WWE Acquires Historic Pro Wrestling Content Library

WWE has a lot of footage in their vault, and they’ve made many hours of that footage available for fans as part of their streaming platforms. Now, they have added another historic pro wrestling legacy to their library.

During the latest episode of WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures on A&E, it was revealed that WWE has obtained a significant tape library. The company now owns all the rights to all content from International Championship Wrestling.

The episode of Most Wanted Treasures focused on ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage, and it was confirmed that WWE now possesses over 20 boxes of master tapes from ICW. It was not noted what WWE plans on doing with that footage, but the important part is that the ICW tapes are safe with WWE.

Ben Brown, WWE Archivist, explained that before WWE obtained the footage, the tapes were stored in a locker room for several decades. They were used as collateral after ICW founder Angelo Poffo borrowed money from an oil company to support the promotion.

Lanny Poffo, who appeared on the episode that was taped prior ot his passing, authenticated the footage. He also admitted that he had not seen it before. The exact date of WWE’s acquisition of the ICW tapes was not mentioned.

ICW was based in Kentucky and was owned by the Poffo family. That company also served as a rival to Jerry Jarrett’s Memphis Wrestling territory. This acquisition adds to WWE’s growing collection of tape libraries, which already includes promotions like WCW, ECW, and Jim Crockett Promotions.

We will have to see how this footage is used in the future, but WWE certainly has a lot of uses for things like that. From documentaries to WWE Hall of Fame video packages, WWE can implement that footage in a few places. They can also catalog all of it and simply put it up for streaming on the WWE Network and Peacock.

What’s your take on WWE obtaining this footage? Is it in safe hands? Sound off in the comments!