The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc.[4] Founded in 1948, the NWA began as the governing body for a group of regional promotions, the heads of which made up the board of directors.

[citation needed] Following the advent of television, professional wrestling matches began to be aired nationally during this time, reaching a larger audience than ever before.

An investigation led by the US Department of Justice resulted in the NWA Consent Decree of 1956 (United States v. National Wrestling Alliance).

In 1957, Montreal promoter Eddie Quinn walked out of the August NWA meeting in St. Louis, having fallen out with Muchnick over a number of issues.

[19] The remaining televised wrestling promoters had small, local syndicated shows, which aired as late-night filler programming.

[21] On January 24, 1963, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Lou Thesz defeated Buddy Rogers in a one-fall match and was declared NWA World Heavyweight Champion for the third and final time.

[citation needed] However, after the event, Vincent J. McMahon and Toots Mondt of the Capital Wrestling Corporation (CWC) refused to recognize the title change since Thesz was not a strong draw in their Northeastern territory.

[23] Videotape trading and cable television paved the way for the decline of the NWA's inter-regional business model, as viewers could now see plot holes and inconsistencies between each territories' storylines.

The presence of stars like Ric Flair on TV every week made their special appearances in each region less of a draw.

[citation needed] That same year, Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) and the NWA created its primary supercard, Starrcade, the first to be broadcast via closed-circuit networks and was regarded as their flagship event.

[citation needed] The WWF then scheduled their first Royal Rumble event in January 1988 to counterprogram against the NWA's Bunkhouse Stampede.

On October 11, under the direction of owner Ted Turner, TBS bought the assets of JCP and renamed it World Championship Wrestling (WCW) after the TV show of the same name.

[28] Originally incorporated by TBS as the Universal Wrestling Corporation, Turner promised fans that WCW would retain the athlete-oriented style of the NWA.

The sale was completed on November 2, 1988, with a television taping of NWA World Championship Wrestling that very same date in WCW's hometown of Atlanta.

[30][31][32] In 1998, the World Wrestling Federation reached an agreement to use the likeness of the NWA titles, branding, and its history, to create a storyline.

[34][35] Despite the NWA receiving international television publicity during the angle, it was considered a failure due to low viewer interests.

[45] On May 1, 2017, it was reported that Billy Corgan, lead singer of the Smashing Pumpkins, had agreed to purchase the NWA, including its name, rights, trademarks and championship belts.

It was contested by Tim Storm and Jocephus and served as a qualifier to challenge then-NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis.

The NWA 70th Anniversary Show, which took place on October 21, 2018, was the first to be produced directly under Lightning One,[57][9] and was co-produced with Global Force Entertainment; the event was streamed live on FITE TV.

[59][60][61] In January 2020, Marty Scurll, and other Ring of Honor characters, began to appear at NWA events once again as part of an inter-promotional angle.

[65][66] Nick Aldis was scheduled to face PCO at Supercard of Honor XIV on April 4, 2020, before the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[67] On June 18, 2020, Dave Lagana resigned as Vice President of the NWA after allegations of sexual assault were made public.

[76] On October 27, 2020, Serena Deeb defeated Rosa during the United Wrestling Network's Primetime Live event to become the new NWA World Women's Champion.

[77] On March 2, 2021, the NWA announced their return to promoting events, with the Back For The Attack and new Powerrr episodes as part of a new distribution agreement with FITE TV.

[84] On October 18, it was reported by news blog Haus of Wrestling that NWA had signed a deal with The CW to air Powerrr and a reality show documenting behind the scenes footage.

[85] However, a controversial segment from that month's Samhain PPV event, in which Father James Mitchell along with several women and wrestlers were seen consuming cocaine, drew negative reactions online.

[136] Ten Pounds of Gold is a documentary series chronicling the journey and career of the current NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion as well as others in the division.