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Archive Binge: Its been around too long for everything to be available, but nwaclassics.com still has more than enough to keep you watching 24/7, if thats your thing. Footage from Jim Crockett/WCW and ECW when they were members is on WWE Network as well. Badass Decay: Once, the NWA was considered the ultimate authority in pro wrestling, with the champion recognized by the majority of promotions in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Mexico and beyond. With the rise of WWE, however, it soon became restricted to small scale independent promotions. It is, however, still respected in Japan, and has an ongoing relationship with New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The treatment of the NWA World Heavyweight title, particularly in the late 80s throughout Ric Flairs various reigns. The NWA presidency was becoming declawed while various member promotions were stretching just how much they could get away with. Specifically, NWA bookers wanted their own top stars to go over the champion. In the past, the champ was the champ, and while the champions job was to make local stars look good, he would still almost always come out on top. But more and more, regional members wanted special exemptions made: Dusty Rhodes did not want to lose in Florida, the von Erichs did not want to lose in Texas, and so on. More and more, the front office gave in, leading to more and more time limit draws meant to keep their members happy. The overall perception, then, to the casual wrestling fan, was that perennial WWF champion Hulk Hogan was an unstoppable juggernaut who had a solid hold on his belt, while Ric Flair was more lucky than good by taking a beating in every match from almost everyone and just barely escaping. A lack of solid high-profile victories over anyone of status by the NWA champion eventually began to erode the importance of the NWA title. Creators Pet: June Byers, whom The Fabulous Moolah claimed was sleeping with promoter Billy Wolfe to get better bookings. There is still a broken base here, with one half stating she was inferior than Mildred Burke and that is why her push coincided with the decline of womens wrestling in the fifties while the other points out she was still over and claims she was a revolutionary, preferring to blame any perceived declines on chauvinists who were taking hold of the USA during her reign. Regardless, Burke being kicked out of the NWA and three title changes being ignored in Junes favor puts Byers squarely in this category, especially when one of those title changes was a catalyst in the WWWF breaking away from the NWA. This came to an end when the Baltimore Athletic Commission stripped her of the belt when she tried to retire as champion. George Gulas, son of NWA Mid-America promoter Nick Gulas, in the 1970s. Fans got so sick of George that they followed Jerry Lawler and Jerry Jarrett out of Mid-America in droves, putting Nick out of business. This didnt stop the Jerrys from making the same mistakes with their own sons, Brian Christopher and Jeff Jarrett, in CWA, USWA or TNA though. In the latter case, perennial NWA champion Jeff was one of the masterminds of TNA alongside his father, meaning he graduated from pet to co-creator. Ear Worm: The World Championship Wrestling theme. Ensemble Dark Horse: The Mulkey Brothers, two guys the promoters were determined not use as anything but a jobber tag team but were hot with the crowds. So hot offhand jokes about them on commentary quickly showed up on merchandise that quickly spread throughout the South, especially in South Carolina. Fanon Discontinuity: RoboCop has never appeared in anything relating to the NWA, or Sting, or The Four Horsemen. Fashion-Victim Villain: The NWA has had a lot of odd logos. Even if you dont think of the organization as whole of being very antagonistic it translated into a lot of oddly shaped and designed world title straps when it came to representing the NWA as a whole. Particularly memorable is their giant world womans belt that couldnt have looked good on anybody smaller than Amazing Kong. It made the difference between the World and Local champions immediately obvious though, which made up for it looking over sized on its carriers. Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Lou Thesz was popular in North America but was almost as big in Europe despite wrestling a lot less there and was akin to a god in Japan. Bob Sapp was midcard indie wrestler in the USA but became huge in Japan, a real pro wrestling draw and the highest paid mixed martial artist in the world. Sabu is much more well known and much less of a Base-Breaking Character in Japan than he is back in the US. Jushin Liger is among the most recognizable Japanese wrestlers of North America, particularly the United States and Mexico. In Japan hes certainly respected but youd be hard pressed to find anyone who considers him among their biggest stars. Hilarious in Hindsight: Howard Brody wrote a column in 2002 explaining why Ring Warriors was not the NWA, and a follow-up column in response to all the negativity it drew with his former friends in the NWA before going on the praise Future Of Wrestling(to show he didnt hate the alliance as a whole). In 2011 Ring Warriors actually did join the NWA only to leave at the end of 2012 when they learned they would no longer have a vote in how the alliance operated. Memetic Mutation Fans sometimes still describe the losers of squash matches, especially extended squashes as being destroyed, a (sometimes unknowing) reference to The Destroyer. It couldnt happen to a nicer guy., a misquote of Buddy Rogers. Jim Cornette breaking his knees during the scaffold match between The Road Warriors and The Midnight Express was the most replayed fall in pro wrestling until Mick Foleys from the Hell In A Cell structure through the Spanish Announcers Table. After that his reaction to the resulting medical procedure, The Cornette Face, became better known. Its still real to me dammit! (from an enthusiastic fan at a press conference) Older Than They Think: Many famous wrestlers start off in the smaller independent promotions which were/are still members of the NWA. Mick Foley began as Cactus Jack in the Memphis-based CWA, as did The Freedom Fighters, later known as the Blade Runners and best known as Sting and the UltimateWarrior. One of the UK members, the Scottish Wrestling Alliance, had their own NXT in 2007, way before WWEs version. Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Gary Steele and Naoya Ogawa werent the most celebrated NWA World Heavyweight Champions, but their later runs in UK Hammerlock and Zero-1 turned the crowds around and retroactively made Ogawa holding the belt a good thing. Rooting for the Empire: Sputnik Monroe is one of the most famous cases ever for trying to integrate sports stadiums in Memphis during the time of Jim Crow laws. Obviously this was to get under the skin of the white adults, who were the majority audience, but young boys and especially black wrestling fans loved him. Tough Act to Follow: Starrcade 86 drew a million dollars at the gate, which was unprecedented for a wrestling promotion in the Americas and wouldnt be seen again until CMLLs 81st anniversary show in 2014. Unfortunately, JCP went bankrupt in 1988. Big shows dont make up for the fact JCP had helped the destroy the territorial system which made the NWA thrive. Theres also the fact Vince McMahon Jr. set out to ensure Starrcade 87 would be a flop by intimidating all but five cable companies into not carrying it by way of Party Scheduling Gambit, which was especially damaging since JCP intentionally sacrificed another shot at a big gate for a better looking pay-per-view.