Twenty Six Years Later…
What should have been the deathblow for the National Wrestling Alliance actually brought new life blood to the NWA. We celebrate 26 years ago, Douglas “putting the screws” to the NWA and tossing down the title, but we should celebrate the NWA surviving what should have killed it.
What should have been the death blow for the NWA essentially reignited the brand. What launched ECW was what saved the NWA. Shane Douglas
Douglas was the safe bet. And it still backfired on Corralluzo. Which forced them to have to think outside the box. So in 1994 Douglas and the ECW nearly killed the NWA, in less than a year the title was on Dan Severn. Severn would bring NEW exposure to the NWA and the Ten Pounds of Gold as he would showcase that title in the UFC and later the WWF. That connection as well as defending all over the world would bring new life blood into the NWA, which just a year or two earlier was slowly fading away.
The National Wrestling Alliance in 1994 was limited to a handful of promotions; NWA Florida, IWA Puerto Rico, Smoky Mountain, NWA UK (Hammerlock), and NWA Dallas (which was promoted by Jim Crocket Jr). The NWA membership would pick up between Severn’s notoriety and the NWA appearing on RAW.
On April 21st 2001, ECW officially ceased operations. The NWA revival that was kicked off with the Ten Pounds of Gold series and later the studio wrestling show NWA POWERRR had made the NWA more relevant now than it had been in years.