That savior to the NWA would come from the most unlikely person on the planet, Billy Corgan. The lead signer of the legendary, Smashing Pumpkins, was a passionate wrestling fan and wanted to put the money he had made in the music into another passion of his professional wrestling. In 2015, Corgan would be brought on board to TNA as an investor and would eventually be made President. Corgan believed that his investment was an ownership stake in the company and not just a loan. There would eventually be a huge lawsuit over it and Corgan would end up leaving TNA. He still had the passion for the business and respected the history of it and reached out to the NWA about buying it.
Now when Billy Corgan bought the NWA, everyone had the same reaction, WHY? and what exactly did he buy besides a tarnished name, legacy, trademarks and some footage. I’ll admit, I didn’t understand why he would buy it at the time either but as I was seeing his moves it started to make sense. Corgan essentially killed the Alliance part of the NWA as he knew the egos of the past is what killed the momentum that it had in the past and the only way to resurrect the NWA brand was for him to have complete control. Essentially a relaunch of the NWA but at the same time embracing the legacy and history of the brand. Corgan would gain the Boesch family library as well as the NWA Video on Demand streaming service but despite it being a decent amount of footage, he would never have the bulk of NWA’s richest history footage as the WWF procured it over the years as they bought various tape libraries. The video on demand service (NWA Classics 24/7) would be shut down as it never really turned a profit.
Corgan knew he needed someone that could represent the legacy of the NWA proudly as Corgan rebuilt the NWA name. He turned to a man he met in TNA, Nick Aldis. Like Corgan, Aldis loved the history of the NWA. To hold the title that everyone from Lou Thesz, Harley Race, Ricky Steamboat, Great Muta, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Jeff Jarrett, AJ Styles, Steve Corino, Terry and Dory Funk, Buddy Rogers, Christian Cage and so on meant the world to Aldis. He proudly carried that legacy and carried himself like a Ric Flair or Nick Bockwinkel as a true world champion.
Corgan couldn’t get a TV deal so he made a partnership with ROH and used YouTube to launch a studio wrestling show. He created this instant nostalgia with the studio show as it was reminiscent of the old NWA days in Jim Crockett Promotions and Georgia Championship Wrestling. Fans of a modern ever like myself that appreciated the history of the business were drawn to the product. Eventually the NWA would move to a subscription based model with Fite TV.
Last weekend, the NWA would hold back to back shows at the Chase in St. Louis, a historic venue in the NWA’s history. Everything from the promotion to these events and the buildup to the matches was so perfectly done. The NWA shows were promoted on Impact, AEW and ROH programming leading up to the events. The promo video voiced over by legendary actor and Missourian, John Goodman was simply beautiful done and as a fan of wrestling connected with the audience. Utilizing old footage and focusing on the history and tradition of the NWA and hyping up the importance of the future with these two events.
Empowerrr was night 1 and proved to the world that women can headline a wrestling show and put on a hell of a show. The reigning and defending NWA Women’s Champion, Kamille, showed the world that she is arguably one of the best women’s wrestlers in the world that not enough people are talking about, how good she is. At Empowerrr, she defended the title against AEW’s Layla Hirsch and these women put on a clinic that would put a lot of male wrestlers to shame. The main event featured a women’s battle royal and Chelsea Green who has literally been on ROH and Impact TV, would enter number 1 and go on to win the whole thing. Proving to the world that being released by WWE is not the end of her career and she will prove them and anyone that doubted her that she is one of the best in the business. The legendary Awesome Kong, made a surprise appearance at the show to announce her retirement from the business and had a moment to hug and thank her greatest rival, Gail Kim. The first since 1983, NWA Women’s Tag Team Champions, The Hex were crowned. It was truly a special show and set the perfect tone leading to NWA 73.
