Billy Corgan teases that NWA has some "good news" regarding the company's plans for TV/distribution.
Corgan acquired the NWA in 2017, and he later established NWA Powerrr as its flagship show. The program first aired on YouTube before NWA brought it to FITE TV. In 2023, Powerrr has returned to YouTube, where it now airs exclusively. NWA's second show, NWA USA, also airs on YouTube. FITE TV remains the home of NWA pay-per-views. Otherwise, NWA has yet to reach a streaming or distribution deal with other another platform.
Speaking with Good Karma Wrestling with Jonathan Hood and Brian Rowitz, Corgan was asked to describe what the future looks like for NWA TV/streaming. He first noted that he has talked had plenty of discussions over the past few years, and he couldn't get deals done with major streaming platforms.
“I’ve talked to just about everybody in the sphere over the last few years. For a while, I was in discussions with WWE, when they were more interested in bringing outside content onto the network. That didn’t happen. They were very cool about it, though, so nothing but love there. I’ve talked to every major platform in the world. I don’t have to roll the names out because I wasn’t able to necessarily get those deals done," Corgan said.
Corgan then emphasized that the NWA has to find network broadcast partners, and he stated that they have some "good news" coming up. He noted that this news will surprise people and get them talking about the direction of the NWA. Corgan also made it clear that it is difficult for a wrestling promotion to grow without having the platform of a substantial broadcast partner.
"I think everything from here is, we have to find network broadcast partners. We have some good news coming up, I think, that will surprise and get some people talking as far as where we’re going. But at the end of the day, Dave Meltzer is not my friend, and of course, if you’re a wrestling fan, you know who Dave Meltzer is. But I do agree with Dave Meltzer on one thing, which is if you don’t have TV at the higher level, you’re gonna have a hard time drawing. I think at the end of the day, wrestling always works in conjunction with television. We have a very robust YouTube channel, where we put all our programming, and we still partner with FITE on our pay-per-views, and our numbers are pretty good on YouTube, so there’s nothing to sneeze at there. But until you can reach that larger public [through] broadcast, whether it’s digital or classic old-school networks, you’re gonna have a hard time really growing. So that’s kind of where we’re at right now. We’re right on the precipice of that," Corgan said.
When asked about the NWA's goals to grow and reach the next level, Corgan stated that he wants NWA to get to the point where it can compete with WWE, AEW, NJPW, and AAA. He made it clear that the company has been aiming to prepare itself for a bigger run at a higher level. Corgan explained that this process has a number of parts, including building the product up.
“It’s a difficult thing to easily answer because there are a lot of strong, independent wrestling organizations in the world. I would say anything below New Japan, AAA, AEW, or WWE, you could classify as a top-tier independent or a second-tier independent, and I don’t mean that as a slight. We’re just talking about economics. I want the National Wrestling Alliance to be up there and competing at the top level with WWE, New Japan, AAA, and AEW. So we’re doing is to get ourselves prepared for a bigger run at a higher level, which seems counterintuitive to a lot of the crowd that follows the independent scene. But that’s exactly what we’re here to do. What we can do and how we can do it at a ground level, there’s lots of argument there to be made. Part of it is economic, part of it is trying to build the product up from the ground up. Part of it is even delineating that our wrestling product is far different than just about every other company out there," Corgan said.
In a recent interview, Corgan clarified his comments regarding Tyrus. Click here to see what he had to say.
Check out Corgan's comments about resisting taking outside money to help fund the NWA here.
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