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Back in the late 80's, the WWF was a great show to watch, but I needed something different to satisfy my wrestling appetite. It was then that I discovered that Channel 68 in The Bronx had wrestling on everyday at 7 p.m. On Sunday, I was treated to the UWF, on Tuesdays and 
Thursdays, I was treated to the Von Erich family's form of wrestling and on Wednesdays, I got a look at California Championship Wrestling. Mondays and Fridays were my favorite days, because I got a glimpse at the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). I didn't know much about them, but from watching their shows, I did know that they were the #2 powerhouse in wrestling. The NWA gave me the kind of wrestling I wasn't getting in the WWF; less sports entertainment and more action.
For those unfamiliar with the NWA, let me give you a refresher course. The NWA is probably the oldest organized federation in the world. Within the NWA, there are dozens of regional promotions based out in Florida, Colorado, Atlanta and so on. The WWF World Title can even be traced back to a dispute between the WWF and NWA board of directors over a title change. Yes, the NWA is older than the WWF. It was the NWA that gave us Ric Flair and the Four Horsemen. It was the NWA that allowed us to get a glimpse at the future of sports entertainment with the flashy Dusty Rhodes. It was the NWA that gave us the brutal Magnum T.A. vs. Nikita Koloff best-of-seven series for the US title just before an accident halted T.A.'s promising career. The NWA gave us The Midnight Express, the Rock-n-Roll Express, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger and so much more. However, as the WWF became a major powerhouse, one promotion under the NWA banner got bold and that was how World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was formed, taking all the hot talent out of the NWA and under Ted Turner's owned World Wrestling powerhouse. The NWA faded into obscurity.
However, over the years, the NWA still made a name for itself. Call it a shoot or a work, the day Shane Douglas won a tournament for the NWA Title, threw it in the trash and called himself the ECW World Champion was a day that will forever live in infamy as the major turnaround point for the Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion. The NWA also saw its titles resurrected in WCW, only to have another falling out with the promotion, leading to those titles being folded once again. The NWA also gained recognition when Jim Cornette blasted WCW for claiming to have so much history and for claiming that their world title history was part of the NWA's title history, when in fact an NWA World Champion still existed. Dan Severn, famous Ulitmate Fighting Champions (UCW) Champ and NWA World champion, made his WWF debut and Jeff Jarrett and the Midnight Express brought NWA titles into the picture, mocking an New World Order (NWO) invasion with an NWA one. However, fans lost interest in the storyline and the NWA stopped working with the WWF. Still, the NWA lives on garnering an interest from the fans as Steve Corino, a popular independent wrestler won the World title after holding onto the ECW World champion almost up to its last days as a promotion. Fans were turned on by the NWA regional concept with different federations under the NWA banner using different styles of wrestling and offering a vast variety for the hardcore wrestling fan.
Before the WWF held a brand extension draft and split into two promotions, the NWA always worked with that concept in mind. The NWA World Champ would travel from territory to territory defending his title against the best wrestler in that region. Today, those regions still exist and the action is still as hot as ever. One of those regional promotions is making huge waves in the wrestling world, gaining a tremendous respect from the fans for its mixture of hardcore action, high flying excitement and future stars on the rise. NWA Wildside may be a small promotion, but it is one with a huge fan following, a deep and rich history and promising expectations for the future.