Why is Nick Aldis Leaving the NWA?

Nick Aldis, former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, announced on Sunday night that he would be departing from the National Wrestling Alliance in January after being one of the pillars of the promotion for nearly half a decade. In a video posted exclusively to subscribers on his Instagram, he voiced his frustration with the NWA’s “current direction,” and declared his current contract would expire in January. Aldis’ two reigns with the historic world title combined for 1,309 days and helped bring notoriety back to the NWA not seen in decades. His program with Cody Rhodes in 2018 was one of the headlining matches for the All In pay-per-view, a precursor to what is now known as All Elite Wrestling. 

The NWA responded to Aldis’ announcement by promptly suspending him, pulling him from this Saturday’s Hard Times 3 pay-per-view where he was originally supposed to face Odison. The company released the following statement — “Pursuant to the recent comments made by Nick Aldis, the National Wrestling Alliance has suspended Aldis from the main roster and effective immediately, Aldis will not appear for the Hard Times 3 PPV and Revolution Rumble television tapings in New Orleans, LA on Nov. 12, 2022, and Nov. 13, 2022. As such, the National Wrestling Alliance reserves its right to comment on this matter at a future date.”

Also, fans in NOLA: Sorry to disappoint but I was removed from the shows this weekend after giving my notice. I fully intended to fulfill my obligations to the audience but unfortunately the company doesn't seem to share the same values.

— Nick Aldis (@RealNickAldis) November 7, 2022

Nick Aldis vs. NWA’s Billy Corgan

Creative issues between Aldis and NWA owner Billy Corgan were made public last year, to the point where Aldis was pulled from the NWA World Championship match by Corgan over said issues. Aldis made it clear on Twitter that part of the reason for his departure was Corgan’s unwillingness to do a second EmPowerrr event, an all-women pay-per-view first introduced back in 2021. Mickie James, Aldis’ wife, was the executive producer for that event. 

“Until we can provide a world-class event with some of the best professional wrestlers in the world, in this case, females on the card, we won’t do it,” Corgan recently told NBC Sports Boston regarding why there isn’t an EmPowerrr 2 on the horizon (h/t Fightful). “All this weird howling that goes on about it is very strange to me because you’re taking a positive and making a negative out of a positive, that’s weird to me. Why would you take a positive…by the way, we put EmPowerrr as the first night of a two-night pay-per-view, on an anniversary show, and it drew, people cared. What if it didn’t and people didn’t care and it did horrible numbers? What if the matches were bad? You create a high watermark, you do something beautiful, make a big statement, and somehow it turns into a weird negative where somehow I’m running from it. I’m not running from anything. I’m talking about my reasons for why we haven’t done it yet. I continue to explore those opportunities. That’s it. It’s not more complicated than that.”

More on Why Nick Aldis is Leaving NWA

Following Aldis’ tweet regarding Corgan and EmPowerrr, Sean Ross Sapp dropped a new report on the situation on Fightful Select. Sapp noted that the “disrespect” Corgan showed toward James leading up to and after the EmPowerrr pay-per-view soured the relationship between the two. 

The issue was initially kept quiet due to Aldis’ position as one of the promotion’s top stars. Sapp also noted there were women within the NWA who were outraged by comments made by Corgan and current NWA Champion Trevor Murdoch over there not being enough talent to put on a second all-women pay-per-view.