NWATNA, MY THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS

NWATNA, MY THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS

By Bill Behrens, NWA Vice-President and
owner of NWA Wildside

On Wednesday 6/19 the landscape of professional wrestling will change with the presentation of the first NWATNA PPV live from Huntsville, AL at 8PM (ET). I for one am really looking forward to his first event and the weekly events that
will follow.

It was not that long ago that nearly 10% of the nation’s households watched wrestling on
Monday nights alone, then WCW was sold to WWE, competition vanished, and now only around 4% of the nation’s households watch. In the absence of an alternative the other folk have chosen other forms of entertainment. I doubt they’ve stopped being wrestling fans. I believe hey simply want something else. On June 19 they will get it.

I’ve been reading various opinion and comment on the internet, and just have to shake my head at some of the folk who are so caught up in their opinion and personal agendas that they miss the big picture. Unless wrestling stays strong, these internet “experts” will have
nothing to discuss. Yet, most seem to want to find fault in NWATNA and JSE before even the 1st match has hit the ring.

Some say the wrestlers are “WWE cast-offs and rejects”. Now there’s a truly stupid
line, but one where it is tough to be wrong. If the wrestler is not signed to WWE, then
I guess he is a WWE cast-off, which leads logically to the idea that only wrestlers
signed to WWE deserve being watched. I doubt WWE believes that as they negotiated with Ken Shamrock and made an offer to sign AJ Styles, two of NWATNA first signees, but the internet geniuses that voice this opinion ignore that. See it is easier and safer to
find fault. Successes come with patience and hard work. More stuff fails than succeeds,
so if you side with failure frequently you are “right” in your opinion, and in wrestling
successes have been few and far between so many an internet writer has positioned himself as “smart” by taken the road most traveled, the easy way out, by being a harbinger of doom. It is much tougher to remain optimistic, to see opportunity, to be excited by possibility, as that position may lead to the reality of failure, but it also opens the door to the excitement of challenge, the thrill of accomplishment, and the satisfaction being
a fan before something was popular.

MASH did not start out as a hit on TV, neither did ALL IN THE FAMILY, nor STAR
TREK, yet all three went on to escape network cancellation and become legendary
because a few “believed” and then the family of “believers” grew. I for one
am taking a road less traveled at least by many o the internet. I want NWATNA
to succeed, and I believe it can.

I’ve read Ed Ferrara’s cleverly written pieces at the NWATNA website, and his
opinions have even pissed off a few of my more excitable NWA Members. It is
obvious to me that Ed’s opinion misses reality by a wide margin. He seems to want to reduce the NWA to the “tradition” tag line, defining it as something old, a wristlock not a plancha. Well Ed, quite simply you are full of it. Yes NWA, the National Wrestling Alliance, is the oldest and largest sanctioning body in professional wrestling. Yes it is rich in history, defined by greats like former champions Dory Funk, Jr., Harley Race, and Ricky Steamboat, all who will be at the first PPV in Huntsville, but it is not an organization
stuck in its past, rather it is an organization with a past, and that’s a huge difference. Check out the NWATNA roster and you find AJ STYLES, former NWA Wildside Heavyweight Champion, STEVE CORINO, former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, DAVID YOUNG, former 4 time NWA World Tag Team Champion and
former Wildside Heavyweight Champion, CHRISTIAN YORK & JOEY MATHEWS, former NWA World Tag Team Champions, K KRUSH, former NWA Wildside TV Champion, LOW KI, formerly of NWA NY, MORTIMER PLUMTREE of NWA Mid-West, and it goes on and on. The “tradition” of the NWA is defined today by young athletes like these, so when fans tune into the NWATNA they will see cutting edge action, delivered under the NWA brand, the most storied brand in all of professional wrestling. So Ed, you made a pointless point, much ado about nothing. Good luck calling the action
from your ringside seat in Huntsville because the NWATNA athletes are going to blow your socks off. Thank God Tenay will be there to pick up your slack. I for one will be excited to see a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion crowned and Funk, Race, and Steamboat there to award the belt. The past will meets the present and all in one night of Total Non-Stop Action. I won’t miss a minute of it.