The National Wrestling Alliance is a group of independent professional wrestling promotions, in operation since 1948. Prior to the 1980s, it acted as a governing body for pro wrestling, operating the 'franchise'-like "territory" system.
Territories
All the member federations had a monopoly over their given territory; the member federations would all recognize the NWA World Heavyweight Championship as their highest title. Wrestlers, like Ric Flair, who held the NWA Title, could also go on tours of member federations.
What this meant is that any member territory who broke the NWA's rules faced expulsion, and thus risked missing out on having wrestlers with household names appear in their territories. Similarly, if another promoter began performing shows in an NWA member federation's territory, all the NWA members were obligated to send their best talent across to fend off the threat. Unofficially, threats of violence or physical retaliation may have reportedly been used against promoters who disregarded the territory system.
Thus the NWA used a "carrot and stick" approach to maintaining the territory system. For most promoters under the NWA umbrella, the benefits of membership were well worth the dues.
Former Member Federations
Some prominent former NWA member promotions included:
Decline and Fall of the Territory System
Video tape trading and cable television paved the way for the eventual death of the NWA's regional business, as fans could now see for themselves the plot holes and inconsistencies between the different regional storylines, and the presence of stars like Ric Flair on TV every week made their special appearances in each region less of a draw. WWF promoter Vince McMahon used these gathering trends, and talent raids, to turn his northeastern territory into a national federation. To compete against this threat, various promoters attempted to co-promote shows under the Pro Wrestling USA banner. However, this fell apart and the AWA began broadcasting weekly shows on ESPN.
Meanwhile, to hold off the threat of the WWF, promoter Jim Crockett Promotions decided to unify parts of the NWA, and create a national federation, by buying out some of the member promotions. However, by 1988 this led him to bankruptcy, and he sold off the promotion to Ted Turner as World Championship Wrestling. In 1991, the flagship WCW realized the NWA needed it more than it needed the NWA, and left. WCW continued, however, to claim the NWA's lineage.
After the AWA's bankruptcy, and ECW leaving, the NWA was a shell of its former self. Through the mid to late '90s, the all-but-forgotten organization was left with a small collection of independent federations during the peak of the Monday night ratings wars between the WCW and WWF.
The NWA Today
An NWA independent, Total Nonstop Action (TNA), is now their biggest claim to fame, holding their cards weekly on TNA Impact Fridays on Fox Sports Net. NWA:TNA takes the place of WCW and ECW as a federation with an international audience, at the pinnacle of the NWA. TNA, for instance, has aired on Australia's Foxtel cable network, as well as in Canada, and elsewhere outside the United States.
Other Territories
- Canadian Wrestling Federation
- Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling
- New Japan Pro Wrestling
- NWA Australia
- NWA Battlezone (Including NWA New South)
- NWA Bluegrass
- NWA California
- NWA Carolinas
- NWA Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA East
- NWA Florida (Including NWA Sunray)
- NWA Hawai'i
- NWA Kansas
- NWA Main Event
- NWA Mid-American
- NWA Mid-Atlantic
- NWA Mid-South
- NWA Midwest
- NWA New England
- NWA No Limits
- NWA Over the Top
- NWA Quebec
- NWA Rocky Mountains
- NWA Southwest (Including NWA Oklahoma)
- NWA Tri-State (Including NWA Ohio)
- NWA UK Hammerlock (Including NWA Ireland)
- NWA Virginia (Including NWA Power Pro & NWA Blue Ridge)
- NWA Wildside (Including NWA Alabama & NWA Blue Ridge)
- NWA Wisconsin
- North American Wrestling Association
- Pro Wrestling Evolution
- Zero One
