The NWA is a name pretty well known by wrestling fans due to its historical significance. While that historical significance helps NWA nowadays, it’s also what makes it impossible for the NWA to grow in today’s wrestling scene. NWA is determined to be a wrestling promotion focused on nostalgia, in particular, the wrestling of the 80’s, but the problem is very few wrestlers fit that style and wrestling fans nowadays want the more explosive style of today’s wrestling. This obsession with nostalgia doesn’t allow NWA to grow to new fans.
Wrestling has evolved from the styles of the past and will keep evolving. NWA being stuck in this state of nostalgia is something that makes no sense. NWA doesn’t really have an identity of its own like promotion like GCW or PWG have. NWA doesn’t know at times what it wants to be, an 80’s nostalgia promotion or a modern-day style of promotion, that clash of styles makes NWA unwatchable. NWA needs to find a balance to this and this takes a very long time to figure out.
Billy Corgan, owner and promoter of NWA, has done a terrible job as the head of NWA. His desire to book guys like Tyrus, who can barely walk and let alone wrestle, it’s not helping his promotion at all and yet, this man wants to make him a focal point of NWA. Nick Aldis is another example, he’s a fine wrestler but has never been a draw and his viewpoints regarding wrestling are outdated and wrong. The wrestlers Corgan has as focal NWA wrestlers are a mistake and he still hasn’t figure this out.
A big massive problem with NWA is the perception people have about it. Being associated to people like Tyrus and Jim Cornette have also drawn people away of the NWA product due to allegations and other controversial things they’ve said in the past. NWA has lost any goodwill they needed from wrestling fans and that has been detrimental for the promotions. Empowerrr was a good show on paper and concept but those associations and bad marketing too doomed that show from the start, is also worth mentioning how stopwatch people pirated this show despite them always claiming they support women’s wrestling.
Things can be fixed for NWA. There’s still time to improve things for this promotion before it’s too late, but it all depends on Billy Corgan and if he wants things to change. Corgan’s NWA is probably barely making any money and how long this can continue only Corgan and God know. A good idea would be investing more on women’s wrestling since that was one of the most critically claimed shows of the Corgan Era, but then again, very few actually bought the PPV but giving it a second try could be the answer, and working with AEW and IMPACT could help too but Corgan seems to be willing to burn those bridges.
It’s hard to tell what the future of the NWA will be in 5 years. Corgan needs to figure things out before it’s too late for him and the NWA. One thing that Corgan and others need to realize is that NWA will never be like it was during its peak, the wrestling world has changed so much since then and will keep evolving for better and worse. Corgan is in difficult crossroads right now, keep that weird 80’s territories nostalgia stuff or just evolve with the times. Only time will tell for NWA and Corgan.
