Championship Pro Wrestling, also known as CPW, is an independent professional wrestling promotion based in the panhandle of West Virginia. The promotion was founded in April 1997, running its first show on April 19, 1997. CPW is currently owned by a combination of Michael Heimberger, Pat McNeill and John Ellifritz.

CPW currently runs fifteen professional wrestling shows per year. The promotion's "home" arena is the Keyser Fire Hall in Keyser, West Virginia. Other regular CPW venues include Romney Middle School in Romney, Moorefield High School in Moorefield, Riverbend Park in Falling Waters and Paw Paw High School (the "Pirates Cove") in Paw Paw. Tickets for CPW shows usually cost between five and twelve dollars. CPW's shows usually take place on Saturday evenings, beginning at 7:30 PM.

The Championship Pro Wrestling website is located at CPWwrestling.com. The CPW website contains CPW's online television prgram, "CPW Showdown", a thirty minute show which is posted once every two weeks.

Over the years, several former WWE wrestlers have appeared on CPW events. They include Tito Santana, Greg "The Hammer" Valentine, The Masked Superstar, Demolition Ax, Nikolai Volkoff, Buddy Landell, The Patriot, The Barbarian, Leilani Kai and The Iron Shiek. Through the years, CPW has also welcomed other prominent independent wrestlers, including Christian York, Glen Osbourne, Jimmy Cicero, Sean Lei, Ruckus and Necro Butcher.

Championship Pro Wrestling has received some critical acclaim within the industry, and has a small but devoted group of fans. The promotion relies on a core group of personalities who have remained with CPW for the past several years, including "Sexy" Shane Shadows, "Mega Rocker" Bob Keller, "Kingpin" Gino Sammartino, Switchblade, "Renegade" Richie Stevens, Brian "Big" Johnson, Spike Callahan and "The Big Guy" Patrick Lawson.

While CPW is a small promotion, several performers have made the move from CPW to the national wrestling scene, including Mickie James, Christopher Nowinski, Drew Hankinson and Julio Dinero. Former CPW wrestler Mike Taylor is currently under contract to Deep South Wrestling, LLC, WWE's developmental promotion in Georgia.

CPW's current title holders are:

- "Highwayman" Leslie Leatherman (CPW Unified Heavyweight Champion)

- Damage Incorporated (CPW Tag Team Champions)

- "One Man Warning" Bill Bain (CPW West Virginia Champion)

External links

Championship Pro Wrestling website