NVW and the NCWA, Daniels made plans to merge all three companies into a single entity. Jackson and Donovan agreed to be partners with Daniels in exchange for executive positions upon their retirement. The three companies was officially merged into the Chesapeake Professional Wrestling Association (CPWA) on January 1, 1980, with Daniels as CEO. The first CPWA show took place on March 1 in Portsmouth, where Dawson defeated Donovan in the main event.

The success of the CPWA's first show prompted Daniels to launch the CPWA's first major event, Showdown at the Coliseum in the iconic Hampton Coliseum on April 10. The show featured several marquee matches, including a women's match between "Elegant" Elvira Jett and Lynn Davis and the main event, where Wheaton defeated Jackson and Dawson to become the inaugural CPWA champion. Following the event's success, Daniels began to reserve venues for CPWA live events around the Hampton Roads area on a bi-weekly schedule, beginning on May 2. After the initial events in the area, Daniels began to book events for venues outside of Hampton, the first of which was held in Petersburg, VA on July 18.

The Bad Age (1980 - 1990)

The 1980s was a major boom period for professional wrestling as a whole, and the CPWA greatly benefited from this increase in popularity. During this time, the CPWA's territory began to expand north and west, hosting shows throughout the entirety of Virginia by the end of 1981. Because of their rapid territorial expansion, however, the CPWA came into conflict with Jim Crockett Jr. and Jim Crockett Promotions, who operated out of the Carolinas. In order to avoid any conflict, Daniels and Crockett agreed to stay out of each other's territory.

Jackson-Wheaton Rivalry

While the early years of the CPWA had numerous rivalries, one of the more memorable rivalries was the one between Ray Jackson and Will Wheaton over the CPWA Championship. Wheaton had held the CPWA Championship since his victory at Showdown at the Coliseum the previous year. Jackson noticed that Wheaton never faced him for a championship rematch, and began to call him a coward. After a period of initially ignoring him, Wheaton conceded to a championship match at CPWA Jamboree on Thanksgiving Day 1982. After a long match, which saw interference from Mark Donovan, Jackson won the match, securing his first CPWA title. Jackson would retain the title against Wheaton at the Rumble in Roanoke the following month, but he would lose the title to Wheaton at the Winter Classic in January 1983. Over the next several months, Jackson and Wheaton would exchange the title three times.

Merger with NYW

Main Article: New Age Wrestling