National Wrestling Alliance

National Wrestling Alliance
Trade name	NWA
Company type	Private
Industry	Professional wrestling; Sports entertainment; Streaming media;
Founded	July 14, 1948 in Waterloo, Iowa, U.S.
Founders	Pinkie George; Orville Brown; Al Haft; Harry Light; Sam Muchnick; Don Owen; Tony Stecher
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Billy Corgan; (President); Pat Kenney; (Director of Talent Relations); Billy Trask; (Director of Television);
Products	Television; Merchandise; Home video; Live events;
Services	Licensing
Owner	Robert Trobich (1993–2012); R. Bruce Tharpe (2012–2017); Billy Corgan (2017–present);
Parent	National Wrestling Alliance, Inc.; (1948–1993); Pro Wrestling Organization LLC; (1993–2012); International Wrestling Corp.; (2012–2017); Lightning One, Inc.; (2017–present);
Website	nationalwrestlingalliance.com

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

Founded in 1948, the NWA began as the governing body for a group of regional professional wrestling 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]

^ "Billy Corgan has plans to be the next Vince McMahon". Sports Illustrated. October 2, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2019.
^ "National Wrestling Alliance: 1948 - 1993". Wrestling-Titles. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
^ 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.
^ ^a ^b Johnson, Mike (October 2, 2017). "Corgan's reign as NWA owner begins, full details". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
^ Schadler, Kyle (January 4, 2012). "Abandoned: The History of the WCW International Heavyweight Championship". Bleacher Report. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
^ Loverro, Thom (May 22, 2007). The Rise & Fall of ECW: Extreme Championship Wrestling. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781416561569 – via Google Books.
^ The History of TNA: Year 1 (DVD). TNA Home Video. 2006.
^ "NWA Lawsuit Settled, Promotion to Transfer to New Corporation". PWInsider.com.
^ Cite error: The named reference CorganPurchase was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Report: NWA & ROH No Longer Working Together; Nick Aldis Not Advertised For Summer Supercard". Fightful. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
^ 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
^ NWA Announces First TV Tapings For Planned Series, August 7, 2019, retrieved August 13, 2019
^ "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.

[si.com-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.

[auto1-3] 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.

[PWI-4] Johnson, Mike (October 2, 2017). "Corgan's reign as NWA owner begins, full details". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved October 2, 2017.

[BleacherReport-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.

[The_History_of_TNA:_Year_1-7] The History of TNA: Year 1 (DVD). TNA Home Video. 2006.

[PWInsider.com-8] "NWA Lawsuit Settled, Promotion to Transfer to New Corporation". PWInsider.com.

[CorganPurchase-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

[ExoProMidwest-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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