Ohio Valley Wrestling

OVW was founded by Nightmare Danny Davis in 1993 as a National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) member promotion under the name NWA Ohio Valley.[8] The company primarily ran shows in the Kentucky and Indiana territories that were formerly run by the United States Wrestling Association, with weekly shows run out of the original Davis Arena in Jeffersonville, Indiana, with larger shows run out of the Louisville Gardens in Louisville, Kentucky.

In 1997, OVW ended its relationship with the NWA and renamed itself Ohio Valley Wrestling. Later that year, Trailer Park Trash became the first OVW Heavyweight Champion by defeating Vic the Bruiser.[9]

On January 11, 1998, OVW taped the first episode of its weekly television series, emanating from the original Davis Arena in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Louisville Gardens ring announcer Dean Hill served as play by play commentator alongside Faye Davis as the Ring Announcer. The show featured an introduction to the company by owner Danny Davis, with a main event of Nick Dinsmore and Rob Conway vs Juan Hurtado and The Intern.[10]

In 1999, WWF creative team member Jim Cornette bought a stake in OVW. Cornette, taking on the role of booker and show writer while appearing in an on-camera commentator role, made his first televised appearance on July 10, 1999, and spoke of the changes that were to take place. The first group of developmental talent included future stars such as John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar and Batista.[11]

OVW held its final show at the original Davis Arena on August 21, 2002, headlined by a match between Damaja and Rene Dupree.[12] On September 4, 2002, the company would debut its show at the current Davis Arena at 4400 Shepherdsville Rd in Louisville, Ky. On July 10, 2005 Jim Cornette parted ways with WWE and was relieved of his duties overseeing OVW. This resulted from an incident where Cornette reportedly slapped an OVW beginners class student Anthony Carelli for having an inappropriate reaction to being confronted by a horror-themed wrestler called The Boogeyman during a match at an OVW live show.[13] The two have not been on positive terms since, even having a confrontation during an event both were performing at as recently as October 2017.[14] Cornette was replaced by WWE Trainer Al Snow on the announce team, and Snow was replaced as creative director/producer by Paul Heyman. This arrangement would be short-lived, however, as WWE would eventually put Heyman in charge of the revival of ECW as a WWE brand. Eventually the booking duties would go to Al Snow, who would have the longest tenure outside of Cornette. Jim Cornette sold his stake in OVW to Davis in 2007.[15]

In 2007, WWE launched Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in Tampa, Florida to serve as a new developmental territory. OVW and FCW simultaneously trained WWE prospects for a brief period, but on February 7, 2008, WWE announced that it had ended its relationship with OVW, moving all contracted talent to FCW.[3] WWE-contracted talent also made occasional appearances on OVW shows, including a match between John Cena and Lance Cade as the main event for the final Kentucky Kingdom show.[16]

OVW would see a drastic change in 2008 with much of its established roster being picked up by the WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA; now known as Impact Wrestling) that same year. In 2009, they would shut down its own developmental system Derby City Wrestling and merge the rosters with the remainder of the talent left in OVW. Creative would initially go to Danny Davis and long time referee Ray Ramsey, but the company fell on financial hardship. In an attempt to keep the company afloat, OVW alumnus John "Bradshaw" Layfield would eventually leave the WWE and sponsor the company himself.[17] Meanwhile, creatively it was decided to let some of the younger veteran talent as well as members of its production crew help "modernise" the show to draw new fans. These changes would include being one of the first full-time professional wrestling organizations to have a weekly online series and the introduction of monthly pay per view live events. Much like with its wrestler training, members of the post developmental transition team have gone on to make names for themselves not only in the front offices of major pro wrestling companies but throughout the sports and entertainment world with members including The Florida Panthers Bill Clark,[18] Seminole Hard Rock Casino's Rob Longo, NXT's James Long[19] and the NFHS's Jason Frost.[20] The creative team included eventual TNA Impact tag champion Anarquia, Global Force Wrestling Australia's Ali Vaez and WWE star Viktor

On September 8, 2010, in what was dubbed the company's season premiere, Danny Davis, who himself was making his return for the first time in over a year, announced that Jim Cornette was returning to his role as match maker of the company.[21] Cornette, who was also executive producer of Ring of Honor's HDNet show, Ring of Honor Wrestling, announced that ROH talent (as well as talent from other companies) were going to work in OVW along with the new and returning OVW stars.

On November 7, 2011, it was announced that OVW and TNA, had reached an agreement for the former to become TNA's official training and developmental territory.[22] TNA's Director of Talent Relations Al Snow returned as booker of the company, replacing the outgoing Jim Cornette. The announcement, which was first announced on Twitter by Dixie Carter, abruptly ended the ROH/OVW relationship. The deal was put together when former WWE talent relations executive and OVW proponent Bruce Prichard was hired by Impact to a similar position. Impact immediately sent younger talent to Louisville for seasoning. Doug Williams was also sent down as a veteran trainer to work with younger talent on the show and help them in ring, while veteran wrestlers Josie and Epiphany would hold a similar role for the female wrestlers. OVW would also become the primary home to the winners of TNA's Gut Check contest and TNA British Boot Camp reality series, with owner Danny Davis even being a judge on Gut Check during its final segments. OVW and TNA would mutually ende the relationship on November 2, 2013, after a financial dispute.[23]

On April 6, 2018, it was announced that professional wrestler Al Snow was purchasing the promotion from Danny Davis, who was planning to retire but didn't want to shut the company down.[24] On September 12, 2018, it was announced that Ohio Valley Wrestling would be merging with Top Notch Boxing, a major boxing promotion in Louisville, to form the Gladiator Sports Network.[25] OVW's first event under the Gladiator Sports banner was the 1000th episode special of its television series on October 10, 2018, from Louisville's Fourth Street Live!. This was OVW's first ever live televised event and it was streamed on FITE TV.[26] The event featured a tournament to crown the vacant OVW championship featuring both current and past stars as well as a tribute to the companies founders.

On October 29, 2018, the brand announced an international expansion of its wrestling school and television product to the European Market labeled OVW-EU.[27] Most of the schools now affiliated with the OVW Brand outside the United States were formally with the "Al Snow Wrestling Academy" brand which was merged with OVW upon the purchase by Gladiator Sports. This expands Ohio Valley Wrestling to a total of 17 wrestling schools worldwide. An on-demand service, which will air past and current editions of the original American brand plus the possibility of a future OVW UK Brand, was also announced. The service would officially launch on the third week of March 2019 at a cost of $4.99 a month.[28]

In February 2019, OVW would announce a partnership with Impact Wrestling to produce an exclusive event for Impact's Global Wrestling Network. The event, titled Clash in the Bluegrass, would air live for free for the Louisville market on March 3, 2019, and then premiere as an Impact One Night Only special on GWN on March 9, 2019. This event would mark the first collaboration between OVW and Impact since 2013, and would be the first time the new Davis Arena has ever sold out an event via pre-sale tickets. On March 19, 2019, Impact announced that the company was once again in a partnership with OVW as its developmental territory.[29]

In April 2019, local media in Louisville reported that OVW was developing a formal vocational educational program in professional wrestling through the Al Snow Wrestling Academy, and had applied for accreditation with the Kentucky Department of Education. On September 15, the school was approved by the state of Kentucky, making it the first officially accredited professional wrestling trade school.[30][31]

In October 2020, OVW announced a partnership with Qatar Pro Wrestling.[32]

On January 5, 2021, OVW announced that Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio and Craig Greenberg of 21c Museum Hotels were lead investors in a group that purchased a majority interest in the company. Snow continues to run the promotion's day-to-day operations.[33] Later that year, Louisville TV station WDRB reported that OVW was preparing to move into a building in the city's St. Joseph neighborhood that had served as a University of Louisville employee fitness center before being closed in 2019. If zoning approval is obtained, both OVW and the Al Snow Wrestling Academy will operate out of that facility.[34]