Earlier this week, on Busted Open Radio, Billy Corgan made headlines when he gave an update on the future of the NWA, which he purchased in 2017.
“I can now say for the first time, and I have to be a bit vague because there’s some other political aspects to this,” he prefaced. “I can now say that we finally have signed not just one, but two television deals. And that announcement as far as where and who will be coming soon, but we finally now will be able to move off YouTube, not exclusively, because we want to still do stuff on YouTube. But we now will be moving with a network partner.”
“I can’t say who, but I can say it’s a top 20 network, and I’m very excited. I’ve been working on this for over a year, and like I said, not just one but two television deals are involved. Two totally different wrestling-related products that we’ll be offering. So 2024 is looking very, very bright.”
Haus of Wrestling has learned that the “top 20 network” Corgan refers to is The CW. Some logistics are being worked out, but an official announcement should be coming “relatively soon.” The two TV deals that Corgan mentioned are for two different NWA products that will air on The CW: NWA Powerrr and a reality TV show about the day-to-day, behind-the-scenes business of the NWA.
A reality TV show about running a pro wrestling company is something Corgan has wanted to do for a while. He nearly pulled it off a decade ago when he was running RESISTANCE Pro wrestling in Chicago and inked a deal with A&E to produce one. While some content was filmed for a RESISTANCE reality show, the network pulled the plug on all of its reality show content, and the project was scrapped before making it to air. This new reality show about the NWA has already started filming, and we are told should be done soon.
Despite the reality show likely being completed before new in-ring content can be filmed, NWA Powerrr is expected to debut on The CW before the reality show. NWA Powerrr has already undergone production upgrades for its latest season, and we are told those changes were made in anticipation of the move to The CW. It was not made clear to us if Powerrr will be one or two hours long, but it does not sound like it will be live. The way it was described to us, Powerrr will pre-tape episodes in blocks as Impact does for AXS TV.
As far as the NWA’s future on YouTube goes, it was speculated to us that the new NWA territories that Corgan is launching could find a home on the NWA channel. The NWA recently announced that Exodus Pro Wrestling in Cleveland has become their first official territory, and we are told two others are being worked on.
WOW, Women of Wrestling, which airs on many The CW affiliates, regularly outdraws Impact Wrestling in viewership, pulling in between 250 – 450,000 viewers per episode. WOW’s performance gives those within the NWA optimism that they will find a solid audience.
Haus of Wrestling has partnered with Inside The Ropes to present An Afternoon With Kevin Nash And Sean Waltman on November 25 at Joe’s Live in Rosemont, IL, ten minutes from the All-State Arena. Tickets are now available at JoesLiveRosemont.com.