Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling was a Southeastern independent professional wrestling promotion based in Marietta , Georgia . It was founded by retired wrestler and former NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dusty Rhodes in 2000 and , during its three years in operation , held events throughout the Southern United States in Virginia , Tennessee , Florida , Georgia and Alabama ; it was especially popular in Atlanta , Georgia and Dothan , Alabama where the promotion regularly held events . TCW also cooperated with rival independent promotions by holding interpromotional shows with Florida Championship Wrestling . The promotion , at its height , had a successful weekly television series in the Atlanta - Macon , Georgia area and had planned to air one live pay - per - view event before its close in 2003 . TCW later became home to many high - profile wrestlers after the close of World Championship Wrestling , and later Extreme Championship Wrestling , in 2001 . Among the former WCW roster included Sean Evans , Disco Inferno , David Flair , Lodi , Daffney Glacier , Ron Reis , Sonny Siaki , Scotty Riggs , Larry Zbyszko , Scott Hall , and The Public Enemy ( Rocco Rock & Johnny Grunge ) , all of whom would win championship titles . His son Dustin Rhodes , who at the time was also wrestling for the World Wrestling Entertainment as Goldust , also had a central role in the promotion and briefly held the TCW Heavyweight Championship in early 2002 . From ECW , Yoshihiro Tajiri and Super Crazy continued their long - running feud . The " heel stable " The Extreme Horsemen was formed by ex - ECW stars Steve Corino , Barry Windham and C . W . Anderson . Windham ' s brother , Kendall , also made occasional appearances for the promotion . Older stars such as father and son " Bullet " Bob and Scott Armstrong , Manny Fernandez , Bobby Eaton , Ricky Morton , female wrestlers Leilani Kai , Malia Hosaka and Kim Neilson , and independent wrestlers Jorge Estrada , Jason Sugarman and Steve " The Brawler " Lawler were part of the roster as well . Damian Steele , one - half of Ebony & Ivory with Ray Gordy in Deep South Wrestling , got his start in Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling . Erik Watts and Chad Fortune , who previously teamed together in the World Wrestling Federation as Tekno Team 2000 , also competed in the promotion . History . Dusty Rhodes began plans for organizing a new promotion based in the state of Georgia in 1999 , later establishing offices in East Cobb County , Georgia . It would be , said Rhodes , a southern promotion that was " old school but with modern ideas " . Early the next year , he started promoting local wrestling events in Georgia , Alabama and Tennessee as part of " The American Dream Tour 2000 " . The first official event held by TCW took place in Ashburn , Georgia on July 6 , 2000 , and crowned its first heavyweight champion , Glacier , defeating Jorge Estrada in tournament final . Rhodes , who had previous experience as a booker and television producer for Jim Crockett Promotions and World Championship Wrestling , was able to get a television show aired in Atlanta and Macon , Georgia and soon began negotiating with the Sunshine Network hoping to build on the traditional wrestling fanbase in the Southern , Gulf Coast and Mid - Atlantic region . In early 2001 , the closings of World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling resulted in the appearance of many of its former stars in TCW . Sean " Shocker " Evans , a trainer at the WCW Power Plant , joined the promotion early on and helped bring in several former WCW stars . One of these was former manager / valet Daffney whose ex - husband , Rich Ward , was a friend of Evans . She was one of four female wrestlers who competed for the promotion , the others being Kim Neilson , Leilani Kai and Malia Hosaka . A house show in Winchester , Tennessee on February 17 , later released on VHS , featured former ECW stars Yoshihiro Tajiri and Super Crazy , WCW veterans Ron Reis , Glacier , Scott Anton and , in the main event , a tag team match between Dusty Rhodes and Barry Windham against Erik Watts and Steve Corino . Female wrestlers Leilani Kai and Malia Hosaka also participated in an exhibition match . The next night in Carrollton , Georgia featured a " Rookies " Battle Royal , showcasing the younger up - and - coming wrestlers in the promotion , and Dusty Rhodes with a mystery partner in a tag team match against Erik Watts and Steve " The Brawler " Lawler . On March 3 , Scott " The Clap " Anton and " The Extreme Dream " Erik Watts became the first TCW Tag Team Champions defeating Glacier and Jorge Estrada in Dothan , Alabama . In April , Rhodes announced that the promotion would be airing its first PPV event that fall , originally on Thanksgiving night in Charlotte , North Carolina , and that TCW would also be airing on television . The series , Rhodes claimed , would feature regular TV appearances by some of the more recognizable wrestlers in professional wrestling , most notably , his son Dustin Rhodes . Scott Hall also joined the promotion and made his official in - ring debut at a special house show in Dothan on May 12 . On June 16 in Calhoun , Georgia , Larry Zbyszko made an appearance to take on Dusty Rhodes in the main event . Though starting off as a singles match , it was turned into a tag team match following outside interference by Luther Biggs and " Cowboy " Bobby Hayes . The match was eventually won by Rhodes and Hayes . The promotion also continued to hold regular monthly shows at the Houston County Farm Center in Dothan , Alabama between July and December 2001 . The next month , Rhodes teamed with his son Dustin , then making his TCW debut less than three days after his WCW contract expired , at a Dothan house show on August 4 . Together they faced C . W . Anderson and the masked wrestler American Nightmare in the main event . Dustin Rhodes was highly supportive of TCW as he explained in an August 2001 interview with Greg Oliver , " " TCW is the alternative to the World Wrestling Federation . To me in my mind , my opinion , and my dad ' s opinion , we are the World Wrestling Federation ' s competition . We are not an independent , we are a company . We want to be treated as one . So we ' re going to do everything we can to make it a respectable , family entertainment business . " " Having begun holding events in Florida that year , Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling began branching out to rival promotions . Among these was NWA Florida , a promotion Rhodes ' himself competed earlier in his career , and two of their stars , Jason Sugarman and Jorge Estrada , appeared at the August 21st NWA Florida show at the Fort Homer W . Hesterly Armory in Tampa , Florida . Their match was to fill in for Cyborg and Horace Hogan , both men having been injured . Steve Corino , then NWA World Heavyweight Champion , defended the title in the main event against " Iceman " Buck Quartermaine . NWA Florida stars Buck Quartermain and The New Heavenly Bodies ( Vito DeNucci and Chris Nelson ) would appear at TCW house shows in late August . A secondary title , the TCW Hardcore Championship , was established when Lodi defeated " Raging Bull " Manny Fernandez in Carrollton , Georgia on September 15 . The promotion held its first television taping , " TCW Halloween Horror Slam I " , which was later released on VHS . It featured the tag team of Bobby Eaton and Ricky Morton , the two men having experienced a fierce rivalry during the 1980s as members of The Midnight Express and The Rock ' n ' Roll Express respectively , in the semi - main event against Erik Watts and Chad Fortune . Watts and Fortune had previously teamed together in the World Wrestling Federation during the 1990s as Tekno Team 2000 . In the main event , Glacier defended the TCW Heavyweight Championship against Barry Windham . On December 28 , 2001 , TCW and NWA Florida held an interpromotional event at the Volusia County Fairgrounds in DeLand , Florida . In singles matches , Lex Lovett defeated Steve Madison , Jorge Estrada defeated Luther Biggs and Buck Quartermaine defeated Spanky Malone . In a match lasting over 30 minutes , TCW ' s Glacier and Jason Sugarman won the NWA World Tag Team Championship from The New Heavenly Bodies . In the semi - main event , TCW Heavyweight Champion Scotty Riggs kept his title via disqualification against Barry Windham . The sixth and final match was an " ECW vs . TCW " match in which Steve Corino and Jack Victory took on father and son Dusty and Dustin Rhodes . On January 26 , 2002 , Dustin Rhodes defeated Scotty Riggs to win TCW Heavyweight Championship but surrendered the title the following day with the announcement that he would be returning to WWE as a full - time competitor . Dustin wrestled a few last matches before leaving TCW . The first , on February 2 , was a 6 - man tag team TLC match with his father Dusty and Ron Studd against Scotty Riggs , Jason Sugarman and an impostor Goldust . A second match took place days later in Carrollton and resulted in a victory over Steve Corino . His third and last match was against Scotty Riggs who defeated him for the TCW Heavyweight Championship in Carrollton on March 1 . With this victory , Riggs became a record 3 - time heavyweight champion . In July 2003 , Rhodes appeared alongside sports director Mike Raita on the Paul Finebaum Radio Network and discussed both his wrestling career and Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling . However , partially due to declining business as well as increased competition from WWE , forced Rhodes to close the promotion shortly after " The Dusty 35th Anniversary Tour " that same year . The announcement followed after Rhodes signed a contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling .