Nick Aldis is on a bumpy way out of the National Wrestling Alliance. The longest-reigning NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion of this century publicly revealed that he will be departing the promotion when his contract expires in January due to the fact that he was not satisfied with the company’s current creative direction. This led to Aldis getting suspended from the NWA and removed from the upcoming NWA Hard Time 3 pay-per-view where he was scheduled to take on Odinson.ย
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Speaking on Busted Open Radio, NWA owner Billy Corgan revealed that he suspended Aldis not for making his upcoming departure public knowledge, but rather for the comments he made about the NWA afterwards.
“He gave his notice, privately, we didn’t do anything. Did we retaliate or leak some rumor? No, we didn’t say anything. We have shows booked, Nick is on the card. He’s doing interviews for the pay-per-view,” Corgan said. “A couple of days ago, he does a video where he says, ‘I’m opting out of my contract.’ He does it publicly. I wouldn’t do business that way, but it’s his choice. I didn’t like it, but okay, he’s leaving in 55 days. Do your business and go out the door. Hopefully, we’ll do business down the road.ย
“Then, he starts blasting the product. Everything that he’s said, I’ve been hearing that stuff for years. It’s not like I heard it and got sensitive. Why in a pay-per-view week, with a talent who is leaving the company, does he decide to start blasting me and product, 55 days before he’s out and he can do whatever he wants to do? Why does he have to bury the locker room and the product?”
While it has been emphasized that this is not part of a storyline, Corgan noted that he believes Aldis is attempting to create one out of his contract situation.
“Why is he working an angle when he’s leaving? Why is he using the NWA’s good name or my good name, to get himself over in a way that is not necessary? If he’s everything he thinks he is, go into the free market like any free agent and test your metal. He’s working something,” Corgan said. “This is not cool. He’s a paid talent and under contract. He didn’t come to us privately and say, ‘I’d like to get out early for XYZ.’ I’ve been in those situations. I can deal with those things.”
Corgan revealed that he has been willing to release Aldis in the past if greener pastures came calling.
“I used to tell Nick in the early days of the NWA, ‘If Vince (McMahon) calls you tomorrow and wants you, I’ll release you out of your contract.’ Why does this guy have to go and burn down the company 50 something days out when he can just leave in 50 days?” Corgan said. “Why is a key talent, who is supposed to be a locker room leader, doing this on the way out?”
In the build up to Hard Times 3, Aldis alluded to a conspiracy that Odinson was a hired gun by NWA management to take him out. Aldis spoke with ComicBook.com’s Liam Crowley before he was removed from the pay-per-view where he said that he did not care for wrestler against authority storylines.
“As far as the situation with wrestlers doing the bidding of management and so on and wrestlers versus management, I just think the whole thing is so played out,” Aldis said. “We’ve been doing it for over 20 years and I think it’s time we moved on from it. Maybe that’s the reason why I’m a target of the management because I wasn’t into the idea of feuding with the owner because my whole philosophy on that is, ‘Well what’s the payoff?’ There’s no payoff to it because he’s not going to get in the ring and wrestle. So it ultimately leaves the audience frustrated.”
NWA Hard Times 3ย goes down on Saturday, November 12th.
