Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) is an American developmental professional wrestling promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. OVW was initially a member promotion of the National Wrestling Alliance from its inception in 1997 until 2000; when it became the primary developmental territory for World Wrestling Entertainment. OVW remained in this role from 2000 until 2008 . The promotion was unaffiliated from February 7, 2008 until November 2011, when it became the official and current developmental territory for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . As of December 2011, over 100 OVW alumni have appeared in WWE.OVW is now the developmental territory for Total Nonstop Action, run by owner Danny Davis.

Jim Cornette was head booker of OVW for a period before being fired by WWE for slapping a student, Anthony Carelli. He was replaced by Paul Heyman, who booked OVW until being called up to be the booker of the ECW brand. Greg Gagne was supposed to be booker after Heyman, but his knowledge of OVW was limited so the booking was extended to also include Al Snow and Danny Davis. Gagne was later released from the company, leaving booking to Snow and Davis.

The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi (Ohio at Cairo: 281,500 cu ft/s (7,960 m³/s); Mississippi at Thebes: 208,200 cu ft/s (5,897 m³/s)) and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream. It is approximately 981 miles (1,579 km) long and is located in the Eastern United States.

The river had great significance in the history of the Native Americans, as numerous civilizations formed along its valley. In the five centuries prior to European contact, the Mississippian culture built numerous regional chiefdoms and major earthwork mounds in the Ohio Valley, such as Angel Mounds near Evansville, Indiana, as well as in the Mississippi Valley and the Southeast. For thousands of years, Native Americans, like the European explorers and settlers who followed them, used the river as a major transportation and trading route. Its waters connected communities. The Osage, Omaha, Ponca and Kaw lived in the Ohio Valley, but under pressure from the Iroquois to the northeast, migrated west of the Mississippi River to Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma in the 1600s.

Ohio (ⁱ/oʊˈhaɪ.oʊ/) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Ohio is the 34th most extensive, the 7th most populous, and the 10th most densely populated of the 50 United States. The state's capital and largest city is Columbus.

The name "Ohio" originated from Iroquois word ohi-yo’, meaning "great river". The state, originally partitioned from the Northwest Territory, was admitted to the Union as the 17th state (and the first under the Northwest Ordinance) on March 1, 1803. Although there are conflicting narratives regarding the origin of the nickname, Ohio is historically known as the "Buckeye State" (relating to the Ohio buckeye tree) and Ohioans are also known as "Buckeyes".

The government of Ohio is composed of the executive branch, led by the Governor; the legislative branch, which comprises the Ohio General Assembly; and the judicial branch, which is led by the Supreme Court. Currently, Ohio occupies 18 seats in the United States House of Representatives. Ohio is known for its status as both a swing state and a bellwether in national elections.

Phillip Jack Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler signed to WWE and appearing on its Raw brand as the reigning WWE Champion.

In professional wrestling, Brooks is a seven time World Champion, having held the ROH World Championship and ECW Championship once, the World Heavyweight Championship three times and the WWE Championship twice.

In addition to these championships Punk has also won the World Tag Team Championship (with Kofi Kingston), and the WWE Intercontinental Championship making him the nineteenth WWE Triple Crown Champion and the man to achieve this honor fastest at 203 days. Between WWE and Ring of Honor (where he is also a two-time World Tag Team Champion), Punk has won a total of eleven championships. He was also the winner of the 2008 and 2009 Money in the Bank ladder matches (the only wrestler to win the match twice in a row), and was the 2011 Superstar of the Year Slammy Award winner.

Punk initially came to prominence through his career on the professional wrestling independent circuit, primarily as a member of the ROH roster, where he was the first head trainer of the ROH wrestling school as well as winning both of their championships. In 2005, Punk signed a contract with WWE and was sent to its developmental promotion, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he won every championship available in the promotion. Throughout his career, Punk has consistently used the gimmick of being straight edge, a lifestyle he follows in his actual day-to-day life. Depending on Punk's alignment as a crowd favorite or villain, he emphasizes different aspects of the culture to encourage the desired audience reaction.

Brent Alan Albright (born November 28, 1978) is an American professional wrestler, perhaps best known for his time with World Wrestling Entertainment, during which he appeared on Friday Night SmackDown! as Gunner Scott. He is a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, having defeated Adam Pearce in New York, New York at Ring of Honor's Death Before Dishonor VI event on August 2, 2008.

Albright signed a development contract in early 2004 and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling. During his time with Ohio Valley Wrestling, Albright was both OVW Heavyweight Champion and OVW Television Champion, as well as co-holder of the OVW Southern Tag-Team Championship with World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler Chris Masters. Albright was the first 'Triple Crown' winner in OVW, winning all 3 major titles.

Albright was the first-ever OVW 'Beat the Champ' TV champion, which is now simply called the OVW TV title. He defeated Seth Skyfire on January 26, 2005 to win the title. He held that title until April 30, 2005 when he won his first Ohio Valley Wrestling Championship by defeating Matt Morgan with the 'Crowbar'. Albright vacated the TV title shortly after winning the OVW title. He was also the first 'Dual Title Holder' in OVW history. He held the OVW championship until August 3, when he lost to Johnny Jeter.