NWA - National Wrestling Alliance The Resurgence of a Giant

NWA - National Wrestling Alliance The Resurgence of a Giant

Photo Credit - NWA Twitter

I'm not old enough to remember the NWA in its hay day, by the time I was really into wrestling it was 1995 and the Letters NWA were not mentioned much apart from seeing it on WWF TV in 1998 with JIm Cornette at some point.

Photo Credit WWE

The NWA isn't something I have much memory of in my childhood and that must be the same for alot of people my age. 

NWA was Huge in the 70s and 80s I would read books, autobiographies of wrestlers from that era and watch interviews and they would all say how big the NWA was and how it was the true pro wrestling world title.

NWA World title was a true world title being defended all over the world against the biggest and the best. 

Its an era I would of loved to of seen, because it would of given me a true understanding about NWA History and what it meant to be NWA Champion in that era. 

I learnt a bit about NWA and how great their champions were Ric Flair, Harley Race, Dory Funk and the list goes on and on, of massive names that held NWA World title but that was where it ended for me and as much knowledge of the organisation that I had. 

Photo Credit - AllianceWrestling

In January 2017 if you asked me to tell you something about the NWA - National Wrestling Alliance, Who is the NWA Champion? Who owns the NWA?  I wouldn't be able to answer one of those questions for you, without looking it up i would of said to you, does it even still exist?

 It all started In May 2017 it was Billy Corgan who changed the perception of it all and purchased the NWA.

Now in 2019 I can answer all of the questions above for you (at time of writing)

NWA Champion is Nick Aldis, 
NWA National Champion is James Storm 
NWA Tag Team Champions are Tom Latimer and Royce Isaacs 
NWA Womens champion is Kamille 
 NWA Is Owned by Billy Corgan.

It is Incredible to think that in the short space off 2 1/2 years that NWA has become more visible and more accessible and has more meaning than it ever has in the modern era.

Billy Corgan (left) and Dave Lagana (Right) Photo credit - @lagana Twitter

Suddenly the NWA meant something again Billy Corgan and his Team lead by David Lagana (Former WWE, Impact, ROH and Friends TV series writer) went about releasing Regular Videos on their Channel called "Ten Pounds of Gold".

I started watching them and it gave me a great insight into the NWA in 2017, it taught me about the Promotion, It taught me more about the history of the promotion (which i was lacking as you know from above) and it told me the philosophy and where Billy Corgan and Dave Lagana wanted to take NWA in the future.

The first video was entitled 'Meet Tim Storm NWA Ten Pounds of Gold 1" and this was so important as it explained NWA World Title coming back to Los Angeles and explained who then Current Champion Tim Storm was and his wrestling career and how be had been champion for a year, It created Investment and intrigue. 

Again I knew nothing about Tim Storm and didn't even know until that video that he was NWA World Champion.

Click on the video Below to Watch the 1st Episode of 10 Pounds of Gold - Youtube link to NWA on Youtube

From that first video they have emphasised how important the NWA World title is, how important it was in the past and how important it is in the current day. Through their videos they have introduced new characters, New Debuts, Announced matches for shows. 

They also did something very important they established Tim Storm. 

NWA had Tim Storm face Nick Aldis for NWA World Title and everyone thought Aldis would win and in a huge shock Tim Storm Won the match, it was a clever thing it made Tim Storm mean more which meant it made NWA World Title mean more, a small detail to some but a vital one. 

Ten Pounds of Gold was and still is a fantastic vehicle for NWA as it took you behind the scenes and also kept you up to date with everything happening in NWA.

On a personal level One episode I have to mention that i loved was Nick Aldis Talking to Dory Funk. 

it was great hearing about his history and to hear more about his time as NWA Champion, it was a fantastic insight from a different era and gave me the insight and made me more aware about the historical meaning of the NWA Title. 

It's a great watch and one of my favourite episodes click the youtube video below to watch!

NWA has been involved with shows with Impact Wrestling, Partnered in a show with ROH and NWA World Title has been defended at many selected independent shows across the world (Fun fact including a show - Big League Wrestling I worked backstage on in Exmouth, UK NWA Champion Nick Aldis vs Harlem Bravado) I got to see the NWA revolution up close and personal)

You can watch that match in full below 

NWA had their own shows an NWA 70th Anniversary show in October 21, 2018 in Tennessee, headlining by a 2 out of 3 falls Match for NWA World Title Nick Aldis vs Cody and the NWA Crockett Cup which took place in  April 27, 2019 in North Carolina. The Crockett Cup Tag Team Tournament was won by Brody King and PCO. 

Photo Credit - NWA

From Tim Storm defending his NWA Title in CWF Hollywood to Nick Aldis becoming NWA champion and competing at the biggest independent wrestling show in recent memory "All In" in Chicago in 2018 you can see the amazing journey the NWA World Title has been on in the last 2 1/2 years.

NWA Is now accelerated this even further NWA have announced that they will be doing TV Tapings in Atlanta on September 30 and October 1 2019.

See the video below to see the Announced of NWA TV Tapings

Billy Corgan and David Lagana have brought the NWA to this point in 2019 and done a fantastic job in getting fans to invest and pay attention to NWA, it's a resurgence of a giant and it's going to be interesting to see what happens and how NWA will grow in the years to come with a TV show and more opportunities in the future.

Billy Corgan has stated "We want to be unscripted, Uncensored and in your face"

NWA - National Wrestling Alliance is back and ready for a new wrestling era.

Thanks for Reading

Jonathan Orchard 

@jon42202