The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

and

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

owned by

Billy Corgan William Patrick Corgan Jr. (born March 17, 1967) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and professional wrestling promoter. He is best known as the co-founder, lead guitarist, primary songwriter, singer, and only constant member of alter ...

and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as the governing body for a group of regional promotions, the heads of which made up the board of directors. The group operated a territory system which sanctioned their own company championships while recognizing a singular world champion who defended his title across all the territories, participated in talent exchanges, and collectively protected the territorial integrity of member promotions. Prior to the 1960s, it acted as the sole governing body for professional wrestling in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It remained the largest and most influential body in wrestling until the mid-1980s by which time most of the original member promotions went out of business as a result of the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

's (WWF, now WWE) national expansion. In September 1993, the largest remaining member promotion,

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

(WCW), left the NWA. The NWA would continue as a loose coalition of independent promotions, with NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA:TNA) given exclusivity over its World Heavyweight and

Tag Team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

championships from June 2002 to May 2007. In August 2012, the NWA discontinued its memberships and started licensing its brand to wrestling promotions. In 2017, it was purchased by Billy Corgan through his Lightning One, Inc. company. By late 2019–2023, the NWA had transitioned into a stand-alone, singular promotion. In October 2023, the NWA re-established its territory system, with Michael Hutter's

NWA Exodus Pro Midwest NWA Exodus Pro Midwest, also known as Exodus Pro Wrestling, is an American independent professional wrestling promotion, founded on July 17, 2023 by EC3. It serves as the Midwestern territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). History ...

being the first promotion sanctioned.

History

Formation

In 1948, Paul "Pinkie" George, a professional wrestling promoter from the U.S. Midwest, founded the National Wrestling Alliance with the backing of six other promoters: Al Haft, Tony Stecher, Harry Light, Orville Brown, Don Owen, and

Sam Muchnick Samuel Muchnick (born Jeshua Muchnick, August 22, 1905 – December 30, 1998) was an American professional wrestling promoter from St. Louis, Missouri. He is often regarded as wrestling's equivalent of Pete Rozelle (the forward-thinking commissio ...

. The concept of the NWA was to consolidate the championships of these regional companies into one true world championship of professional wrestling, whose holder would be recognized worldwide. The newly formed NWA Board of Directors decided that Brown would become the first ever NWA World Heavyweight Champion.Shaun Assael. ''Sex, Lies, & Headlocks'' (p.8)

Governing body

1950s–1970s

In 1950,

, one of the original promoters of the NWA and

Lou Thesz Aloysius Martin Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002), known by the ring name Lou Thesz, was an American professional wrestler and wrestling coach. Considered to be one of the last true shooters (legitimate wrestlers) in professional w ...

's booker, was named the governing body's President, a position to which he was unanimously re-elected and held until 1960, making him one of the longest-tenured presidents in the organization's history. Following the advent of

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, professional wrestling matches began to be aired nationally during this time, reaching a larger audience than ever before. Rising demand and national expansion made wrestling a much more lucrative form of entertainment than in decades previous. This era would go on to be known as the "Golden Age" of professional wrestling. From 1948 to 1955, each of the three major television networks broadcast wrestling shows; the largest supporter being the

DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network (also the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being first overall in ...

. In 1956, allegations were made that the NWA was an illegal monopoly blocking competition. An investigation led by the

US Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equ ...

resulted in the NWA Consent Decree of 1956 (''United States v. National Wrestling Alliance''). Several promoters would leave the organization during this time, with some managing to find niches in the United States. In 1957,

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

promoter

Eddie Quinn Edmund R. Quinn (May 22, 1906 – December 14, 1965) was an American manager and professional wrestling promoter in Canada and the United States. He grew up in Massachusetts and organized boxing and wrestling events in New England and such cities ...

walked out of the August NWA meeting in St. Louis, having fallen out with Muchnick over a number of issues. At the time Quinn walked out, a wrestler of his named

Édouard Carpentier Édouard Ignacz Weiczorkiewicz (July 17, 1926 – October 30, 2010) was a French and Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, gymnast, and member of the French Resistance during World War II, known by his ring name, Édouard Carpent ...

was involved in an angle where he and Lou Thesz were both being presented around the NWA as world champion after Carpentier had a disputed win over Thesz on June 14, 1957. As the 1950s came to a close, professional wrestling was losing television ratings, and soon TV stations dropped most wrestling shows from their lineups. The remaining televised wrestling promoters had small, local syndicated shows, which aired as late-night filler programming. Promoters started using localized television by purchasing airtime from rival territories, at the consequence of putting some of them out of business. Verne Gagne 1964

On January 24, 1963, at

Maple Leaf Gardens Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church and Wellesley, Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was originally constructed in 1931 as an indoor arena to host ice hoc ...

in Toronto, Lou Thesz defeated Buddy Rogers in a one-fall match and was declared NWA World Heavyweight Champion for the third and final time. However, after the event,

Vincent J. McMahon Vincent James McMahon (July 6, 1914 – May 24, 1984), also referred to as Vince McMahon Sr., was an American professional wrestling promoter. He is best known for running the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, later known as the World Wide Wrestli ...

and

Toots Mondt Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt (January 18, 1894 – June 11, 1976) was an American professional wrestler and promoter who revolutionized the wrestling industry in the early to mid-1920s and co-promoted the World Wide Wrestling Federation. Some ...

of the Capital Wrestling Corporation (CWC) refused to recognize the title change since Thesz was not a strong draw in their Northeastern territory. They then withdrew the CWC from the NWA. As a result, McMahon and Mondt formed the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, later to be known as

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is an American professional wrestling promotion. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority-owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. A global integrated media and entertainment company, ...

) with Rogers as its first world champion in April 1963. Although both Gagne and McMahon promoted their own world champions, their promotions continued to have representatives on the NWA Board of Directors and regularly exchanged talent with NWA promotions during this time. Gordon Solie 2

Wrestling's popularity continued to decline in the 1970s. They changed their name from the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1979. At some point during the decade, Muchnick reportedly declared

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

as the "leading wrestling city" for its "drawing capacity and near-capacity crowds at the City Auditorium or the Omni every Friday." While the

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The promotion was born out of the Minneapolis ...

(AWA) and World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation (WWWF/WWF) both faltered during the 1970s, the NWA once again took over as the top promotion and gained huge dominance with their program,

Georgia Championship Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades b ...

, which would become the first nationally broadcast wrestling program on cable television through then-superstation TBS in 1979. They brought in

Gordon Solie Gordon Solie (born Francis Jonard Labiak, later Jonard Pierre Sjoblom, January 26, 1929July 27, 2000) was an American professional wrestling play-by-play announcer. He is best known for working for Georgia Championship Wrestling, Championship Wr ...

, dubbed "The Walter Cronkite of Professional Wrestling," from former NWA President Eddie Graham's Championship Wrestling from Florida territory to be lead commentator and host.

1980s–1993

Videotape trading and

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

paved the way for the decline of the NWA's inter-regional business model, as viewers could now see plot holes and inconsistencies between each territories' storylines. The presence of stars like

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years. He is ...

on TV every week made their special appearances in each region less of a draw. The WWF left the NWA for good in 1983, as Vincent K. McMahon, who bought the WWF from his father in 1982, worked to get WWF programming on syndicated television all across the United States. That same year,

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions, at times branded as Eastern States Championship Wrestling and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, is a Family business, family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United Sta ...

(JCP) and the NWA created its primary supercard, Starrcade, the first to be broadcast via closed-circuit networks and was regarded as their flagship event. Ted Turner

On Saturday, July 14, 1984, in what would become known as Black Saturday, McMahon bought NWA member

(GCW) and merged it into the WWF. The WWF took over GCW's TV slot on TBS, which had been home to GCW's ''

'' program for 12 years. This move proved disastrous as ratings plummeted, and the WWF ended up losing money on the deal. Then-NWA President Jim Crockett, Jr., the owner of JCP, bought the ''World Championship Wrestling'' program from McMahon for $1 million and returned NWA programming to TBS. By 1985, JCP had become the flagship territory of the NWA by acquiring more time slots on TBS and merging with other NWA territories in an attempt to compete with the WWF. With the success of

WrestleMania III WrestleMania III was a 1987 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of WWE pay-per-view events, event produced by the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the third annual WrestleMania and held on March 29, 1987, at the ...

in 1987, the WWF scheduled another pay-per-view,

Survivor Series Survivor Series, branded as Survivor Series: WarGames since 2022, is a professional wrestling event produced annually since 1987 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Held in November generally the week of Thanksgiving ( ...

, on Thanksgiving night to compete directly with NWA's Starrcade event, and demanded exclusivity from cable providers on carriage of the event. As a result, Starrcade was moved to December the following year, with the show now held around

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...

beginning in 1988. The WWF then scheduled their first

Royal Rumble The Royal Rumble is a professional wrestling event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. It is named after, and centered on, the Royal Rumble match, a modified Battle royal (professional wre ...

event in January 1988 to counterprogram against the NWA's Bunkhouse Stampede. The NWA responded by creating Clash of the Champions on TBS to counterprogram

WrestleMania IV WrestleMania IV was a 1988 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the fourth annual WrestleMania and took place on March 27, 1988, at the Atlantic City Convention Ha ...

. By 1988, Jim Crockett Promotions was facing bankruptcy. On October 11, under the direction of owner

Ted Turner Robert Edward Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He founded the CNN, Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, ...

, TBS bought the assets of JCP and renamed it

(WCW) after the TV show of the same name. Originally incorporated by TBS as the Universal Wrestling Corporation, Turner promised fans that WCW would retain the athlete-oriented style of the NWA. The sale was completed on November 2, 1988, with a television taping of '' NWA World Championship Wrestling'' that very same date in WCW's hometown of Atlanta. By September 1993, WCW would withdraw completely from the NWA.

1993–2012

On August 27, 1994, NWA: Eastern Championship Wrestling (ECW) held a World Title tournament for the vacant

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA World's Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professiona ...

. Unbeknownst to any one, the event was staged for ECW's public withdrawal from the NWA, with tournament winner

Shane Douglas Troy Allan Martin (born November 21, 1964) is an American professional wrestler, manager, and promoter, better known by his ring name Shane Douglas. He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), World Championship ...

throwing down the NWA title belt and instead picking up the ECW Heavyweight Championship belt, proclaiming himself to be the ECW World Heavyweight Champion. ECW founder Tod Gordon would subsequently announce ECW's secession from the NWA, rechristening the promotion as Extreme Championship Wrestling. In 1998, the

reached an agreement to use the likeness of the NWA titles, branding, and its history, to create a storyline. It would be later claimed that WWE still owned the rights. Despite the NWA receiving international television publicity during the angle, it was considered a failure due to low viewer interests. In June 2002,

Jeff Jeff is a masculine name, often a short form (hypocorism) of the English given name Jefferson or Jeffrey, which comes from a medieval variant of Geoffrey. Music * DJ Jazzy Jeff, American DJ/turntablist record producer Jeffrey Allen Townes ...

and Jerry Jarrett launched a new promotion called NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA:TNA). NWA:TNA was given creative control over the NWA World Heavyweight and World Tag Team championships through an agreement with the NWA. This would last until March 2007, when the NWA terminated its agreement with TNA. TNA would lose control over the NWA World Heavyweight and World Tag Team championships by the morning of the 2007

Sacrifice Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program ...

event on May 13. On September 17, 2010,

KDOC-TV KDOC-TV (channel 56) is a religious television station licensed to Anaheim, California, United States, serving the Los Angeles area as an owned-and-operated station of Tri-State Christian Television (TCT). The station maintains studios on East F ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

premiered '' NWA: Championship Wrestling from Hollywood''.

R. Bruce Tharpe and International Wrestling Corp. (2012–2017)

In August 2012, International Wrestling Corp., a holding company run by Houston, Texas-based attorney and wrestling promoter R. Bruce Tharpe, sued Trobich, Baucom, the NWA, and its then-parent company, Trobich's Pro Wrestling Organization LLC, claiming insurance fraud regarding the NWA's liability insurance policy. A settlement was negotiated that transferred the rights to the NWA name and trademarks from Trobich's company to Tharpe's. The new organization moved from a membership model to a licensing model and significantly reduced the amount of territory some of the members held, which caused many promotions to immediately cut ties with the NWA. On September 9, 2012, Championship Wrestling from Hollywood (CWFH) announced it had left the NWA. CWFH was the unofficial home promotion of both the then-current NWA champion ( Adam Pearce) and the most recent previous champion (

Colt Cabana Scott Colton (born May 6, 1980), better known by the ring name Colt Cabana, is an American professional wrestler, color commentator, and podcaster. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a wrestler and as a coach, and he performs the same ...

), both of whom publicly left the NWA, with Pearce vacating the NWA World Title while exiting. Other major NWA territories like NWA Pro/NWA Pro West, NWA Georgia, NWA Pro East, NWA Southwest and NWA Midwest folded. In 2013, the NWA re-established a relationship with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where Bruce Tharpe became an on-screen character, portraying a villainous manager of wrestlers representing the NWA. Over the next two years, the NWA World Heavyweight, World Tag Team and World Junior Heavyweight Championships all changed hands at NJPW events. In September 2016, NWA signed a deal with the new Japanese Diamond Stars Wrestling (DSW) promotion to promote shows in not only Japan, but also other parts of Asia. As part of the deal, DSW chairman Hideo Shimada was appointed the NWA Vice President of the Asian Pacific region while Jimmy Suzuki was appointed senior NWA consultant.

Billy Corgan and Lightning One, Inc. (2017–present)

2017–2019: Acquisition and relaunch

On May 1, 2017, it was reported that

, lead singer of the

Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. ...

, had agreed to purchase the NWA, including its name, rights, trademarks and championship belts. The report was confirmed by Tharpe that same day. Over the following weeks, the NWA trademarks were moved from Tharpe's International Wrestling Corp. over to Corgan's Lightning One, Inc. production company. According to multiple sources, as part of his acquisition of the NWA, Corgan would also purchase Tharpe's stake in the NWA's "On Demand" VOD service and licensing of the Paul Boesch wrestling library. Corgan's ownership of the NWA took effect on October 1, 2017. All licenses granted by Tharpe to use the NWA branding expired the previous day, putting Corgan in complete control of both the brand and its championships. Nick Aldis NWA World HW Champ

On September 23, 2017, Nick Aldis made his debut for Championship Wrestling from Hollywood and challenged Tim Storm for the

. The match took place on November 12 and saw Storm retain the title. This was the first title match under the new NWA regime headed by Corgan. On December 9, Aldis defeated Storm in a rematch at Cage of Death 19 to become the new NWA World Heavyweight Champion, making him the second British-born champion after Gary Steele. In 2018, the NWA briefly allied with

Impact Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busine ...

, the former NWA:TNA, to hold an Empty Arena match at Universal Orlando in Orlando, Florida. It was contested by Tim Storm and Jocephus and served as a qualifier to challenge then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis. The match was recorded on January 14, 2018, and uploaded to

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

the next day. Starting in 2018, NWA allied with

Ring of Honor Ring of Honor (ROH) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Jacksonville, Florida. The promotion was founded by Rob Feinstein on February 23, 2002, and was operated by Cary Silkin from 2004 until 2011; the promotion was subs ...

(ROH). NWA wrestlers such as Aldis,

James Storm James Allen Cox (born June 1, 1977) is an American professional wrestler better known by the ring name James Storm. He currently competes on the independent circuit. He is best known for his time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). He sta ...

, and

Eli Drake Shaun Edward Ricker (born November 1, 1982) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name LA ...

appeared at several ROH events, with ROH-contracted talent even winning NWA titles. On September 1, 2018, the NWA World Heavyweight Championship was featured at All In, with Cody defeating Aldis for the title, becoming the first second-generation NWA World heavyweight champion. After All In, the NWA would return to hosting its own events. The NWA 70th Anniversary Show, which took place on October 21, 2018, was the first to be produced directly under Lightning One, and was co-produced with Global Force Entertainment; the event was streamed live on

FITE TV Triller TV (stylized as TrillerTV, formerly known as FITE and FITE TV, and currently marketed as TrillerTV powered by FITE) is a Bulgarian-based American digital video streaming service. Owned by Flipps Media, Inc. and operated by its parent co ...

. The main event saw Aldis defeat Cody to recapture the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and Willie Mack winning a tournament for the vacant NWA National Championship, which became the main secondary title. The Fourth Crockett Cup, an eight-team, single-elimination tournament that was revived to crown new

NWA World Tag Team Champions The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling World Tag Team Championship, world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed List of National Wrestling Alliance territories ...

, took place on April 27, 2019, as another collaboration between the NWA and ROH. This would be the last event to be co-promoted with ROH; on July 24, 2019, the NWA announced that had ended their partnership. Subsequently, it was announced the following month that the NWA would host tapings in Atlanta on September 30 and October 1 for a new television series, later revealed to be titled '' NWA Powerrr''.

2020–2023: COVID-19, restructuring, and departures

In January 2020, Marty Scurll, and other Ring of Honor characters, began to appear at NWA events once again as part of an inter-promotional angle. In addition to re-signing with ROH, Scurll would join the company's booking team, enabling him to appear for both the NWA and ROH. However, in the fallout of the Speaking Out Movement, Scurll was accused of having intercourse with a 16-year-old female who was inebriated. After an investigation, Scurll would be removed from his position as booker, and by the following January in 2021, would be no longer under contract. Nick Aldis was scheduled to face PCO at Supercard of Honor XIV on April 4, 2020, before the event was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic. On June 18, 2020, Dave Lagana resigned as Vice President of the NWA after allegations of sexual assault were made public. The promotion would go into hiatus as a result of this and the pandemic. During this time, several wrestlers would also leave the NWA, including former Tag Team Champions

Marti Belle Martibel Payano (born August 7, 1988) is an American professional wrestler, best known working under the ring name Marti Belle. She is best known for her time with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), where she was a former NWA World Women's ...

, and Royce Isaacs, former Women's Champion

Allysin Kay Allysin Kay (born November 5, 1987) is an American professional wrestler. She is best known for her time with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), where she was a former NWA World Women's Tag Team Championship, NWA World Women's Tag Team champ ...

, former Television Champion

Ricky Starks Richard Starks (born February 21, 1990) is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on the NXT (WWE brand), NXT WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Ricky Saints. Starks is known for his time in All El ...

, former Television Champion Zicky Dice. NWA World Women's Champion Thunder Rosa would make appearances for

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...

(AEW) while under contract with the NWA. On September 5, 2020, Rosa unsuccessfully challenged AEW Women's World Championship Hikaru Shida at All Out. On October 27, 2020,

Serena Deeb Serena Deeb (born June 29, 1986) is an American professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). She is well known for her first stint with WWE, appearing on the SmackDown (WWE brand), SmackDown WWE Brand Extension, brand and also kn ...

defeated Rosa during the United Wrestling Network's Primetime Live event to become the new NWA World Women's Champion. On March 2, 2021, the NWA announced their return to promoting events, with the Back For The Attack and new '' Powerrr'' episodes as part of a new distribution agreement with

. As part of this agreement, the NWA would remove content from their YouTube channel. On January 5, 2022, the NWA announced the launch of the NWA All Access subscription package on FITE TV, including past and upcoming pay-per-view events (PPV), new episodes of ''Powerrr'' on Tuesdays, and the newly announced '' NWA USA'' weekly series. In addition, it was announced that ''Powerrr'' would return to YouTube, airing on Fridays after the FITE premiere, and that ''NWA USA'' would air on Saturdays on the platform before moving to Sundays on FITE. Finally, it was announced that the NWA would expand their PPV schedule to six events per year, as part of a new deal with FITE TV. Though the partnership ended in 2023, with NWA's programming returning to YouTube, FITE still carries NWA PPV events.

2023–present: Return of the territories; The CW partnership

On October 9, 2023, the NWA reestablished itself as a governing body, with EC3's

being the first

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

to be sanctioned. On December 4, NWA welcomed Joe Cazana Promotions (JCP) to their territory system. On October 18, it was reported by news blog Haus of Wrestling that NWA had signed a deal with

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

to air ''Powerrr'' and a reality show documenting behind the scenes footage. However, a controversial segment from that month's

Samhain Samhain ( , , , ) or () is a Gaels, Gaelic festival on 1 November marking the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the "Celtic calendar#Medieval Irish and Welsh calendars, darker half" of the year.Dáithí Ó hÓgáin, Ó hÓ ...

PPV event, in which Father James Mitchell along with several women and wrestlers were seen consuming

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

, drew negative reactions online. The following month, The CW signed a deal with

for its weekly '' NXT'' program. Though it was rumored to be in-response to the Samhain segment, Corgan later revealed in a 2024 interview with Fightful that the CW executives didn't have a problem with the spot, and that "it was a completely invented story by either a troll inside the company, a leaker or something.” Following Samhain, episodes of ''Powerrr'' were later added to The CW's app in November. In January 2024, NWA announced that new episodes of ''Powerrr'' would be available on The CW app from February 6. The same year, NWA included new territories: NWA Chicago in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, Kross Fire Wrestling (KFW) in

Sevierville, Tennessee Sevierville ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Tennessee, United States, located in East Tennessee. The population was 17,889 at the 2020 United States Census. History Native Americans of the Woodland period were among th ...

World League Wrestling NWA World League Wrestling is a Troy, Missouri-based professional wrestling promotion affiliated with Harley Race's Wrestling Academy school. It was established in 1999 by former World Heavyweight Champion Harley Race. The promotion is part of ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

as NWA's developmental system, and NWA Texas. On May 16, 2025, '' Variety'' reported that

Paramount Global Content Distribution Paramount Global Content Distribution is the international television distribution arm of American media conglomerate, Paramount Global, originally established in 1962 as the international distribution division of Desilu Productions. With the s ...

would launch ''Wrestling Central'', a

free ad-supported streaming television Free advertising-supported streaming television (FAST) is a category of streaming television services which offer traditional linear television programming ("live TV") and studio-produced movies without a paid subscription, funded exclusively by a ...

(FAST) channel on

The Roku Channel The Roku Channel is an over-the-top video streaming service available in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the UK. The service was launched in 2017, and is owned and operated by Roku, Inc. It is the most popular free ad-supported streaming televisio ...

in the United States and Canada. The channel will feature weekly matches NWA alongside WOW –

Women of Wrestling Women of Wrestling (WOW) is an American women's professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded in 2000 by David McLane (who also founded Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW)). WOW is based in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, ...

, marking NWA’s first appearance on a FAST platform. Programming includes new matches, classic episodes, previously unreleased content, specials, and documentaries. On June 10, '' Deadline'' announced that NWA has signed a streaming deal with Roku, airing in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Roster

Male wrestlers

Female wrestlers

Managers

Broadcast team

Referees

Backstage personnel

NWA presidents

Programming and events

Current

''NWA Powerrr''

'' Powerrr'' is the flagship program of the NWA which currently streams on Tuesday nights on

's app. The series debuted on October 8, 2019, originally airing on the NWA's

channel. From 2021 to the end of 2022, the show had a first airing on Tuesday at 6:05 pm ET on

, with the episode debuting on the NWA's YouTube channel later in the same week in Friday at 6:05 pm ET. A companion series, titled ''NWA Power Surge'' (stylized as ''NWA Powerrr Surge''), premiered on April 13, 2021, and features wrestler interviews, unseen matches, and ''Powerrr'' recaps.

Former

''Ten Pounds of Gold''

''Ten Pounds of Gold'' is a documentary series chronicling the journey and career of the current NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion as well as others in the division. Debuting on October 20, 2017, on the NWA's YouTube channel, it was the first series to be produced after the organization's acquisition.

''NWA Shockwave''

NWA Shockwave NWA Shockwave (NWA-SW, formerly known as CyberSpace Wrestling Federation and NWA: Cyberspace) was a professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion that was founded by Billy Firehawk in Staten Island, New York (state), New Yor ...

'' was a

web television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as films and television series, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable te ...

program that aired on the NWA's

channel and

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page. The series debuted on December 1, 2020. On August 10, 2020, it was announced that the NWA will partner with the United Wrestling Network (UWN) to produce a live, weekly

(PPV) series named '' UWN Primetime Live''. Matches from this series would also be featured as part of ''Shockwave''.

''NWA USA''

'' NWA USA'' is a weekly program that debuted on January 8, 2022, on

and focuses on the NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship division. The last episode was released May 8, 2023.

Championships and accomplishments

Current champions

Footnotes

References

; Specific ; General * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:NWA champions 1948 establishments in the United States American professional wrestling promotions Jim Crockett Promotions Corporate governance in the United States Organizations established in 1948 el:World Wrestling Entertainment#National Wrestling Alliance