International Championship Wrestling International Championship Wrestling was an independent professional wrestling promotion based in Lexington , Kentucky that operated from 1978 until 1984 . It was run by WCW Hall of Fame r Angelo Poffo , the father of Randy Savage and " The Genius " Lanny Poffo . Throughout its history , ICW was considered an " outlaw " promotion , in which International Championship Wrestling was not a member of the National Wrestling Alliance and promoted shows in direct competition against NWA regional territories . History . The promotion was founded in 1978 as a rival to Ron Fuller ' s " Southeastern Championship Wrestling " and Nick Gulas " NWA Mid - American " territory , extending into Verne Gagne ' s American Wrestling Association and Dick Afflis ' World Wrestling Association territories by 1981 . Later on they ' d come in direct competition with Jerry Lawler and Jerry Jarrett ' s Continental Wrestling Association as well , operating in their territories and even managed to get several wrestlers to leave Southeastern and the CWA to join ICW . This , among other issues , would result in a series of lawsuits between Poffo and other NWA - affiliated organizations during the late 1970s and early 80s . The main stars of ICW were Poffo ' s sons Randy ( better known as " Macho Man " Randy Savage ) and Lanny ( better known as " Leaping " Lanny Poffo ) who frequently traded the promotion ' s heavyweight title between each other ; in fact only one other man ( Paul Christy ) held the ICW World Heavyweight Championship in the 6 years the title existed . While Randy and Lanny were the focus of the federation , it did feature many other stars such as Ronnie Garvin , Crusher Broomfield ( later known as One Man Gang and Akeem ) , Bob Orton , Jr . , Bob Roop , Rip Rogers , " Pistol " Pez Whatley , Ox Baker , George Weingeroff , and the Devil ' s Duo ( Jeff Sword and Doug Vines ) with their manager Izzy Slapowitz . Elizabeth Hulette , who would later gain fame in the WWF and WCW as Miss Elizabeth , got her start in professional wrestling as an on - camera host ( using the name " Liz Hulette " , as she was known to her friends while growing up ) of ICW ' s weekly TV show where she also started her romance with Randy Savage . In 1984 the promotion closed down due to dwindling attendance and its assets were bought by Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler . Due to the fans ' knowledge of the extremely bitter rivalry between ICW and CWA , Randy Savage was able to migrate to the CWA and begin a memorable feud with Jerry Lawler that established Randy Savage as a world - class superstar . Same name different promotions . Paul Christy , the wrestler who had ended Randy Savage ' s final reign as ICW World Champion , started a new ICW when Poffo ' s promotion folded . He ran the promotion for a few years with little publicity or success before closing it down in the late 1980s . Another promotion called " International Championship Wrestling " operated out of Boston in the late 1980s , promoted by Angelo and Mario Savoldi , and Mario ' s son Joe Savoldi . After forming a working agreement with World Class Championship Wrestling , the Boston - based ICW was renamed " International World Class Championship Wrestling " ( IWCCW ) . It included such stars as : The Russian Brute , Tom Brandi , Mike Kahula , Tony Rumble , and Nikolai Volkoff . " International Championship Wrestling " ( ICW ) is also a lesser known promotion based in Cloverdale , BC . Past wrestlers include Buddy Wayne , and Chico Alvarez .