World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and his Turner Broadcasting purchased the promotion, renaming it "World Championship Wrestling". Turner, and later Time-Warner, owned WCW until 2001, when it was purchased by its former competitor