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National Wrestling Alliance

This article is about the wrestling organization. For other uses, see NWA.

National Wrestling Alliance
NWA
Company typePrivate
Industry
FoundedJuly 14, 1948 (July 14, 1948) in Waterloo, Iowa, U.S.
FoundersPinkie George
Orville Brown
Al Haft
Harry Light
Sam Muchnick
Don Owen
Tony Stecher
Headquarters
Los Angeles, California
,
U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Products
  • Television
  • Merchandise
  • Home video
  • Live events
ServicesLicensing
Parent
  • National Wrestling Alliance, Inc.
    (1948–1993)[2][3]
  • Pro Wrestling Organization LLC
    (1993–2012)
  • International Wrestling Corp.
    (2012–2017)
  • Lightning One, Inc.
    (2017–present)[4]
Websitenationalwrestlingalliance.com

The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc.[4]

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. 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's (WWF, now WWE) national expansion.

In September 1993, the largest remaining member promotion, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), left the NWA.[5] The NWA would continue as a loose coalition of independent promotions,[6] with NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA:TNA) given exclusivity over its World Heavyweight and Tag Team championships from June 2002 to May 2007.[7]

In August 2012, the NWA discontinued its memberships and started licensing its brand to wrestling promotions.[8] In 2017, it was purchased by Billy Corgan through his Lightning One, Inc. company.[9] By late 2019–2023, the NWA had transitioned into a stand-alone, singular promotion.[10][11][12]

In October 2023, the NWA re-established its territory system, with Michael Hutter's NWA Exodus Pro Midwest being the first promotion sanctioned.[13]

  1. ^ "Billy Corgan has plans to be the next Vince McMahon". Sports Illustrated. October 2, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
  2. ^ "National Wrestling Alliance: 1948 - 1993". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  3. ^ Solomon, Brian (April 1, 2015). Pro Wrestling FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the World's Most Entertaining Spectacle. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9781617136276 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ a b Johnson, Mike (October 2, 2017). "Corgan's reign as NWA owner begins, full details". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  5. ^ Schadler, Kyle (January 4, 2012). "Abandoned: The History of the WCW International Heavyweight Championship". Bleacher Report. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
  6. ^ Loverro, Thom (May 22, 2007). The Rise & Fall of ECW: Extreme Championship Wrestling. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781416561569 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ The History of TNA: Year 1 (DVD). TNA Home Video. 2006.
  8. ^ "NWA Lawsuit Settled, Promotion to Transfer to New Corporation". PWInsider.com.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference CorganPurchase was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Report: NWA & ROH No Longer Working Together; Nick Aldis Not Advertised For Summer Supercard". Fightful. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  11. ^ Jamie Greer (July 24, 2019), NWA Looking To Join Weekly TV Line Up, Last Word on Wrestling, event occurs at 01:11:50, retrieved July 19, 2013
  12. ^ NWA Announces First TV Tapings For Planned Series, August 7, 2019, retrieved August 13, 2019
  13. ^ "Official Press Release on the return of the territory system beginning with @ExoProWrestling!". National Wrestling Alliance on X. October 9, 2023. Retrieved October 9, 2023.

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