NXT is moving to the CW and while it hasn’t been confirmed, the rumored NWA deal to appear on the CW is deader than disco. While we don’t know the details, there’s a suspicion among some fans, pundits, and even industry insiders that an incredibly poor exercise of judgment led to the NWA missing out on a sweet deal. It may even be a case of history repeating itself with one promotion’s bad judgment allowing another promotion swooping in to grab a valuable timeslot.

Earlier today, the entertainment news site Deadline reported that the WWE and the CW Network agreed to a deal for NXT to air on the channel starting in the 2024-2025 season. The financial details are unknown but it’s believed to be a lucrative deal for the WWE.

Where things get interesting is that up until recently, it was believed that Billy Corgan’s National Wrestling Alliance promotion was about to announce a new deal with the CW. The deal reportedly would have included one wrestling show (NWA Powerrr)  and a reality show apparently based on the promotion. This would have been a major step for the NWA, which has largely been relegated to running its regular shows on YouTube while also offering traditional pay-per-views.

However, the promotion may have shot itself in the foot when it aired a controversial segment on its recent pay-per-view. Haus of Wrestling detailed what happened in the segment:

This past weekend at NWA Samhain, long-time pro wrestling manager Father James Mitchell participated in a controversial segment that went viral. Mitchell was seen at a private seating area near the ring surrounded by scantily clad women drinking bottles of alcohol and some very energetic pro wrestlers. The reason for their amped-up energy? Cocaine. Mitchell could be seen snorting the illegal substance and passing it around to his young compatriots to indulge in as well.

H/T Haus of Wrestling

After the spot, social media reportedly lit up with people complaining about Father James Mitchell’s choice of drug and the message it was sending. While the white powder was not cocaine, it was obvious what it was supposed to be with people simulating snorting it (unless Mitchell and company just enjoyed the smell of it and wanted to get another whiff). This reportedly led to CW executives deciding to skip the deal to broadcast the NWA on regular TV and possibly move it to the CW app.

Different Promoters, Different Content

Professional wrestling has always been about individual promotions producing whatever content they feel may appeal to the fans. During the territory era, promotions created content that might work for their market but not for another. For example, the WWWF of the 1970s was different than say, Memphis wrestling or Sam Muchnick’s St. Louis NWA territory which prided itself on technical wrestling and avoided over-the-top antics of wrestler such as The Sheik.

This was no different in the 1990s. For example, Extreme Championship Wrestling produced an edgier and more violent product than WWF and WCW fans were used to, but that some traditional wrestling fans longed for.

It can be argued that the same applies today where the WWE produces a different product than IMPACT Wrestling or AEW (although the differences between the AEW and WWE are less pronounced). In this case, the NWA produces a product that is different than other promotions and it has achieved a core audience.

However, most promoters’ goal is to grow their product and reach a wider audience while keeping their core audience. As AEW has found, this is easier said than done. In the case of the NWA, NWA owner Billy Corgan had a chance to grow his product by airing it on a significant channel (assuming the CW deal was indeed going to happen). Instead, he may be back to the starting line.

Did Corgan Think the Spot Was Acceptable?

Corgan is a wrestling fan as well as a musician and businessperson. One would think he would be more aware of the consequences of such a potentially controversial spot. Did he think the spot was going to get the NWA some publicity? Perhaps he felt it was a way to create an edgier product, much like the WWF did during the Attitude Era.

According to Haus of Wrestling:

We were also told that the cocaine spot was Corgan’s idea, and he pushed for it to be on the pay-per-view.

In Corgan’s defense, he may have felt there was a difference between the content that could air on pay-per-view and what he presents on his YouTube show:

Apparently, when negotiations were going on to bring the NWA to The CW, Corgan was told that the network would not be watching the PPVs and would only be concerned with what happened on the TV show airing on their platform.

H/T Haus of Wrestling

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Former WCW executive Eric Bischoff weighed in during an episode of his 83 Weeks…podcast:

But I think, you know, TV versus pay-per-view, doesn't fu**ing matter. It's still the NWA. It's still your brand. It's still your characters that we see on TV, and yes, pay-per-views are seen on television. So I think to find any kind of comfort where you're able to get away with things, big things, controversial things like a cocaine spot, but you're gonna be allowed to get away with it because it's on pay-per-view and not on television is naive as hell. That's just inexperience, not having dealt with television networks, not ever having been in a position where you've got a television partner that actually cares about what you do. It's just a reflection of naivete. That's all it is and a fair amount of stupidity because you know you're bringing that attention to yourself. You got people dropping dead in the streets from snorting blow, from fentanyl. I don’t know man.”

H/T Wrestling News

The problem is that edgier content can succeed but it can also fail. As WrestleLamia documented in our video on the Mass Transit Incident, ECW lost its pay-per-view deal due to outrage over a bloody spot. While it eventually got it back, it was a dicey situation. Likewise with the WWF which risked cancellation when it aired its "Pillman's Got a Gun" segment on RAW. Now, Corgan seems to have put himself into a similar situation that a wrestling company faced 40 years ago, and this too involved the WWE.

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Did History Repeat Itself? Did a Short-Sighted Spot Allow the WWE to Swoop In?

This situation is reminiscent of one that involved the WWF getting the rights to air wrestling on the USA Network back in 1983 (although the USA Network aired matches from Madison Square Garden, it did not air the WWF's syndicated programming). Wrestling lore has it that Southwest Championship Wrestling (which had a deal to air wrestling on the USA Network) aired a controversial segment (one story is that it involved a bloody bout while another states it involved a wrestler dumping manure on another wrestler) that led to the USA Network pulling the plug on the show and selling the time slot to Vince McMahon.

However, the generally accepted story is that the USA dumped Southwest Championship Wrestling because it was behind on its payments to the station (back in the days when most promotions paid TV stations to air their content. The similarities between the CW and the USA Network are worth noting.

The CW/NWA/WWE situation is that it invites speculation. Was the CW interested in the WWE but originally bound to the NWA due to a previous agreement? If so, did the cocaine spot give the CW an out so they could sign with the more attractive product, the WWE?

We may never know. Although the NWA story has been going around, the WWE and CW reportedly were in negotiations for some time with Fightful Select reporting:

We're told the deal has been discussed for months, well before the rumors of NWA and CW started.

H/T Fightful Select (see their Patreon account for more details)

The end result is that Corgan may have blown (no pun intended) a terrific opportunity and even harmed pro wrestling’s image (which as Eric Bischoff noted in his comments on the cocaine controversy still has trouble being accepted by some in the mainstream).

But I think, you know, TV versus pay-per-view, doesn't fu**ing matter. It's still the NWA. It's still your brand. It's still your characters that we see on TV, and yes, pay-per-views are seen on television. So I think to find any kind of comfort where you're able to get away with things, big things, controversial things like a cocaine spot, but you're gonna be allowed to get away with it because it's on pay-per-view and not on television is naive as hell. That's just inexperience, not having dealt with television networks, not ever having been in a position where you've got a television partner that actually cares about what you do. It's just a reflection of naivete. That's all it is and a fair amount of stupidity because you know you're bringing that attention to yourself. You got people dropping dead in the streets from snorting blow, from fentanyl. I don’t know man.”

H/T Wrestling News

It’s a terrible situation and one that should never have happened. Corgan should have known there would be consequences. It’s hard to wrap your head around something like this and believe that a person with such poor decision-making skills has any chance of his product growing (at least without a billionaire family member or money mark supporting it).

What do you think of this debacle?

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