How’d I Do It– An anonymous take on the NWA

Over the weekend I received an email from someone who only described themselves as “Somebody Involved with the NWA.”  This person asked that I keep his email anonymous but wanted to share his thoughts on the National Wrestling Alliance.

The NWA can still work. Bruce Tharpe and Chris Ronquillo no doubt have their hearts in the right place… Bruce comes from a wrestling background. He knows wrestling at its core, but I don’t think he knows a lot of the newer guys or what sells to a more educated internet audience… Chris is obviously a good business man in his field and on the business side of things he’s more than useful. But the problem with regular business people coming into wrestling is that they tend to rub long time wrestling people the wrong way. That’s the case here. I have never had an issue with him, but everybody I talked to seems to hate Chris.

The main issue with the NWA right now lies in how it’s marketed. There is a facebook page that pushes NWA Houston mainly; a twitter profile that just repeats the same stuff as the facebook page… and NO website at all. There is also no YouTube presence from the head office.

They want to market feuds with their champions and have the promoters book those feuds… But there is no vehicle to push the angles. It’s worthless for a guy in Ohio to book Rob Conway against whom the office is pushing because no fans in Ohio have been conditioned to care about the feud.

I hate doing the “this is what I would do” kinda thing, because it’s all hypothetical and until you walk in the owners shoes, you don’t know the whole story… But this is what my plan would be in a perfect world:

The Members:
In best case scenario NWA Hollywood, Ring Warriors, Rampage, Anarchy and Dawg could come back… But realistically those guys are pissed and it probrably isn’t happening. This sucks because all those promotions are super valueable when it comes to exposure and growing the brand.

I know the NWA has to make money… But some of these promotions they accept aren’t worthy of the brand name.

I don’t blame Bruce and Chris for signing up all these Texas promotions. That is their home and I’m sure they spent time going out and cultivating relationship with these promoters. It is paying off for the wrestlers, the promoters and everybody involved with the NWA in TX.

They need to name a VP on the East Coast that can go out and do the same thing, somebody that will go and find the best promotion on the East Coast and recruit them into the NWA.

Another thing they should do is find a way, even if they have to make certain concession to sign up TCW and make it the Flagship promotion of the brand. They have national and international TV deals and there show has top notch productions.

Outside deal:

I would try to establish a relationship with WWN Live. I would make them the exclusive provider for any NWA iPPV. I would make any member that wanted to do an iPPV have to do it through WWN Live… This could also open the doors for an NWA show at WrestleCon and the NWA World Jr. Title to appear on Dragon Gate USA and Evolve shows.

I would establish a deal with Highspots.com or Smart Mark Video to be the exclusive carrier of NWA DVDs for all members.

I would do the same thing with OneHourTees.com for t-shirts.

These deals would give the brand exposure and help the promoters make some money on online merchandise.

Champions:

I’d can either the National or NA title in favor of a company wide recognized TV champion. NWA SAW’s TV champ, Chase Stevens is a good fit.

Vordell Walker is a good national champion. So was Damien Wayne.

Chase Owens could be a good Jr. Champion if the NWA had more promotions in the East…

However, Jason Kincaid would be a good champion. When it comes time for Owens to drop it, he should be the guy.

The NWA Tag Title need to get on some guys that can defend them… KeS is financially impossible to book because of their individual locations… The champions HAVE to live close together. Either the World Titles or NA tag titles should in TX and the other in the East.

As far as the Worlds Heavyweight title, I would generally be against an ex WWE mid card guy as world champion. Rob Conway is an exception. He is a guy that should have been a star but wasn’t given the chance. The NWA HAS to market him that way. Or else the fans will just see him as a mid card guy and not a world champion.

Lastly the NWA needs to hit the fan convention circuit. Reestablish a connection with Greg Price. The show at the cauliflower alley convention needs to be an NWA show.

The NWA work… Bruce and Chris just need to find somebody that understands wrestling in this generation.