By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
This Is The NWA Podcast with guest Nick Aldis
Interview available at TheNWAPod.com
On how the NWA pitched their idea to him: “[David Lagana] said ya know, Billy [Corgan] basically wants the wrestling he watched on TV. He wants a modern equivalent to that. He wants men cutting promos and having physical rough and tumble wrestling matches. I said, ‘That I can do.’ That was them describing their vision of what they wanted and then they asked ‘What is your vision?’ I said I wanted matches to feel like prize fights. I said ‘I’m sitting here watching the build to Mayweather/McGregor and it’s just the best shit I’ve ever seen. It’s fantastic theater. They’re taking everything that pro wrestling did first, doing it better, and pro wrestling’s not even doing it anymore. We’re just literally handing over all of this money to MMA and boxing. We gave them secret sauce and then stopped using the secret sauce ourselves.”
On the increased supply of wrestling right now and what that means for the NWA’s new show: “My major concern is that the already somewhat whittled down niche audience compared to better days for our business is gonna be divided up even further. But we’re not in the same business. We’re going after a different market. If wrestling fans who predominantly exist in the current form decide not to watch our product, we’re okay with that because we’re trying to go after a different audience like any smart business would. We’re trying to go after a different demographic, and that demographic is fans who’ve fallen off for whatever reason because they preferred a certain style of stuff. Ya know, it’s so hard to state any of these intentions without seeming like you’re projecting your own opinion, but my opinion has nothing to do with it. This is 100 percent a business decision in the sense that there sure are a lot of folks who aren’t watching wrestling each week anymore. What did they used to watch? I can bet you a great deal used to watch the NWA and WCW.”
Where he sees the NWA going over the next five years: “You know, I’d like to think that in five years I’ll be firmly established as a top performer and a top attraction, a sort of respectable OG character. I think that the NWA, if we keep on our current trajectory and our current milestones, within five years we could be a very solidly established brand, attraction and organization. I think brand is the best way to put
it because I could see us working with multiple different companies here and there but ultimately what I’ve always wanted for us is to be like the HBO Boxing of pro wrestling.”
Other topics include who he would like to wrestle if there were no boundaries, the backstage attitude in TNA, frustrations within TNA, the difference between pro wrestling and other entertainment, and more.
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