How Blind Arrogance Killed Wrestling's Coolest Cult Promotion

1. Billy Corgan's Creative Vision

As the owner of the National Wrestling Alliance, Billy Corgan is ultimately the one who calls the shots for the promotion. Unfortunately, Corgan has made some mighty questionable calls in recent months, with the NWA product becoming unwatchable to some wrestling fans.

Since Dave Lagana left his executive role with the NWA after being implicated in the #SpeakingOut movement, the general presentation of the NWA and its stars has been extremely off. Lagana rightfully had to leave his post at Corgan's side, but nobody has been brought into the fold to match the vision and direction that Lagana had for the NWA.

Of course, the mass exodus of talent hasn't helped the NWA, but part of what made the product so great pre-pandemic was its knack of introducing relatively unheard of names and turning them into stars you wanted to see on a weekly basis. And that's not to say that the NWA doesn't have some great talents amongst its ranks still - Colby Corino, Trevor Murdoch, Matt Cardona, Allysin Kay, Kamille, Jennacide, Natalie Markova, Hawx Aerie, and JTG amongst those who bring plenty to the table - but the booking and story arcs at play from Corgan of late have served to turn off many who had championed the NWA across these past few years.

It's not just fans who have been left baffled by the NWA's creative direction, for two-time NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis - for so long the focal point of the company - is departing the organisation when his contract's up at the turn of the year, with the National Treasure having butted heads with Corgan over his plans for the NWA.

Bizarrely, Billy last month lambasted those questioning him, instructing people to "don't watch the NWA" if they are unhappy with Corgan's creative. Being pig-headed enough to not listen to fanbase feedback is an extremely Vince McMahon approach. The only difference being, McMahon was running a multi-billion dollar company with huge sponsorship deals in place as he raked in record-setting profits. For a promotion as small as the NWA, every viewer counts, every PPV buy counts, and listening to your audience should always be absolutely key.

Instead, Billy Corgan - unlike near-enough every wrestling fan - wants to see Tyrus as his top champion and the person leading the promotion. Until Corgan becomes more receptive to the opinions of others, the NWA is sadly going to lose more and more fans with each passing week.

Billy Corgan helped to once again make the NWA great, but it's Billy Corgan right now who is making the NWA entirely skippable in a wrestling world that offers so many belter alternatives.

Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.

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