Tag: National Wrestling Alliance

The NWA is basically the grandfather of the national federations. It was based off territories where each promoter had full control over their territory. Over the near-seventy years of its existence, it has undergone several reincarnations. There have also been more than fifty territories.

The NWA began in 1948 when many promoters from around the country wanted to have one World champion. The two greatest territories in NWA history were World Class Championship Wrestling in Dallas and Jim Crockett Productions in Charlotte. JCP would later take over the territories in Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma and other Southern regions. JCP would later be sold to Turner Broadcasting System. It would become World Championship Wrestling.

After WCW withdrew from the NWA, there was a period of “wrestling’s dark age.” This saw Shane Douglas be crowned the first World Heavyweight champion where the title was under the sole authority of the Board of Directors. He promptly threw the belt away and Extreme Championship Wrestling began.

Jerry and Jeff Jarrett began Total Nonstop Action in 2002 after a few years from USWA’s dissolution. TNA withdrew from the NWA in 2012 to become its own national federation.

One of the best post-WCW territories was NWA Wildside (1999-2005) based out of Cornelia, GA. NWA Anarchy came about after Wildside’s closure in the same arena with much of the same talent. It ran until 2015.

The next reboot of NWA had roughly twenty promotions throughout the country, primarily based in Tennesse and Texas. Now, under the ownership of William Corgan, it is just one roster based out of Atlanta, GA.