Forget that the product sucks right now. Forget that the writers are idiots and that the talent is going to waste on the company. This is still huge news!Effective Sunday, March 11, 2007, the National Wrestling Alliance will end its partnership with Total Nonstop Action wrestling. What this means is that the company who has tried to help give TNA credibility since their inception has become so disgusted with TNA that they no longer wish to continue through the previously arranged agreement which allowed TNA to retain the rights to the NWA World Heavyweight and NWA Tag Team Championship belts through 2011.
In short - NWA is pulling the plug by taking their titles back, and TNA is completely on their own now. And, in all likelihood, they're closer to being screwed than ever before.
Perhaps the most intriguing part about this whole situation is that the day the two companies are set to part ways is the same day that TNA's Destination X pay-per-view is set to air. With the NWA taking back their titles, TNA is going to have to come up with some way to kayfabe the loss of both championships.
Considering the main event of Samoa Joe VS. Christian Cage, I now smell a title change. I have a very candid opinion about this particular match, but I'll get into that on another day.
According to NWA officials, the reason they decided to end the partnership is because TNA had not been following the strict set of guidelines that they had agreed to when the two companies first paired up. The two biggest complaints that NWA had were as follows:
One, whenever TNA had an NWA title change hands, they were expected to notify the NWA board of the specifics of the title change. Which makes sense...if your most prestigious title is on loan to another company, it's bad for the value of the title if it gets hot-shotted or gets used for lousy storylines. However, on many occasions, TNA failed to comply.The second major grief of the NWA is that when TNA would produce a show in another NWA member's territory, they were supposed to pay a fee. TNA refused to pay this fee everytime.
As some of you may or may not know, the NWA is spread out over certain geographical areas across North America. Each area has titles specific to their roster, and each area will put on shows featuring only their superstars. Whenever TNA would venture outside of Orlando for a show, they usually ended up trespassing on foreign NWA soil. When NWA didn't get the money, they got pissed.
Personally, I don't think that these two reasons would be enough to convince me to end the partnership this prematurely. Then again, there are other bones that the NWA had to pick with TNA, these just happened to be the two biggest.
Currently, TNA plans to create some sort of storyline to legitimately phase out the titles during the pay-per-view. More details will be given as this story unfolds.
13 comments: on "NWA And TNA To Part Ways"
I think the biggest thing is that the NWA still believes that they are the strong entity they were throughout the 60's, 70's and 80's. They truly think that their guidelines carry weight. Not to knock the NWA as a whole, but the general wrestling fanbase would not even know that the NWA still existed had it not been for TNA. Other than Cyberspace and Wildside, there aren't many NWA branches that the general fanbase know about. And how many of those that do know about it, hell even smarks for that matter, have the faith in Cyberspace or Wildside that they could be a national entity and draw like TNA does? TNA may not be WWE's level, but it has it's share of fans, and I don't think losing NWA will take away anything. It may even add some newer blood to its fanbase. No BS legacy to try and maintain, no BS fee to pay, and no BS notification of the board on a title change. Has NWA been intelligent, they would have hitched onto TNA and had everything they did be associated with TNA, to get themselves more publicity. I guess they in turn thought that they were giving TNA credibility. In a way they did at first, but really how many people still call it NWA-TNA? Robert Roode, Eric Young, and Traci Brooks say it on Rated O Radio, TNA WRESTLING, and TNA Knockout.
Just my opinion, but I don't really think this move will effect TNA negatively.
MAN THATS A BIG SHOCKER I DONT REALLY KNOW WHAT TO SAY I HAVENT REALLY WATCHED THE PRODUCT IN A WHILE BUT THAT SUCKS NOW THAT NWA IS GONNA PART WAYS WITH TNA BUT SHIT HAPPENS
Chaz why does it suck?
What do you care?
I Think if they can find a reasonable angle to justified the fact that they are getting rid of the NWA titles and bring in new titles that this can actually be a benifit to TNA finally move on their own....(Now this isn't the best time since the product isn't all that hot) but they can do some type of angle in where they trash NWA and say that its time to bust out the NEW TNA STRAP and who better to be the first person to hold it but TNA's own Samoan Joe... I would feel better if the belt changed hands at Destination X.... don't get me wrong I love Christian Cage as a champ but I find that giving Joe the new belt can create a better story line then Christian retaining.
you guys need to do your research first...this was planned a long time ago...
Everyone is reading too much into this. There will be no kayfabe explanation. Simply, at the PPV, they will unveil new belt designs for all of their titles and refer to current champions as TNA Champions rather than NWA champions.
They aren't pulling away to do an NWA vs. TNA angle or anything of the like. All mentions of the National Wrestling Alliance will vanish quietly from TNA and the show will go on as if the NWA had never been a part of it.
This decision happened in an office, and won't make TV or the ring. Most marks won't even notice the difference.
Other than the belts themselves there is barely any mention of NWA anyway. Like I said earlier this won't effect TNA in any way. Who cares what really happens, Joe or Christian would be the perfect 2 guys to transition from NWA to TNA. I'm sure something will happen though, because the new belts would take a while to make, and upon last hearing they weren't completed yet. Yeah I've heard over and over again that Danielson wants to be the next NWA champion. He said it at an indy show sometime lately, and the "board of directors" want to make him the guy, but sadly, with the loss of TNA to hold their belts the NWA World Heavyweight Championship won't mean shit, just like when Dan Severn had it.
What is the difference?
Ben lol what is the difference the belt being on TNA didn't make any difference it didn't hurt nor help them other then for people to actually know NWA. Lmao i been a huge wrestling fan for the last 15 years and NWA is nothing to me, it has been nothing for a long time and its not ging to change
To think that the NWA is still half of what is was is far from the truth. True that the NWA champions were true greats of the sports, but the NWA lost tremendous steam when the WWE came into prominence, and throughout the years dwindled into almost nothing. Being from an area where NWA was the be all end all in it's heyday, and still hearing the stories from older wrestling fans about what it was is truly something to hear. But the NWA now, is nothing more than what the AWA is. A promotion trying to live off a name, not a product.
I definently see where you are going with the heritage thing, but you've got to remember that Dan Severn had that belt for some 4 years when the NWA was all but dead. Severn was still in MMA at this time, and that certainly did he or the belt or the heritage any favors. Had he been a fighting and defending champion, we may very well have something completely different. TNA did resurrect the NWA at the time, but once they became a very seperate entity bound only by the titles most everyone forgot that this was NWA. THE NWA belt is incredibly valuable, and has maybe the most impressive line of champions to hold it, although that belt is no longer enough to save the NWA. I'll catch some wildside when I can but I don't go out of my way to see it. The NWA belt like Dan-e-o said isn't that valuable looking, and in the eyes of most marks they probably question it. Since the 20's wrestling championship belts have grown in size, and really in credibility. Look at WCW's "big gold" that was the model for several knock offs. WWE then smartened up and with the attitude era presented Austin(or the company whatever) with the rounded larger winged eagle. These belts were around a foot from top to bottom, whereas older belts which are looked at now as what the hells were the size of an average mans hand. The jakks pacific WWE toy belts are about the same size as the NWA belt, and two marks looking at the NWA WORLD heavyweight title and the WWE IC strap see no difference. Therefore they say damn the IC belt is cooler, I like it better. I sort of went off on a rant about belt size, but it sort of goes with my point. When TNA presents its own belt, that belt should and probably will be more blingy(I guess it's a word) and larger and in the mind of marks mean more. As I stated earlier this "seperation" may do more for TNA and may even adversly effect the NWA.
They should go with a Maple Leaf spiner belt. That'll get TNA over.
Then in turn have a Traci Brooks, Socal Val, Christy Hemme, Gail Kim, and Jackie Moore maple syrup match. That would...well dont put it past Russo.
I know that was a joke, but that would have been kind of cool had Edge done that when Unfrgiven(no o's cause Edge lost to that one guy)was in Toronto.
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