Report: NWA TV Deals in Jeopardy Following Controversial Segment
The CW may be pivoting NWA TV to its app.
The National Wrestling Alliance is on the precipice of a major shift in its trajectory. The dormant promotion was purchased by Billy Corgan back in 2017, resurrecting the iconic NWA Worlds Championship in an effort to put the company back on the map. Corgan built the company around Nick Aldis, who went on to put the NWA Worlds Title on the line in a headlining match at ALL IN (2018). Since then, the NWA began airing a weekly series on YouTube, NWA Powerrr, and produced quarterly pay-per-view events. With EC3 now captaining the ship, the NWA looks towards reaching its biggest milestone yet in the Corgan era: a television deal.
Reports surfaced that the NWA was closing two television deals with The CW. These contracts would see NWA Powerrr move from YouTube to that channel as well as a debuting reality television series about the NWA's behind-the-scenes atmosphere, a la Wrestlers on Netflix.
NWA TV Contracts Jeopardized Following Controversial Segment
The NWA on The CW may be over before it even starts.
As reported by Haus of Wrestling, higher-ups at The CW has soured on bringing the National Wrestling Alliance to its network following a controversial segment at NWA Samhain. During that pay-per-view last month, veteran wrestling manager Father James Mitchell was filmed giving cocaine to his surrounding posse. Mitchell himself as well as a number of wrestlers involved in the segment were seen snorting the drug on the pay-per-view feed.
The controversial segment can be seen below...
Forget everything else I ever said, maybe NWA is cool pic.twitter.com/6E2XGsxy4R
— ORANGE CRUSH (@orangecrushart) October 29, 2023
Fans responded negatively to the segment, with some calling it "horrible and unprofessional" as well as "disgusting and embarrassing."
As a result, The CW is said to be pushing for the NWA's content to air exclusively on The CW app rather than its broadcast network. NWA owner Billy Corgan was reportedly under the impression that the network "would not be watching the PPVs" and would "only be concerned with what happened on the TV show airing on their platform." Haus of Wrestling reports that there is a "90 percent chance" that the pivot from The CW channel to The CW app for the NWA's content goes through.
There is no word on when the NWA planned to announced this reported TV deal with The CW or if this controversial segment will delay whatever the planned rollout schedule is.
Stay tuned to ComicBook.com for updates on the NWA's future with The CW.
