NWA Wildside was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

professional wrestling promotion based in

Cornelia, Georgia Cornelia is a city in Habersham County, Georgia, United States. The population was 4,160 at the 2010 census, up from 3,674 at the 2000 census. It is home to one of the world's largest apple sculptures, which is displayed on top of an obelisk-shap ...

, with an office in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, operating between September 1999 and April 2005. It was originally formed when National Championship Wrestling merged with NWA Georgia. While in operation, NWA Wildside was one of the main affiliates of the National Wrestling Alliance, a group that dates back to 1948. It also served as a developmental territory for

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nati ...

History

Wildside was originally named National Championship Wrestling in 1997 and was owned by Steve Martin, who often made appearances on the wrestling card. In December 1999 NCW merged with NWA Georgia to form NWA Wildside under the ownership of Bill Behrens.

WCW development territory

(WCW) hired NWA Wildside to serve as its development territory and sent their

Power Plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an el ...

wrestlers like

Shannon Moore Shannon Moore (born July 27, 1979) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1999 and 2001 and with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for several years in the 2000s. H ...

Jamie Noble James Gibson (born December 23, 1976) is an American retired professional wrestler better known by the ring name Jamie Noble. He is currently signed to WWE as a producer. In addition to his appearances with WWE, Noble is known for his appeara ...

Sean O'Haire Sean Christopher Haire (February 25, 1971 – September 8, 2014) was an American professional wrestler, mixed martial artist and kickboxer, better known by his ring name Sean O'Haire. Haire was best known for his appearances with the profession ...

Mark Jindrak Mark Robert Jindrak (born June 26, 1977) is an American businessman, former professional wrestler, and actor. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as Mark Jindrak and ...

and

Elix Skipper Elix Skipper (born December 15, 1967) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling, where he was a one-time WCW Cruiserweight Champion and a one-time WCW Cruiserweight Tag ...

to compete in the company. WCW hired several NWA Wildside talent for their shows including

A.J. Styles Allen Neal Jones (born June 2, 1977), better known by his ring name AJ Styles (also stylized as A.J. Styles), is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Regarded as one of the best ...

and Frank "Air" Paris. Wrestlers such as

Onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The ...

, David Young and

Rick Michaels Rick Michaels (born September 8, 1974) is a retired American professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Extreme Championship Wrestling (1992–1993) Michaels debuted for Extreme Championship Wrestling on June 23, 1992, under the gimmic ...

appeared on

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...

tapings. With the establishment of

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the promo ...

, various NWA Wildside stars such as Styles,

Abyss Abyss may refer to: * Abyss (religion), a bottomless pit, or a passage to the underworld Film and television * ''The Abyss'' (1910 film), a Danish silent film starring Asta Nielsen * ''The Abyss'' (1988 film) (''L'Œuvre au noir''), a French- ...

(Prince Justice), Young, Onyx, Slim J, Joey Corman,

Hotstuff Hernandez Shawn Hernandez (born February 11, 1973) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his time with Impact Wrestling, where he performed under the ring name Hernandez. He is an eight-time tag team champion, having won the Impact W ...

Jason Cross William Jason Massengale (born June 13, 1979) is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Jason Cross. He is best known for his appearances with NWA Total Nonstop Action and NWA Wildside in the 2000s. Professional wres ...

Jimmy Rave James Michael Guffey (December 8, 1982 – December 12, 2021), better known by the ring name Jimmy Rave, was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his time with Ring of Honor (ROH) and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Ear ...

, Altar Boy Luke,

Matt Sydal Matthew Joseph Korklan (born March 19, 1983), better known by the ring name Matt Sydal, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Prior to signing with AEW, Sydal wrestled in WWE as Evan Bourne, and was ...

Delirious Delirious may refer to: * A state of delirium Film and television * Delirious (1991 film), ''Delirious'' (1991 film), an American comedy directed by Tom Mankiewicz, starring John Candy * Delirious (2006 film), ''Delirious'' (2006 film), an Americ ...

, and

Tony Mamaluke Charles John Spencer (born July 19, 1977) is a retired American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Tony Marinara and with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrest ...

appeared for the company.

Television

Wildside's weekly one-hour TV show aired nationally and was available to as much as 40% of the United States at its peak. In late 2004, Wildside was broadcast by

The Wrestling Channel The Fight Network (formerly The Wrestling Channel, TWC and TWC Fight!) was a free-to-air digital satellite television sports channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland, devoted to airing programming related to boxing, mixed martial arts, pro-w ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

giving them a

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...

audience.

Demise

In April 2005, NWA Wildside closed down, after producing 300 consecutive weeks of television, as a result of owner Behrens accepting a job with World Wrestling Entertainment. NWA Wildside was replaced by NWA Anarchy, a promotion operating in the same arena using similar talent. On September 9, 2017, NWA Wildside held a reunion show at The Landmark Arena in Cornelia, Georgia featuring over 50 alumni from the Wildside years including Bad Attitude, New Jack, Tank, Iceberg and A.J. Styles.

Championships

Champions listed are the final champions in Wildside. * NWA Wildside Heavyweight Championship — Onyx * NWA Wildside Junior Heavyweight Championship — Slim J. *

NWA Wildside Tag Team Championship The NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship was the top tag team championship in Georgia Championship Wrestling from 1968 to 1980, when it was replaced with the NWA National Tag Team Championship. The title was revived in 1998 by Music City Wrestling ...

— Iceberg and Tank * NWA Wildside Television Championship — Brandon P *

NWA Wildside United States Heavyweight Championship The NWA Wildside United States Heavyweight Championship was a title contested for in the National Wrestling Alliance-member promotion NWA Wildside. The title was originally the NCW United States Heavyweight Championship from 1995 through 1999, ...

— Rainman (unified with NWA Wildside Heavyweight Championship)

Alumni

* Altar Boy Luke * C. W. Anderson * Brian Black *

Bull Buchanan Barry Buchanan (born January 15, 1968) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) under the ring names Recon, Bull Buchanan and B² and ...

Brian Christopher Brian Christopher Lawler (January 10, 1972 – July 29, 2018) was an American professional wrestler. He is best remembered for his career in the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE), where he performed as "Too Sexy" Brian Christopher and Grand ...

Eddie Golden Harold Edward Cox (born November 4, 1973) is a semi-retired American professional wrestler and trainer better known by his ring name Eddie Golden. He was one of the top junior heavyweights in the Southern United States during the 1990s and won n ...

Ray Gordy Terry Ray Gordy Jr. (born March 23, 1979) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) between 2005 and 2010, where he performed on its ''W ...

Chris Hamrick Christopher Hamrick (born October 21, 1966) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his stint in ECW, though he is also known for his appearances in WWE, TNA and throughout the independent circuit. Professional wrestling car ...

* Chris Harris *

Ron Killings Ronnie Aaron Killings (born January 19, 1972) is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to WWE, performing on the Raw brand under the ring name R-Truth. Killings worked for World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now ...

New Jack Jerome Young (January 3, 1963 – May 14, 2021) was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name New Jack. He was best known for his time with Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), where he became notorious for his willingnes ...

* Prince Justice *

Alexis Laree Mickie Laree James (born August 31, 1979) Additional January 6, 2017. is an American professional wrestler and country singer. She is currently signed to Impact Wrestling. She has also had tenures in WWE and the National Wrestling Alliance (NW ...

* Lodi *

Joey Matthews Adam Birch (born July 18, 1979), better known by the ring names Joey Mercury and Joey Matthews, is an American professional wrestler who is best known for his two tenures in WWE. Birch was most recently signed to Ring of Honor, where he worked ...

Air Paris Frank Parris (born May 11, 1979) is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his stint in World Championship Wrestling under ring name Air Paris. Professional wrestling career Debut On April 20, 1996, Parris made his professional ...

* Bob Sapp *

Ric Savage Frank Huguelet (born June 5, 1969) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Heavy Metal" Ric Savage. He is the host of '' Savage Family Diggers'', a reality treasure hunting show airing on Spike TV. He also c ...

* Sinister Minister * Tony Stradlin *

* David Young

References

External links

NWAWildside.com
{{Professional wrestling in the United States Organizations established in 1997 Organizations disestablished in 2005 Independent professional wrestling promotions based in Georgia (U.S. state) National Wrestling Alliance members