NWA Wildside was an American

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within ...

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-sh ...

, with an office in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, 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 The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

, a group that dates back to 1948. It also served as a developmental territory for

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (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 National W ...

History

NWA Wildside originated as National Championship Wrestling. In November 1998, the first show was held at the (then) NCW Arena in Cornelia, Georgia. Over the next few months, NCW began to gain notoriety in the Georgia independent scene until Bill Behrens approached Steve Martin with an offer to

syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndic ...

NCW television programming and merge his company NWA Georgia to create one NWA affiliate. This offer was accepted, and in September 1999, the first NWA Wildside weekly show aired out of Atlanta. Over the next six years, multiple notable wrestling personalities appeared on NWA Wildside television. Wrestlers such as

Onyx Onyx is a typically black-and-white banded variety of agate, a silicate mineral. The bands can also be monochromatic with alternating light and dark bands. ''Sardonyx'' is a variety with red to brown bands alternated with black or white bands. ...

, David Young and Rick Michaels appeared on World Wrestling Federation tapings. With the establishment of

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (abbreviated as TNA Wrestling or TNA) is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, a Canadian media company owned by busines ...

, various NWA Wildside stars such as Styles, Abyss (Prince Justice), Young, Onyx, Slim J, Joey Corman, Hotstuff Hernandez, Jason Cross, Jimmy Rave, 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. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). He is also known for his tenure with WWE from 2008 to 2014 under the ring nam ...

, Delirious, and Tony Mamaluke appeared for the company.

WCW developmental 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 electr ...

wrestlers like

Shannon Moore Shannon Moore (born July 27, 1979) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is best known for his work with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) between 1999 and 2001 and with WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for ...

, Jamie Noble,

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 profess ...

, Mark Jindrak and Elix Skipper to compete in the company. WCW hired several NWA Wildside talent for their shows including A.J. Styles and Frank "Air" Paris

Television

Wildside's weekly one-hour TV show aired nationally through syndication and was available to as much as 40% of the United States at its peak. By 2002, NWA Wildside was the fourth most-watched wrestling program in the United States. In late 2004, Wildside was broadcast by The Wrestling Channel 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

giving them a transatlantic 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.

Legacy

NWA Wildside had a notable influence on the early 2000s independent wrestling scene. Multiple future international superstars passed through Wildside in its six-year existence. Wildside's syndication television deal largely kept NWA wrestling on the map in the first half of the decade as one of the NWA's main affiliates. On September 9, 2017, NWA Wildside held a reunion show at the former NCW Arena, now 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 — Iceberg and Tank * NWA Wildside Television Championship — Brandon P * NWA Wildside United States Heavyweight Championship — Rainman (unified with NWA Wildside Heavyweight Championship) * NWA Wildside Hardcore Championship — The Jailhouse Rocker

Alumni

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

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

* Jason Cross * Eddie Golden * El Blanco Burrow * Delirious * Ray Gordy * Jimmy Rave * Chris Hamrick * Chris Harris * Hotstuff Hernandez * Ron Killings * New Jack * Prince Justice * Alexis Laree * Lodi * Tony Mamaluke * Joey Matthews * Rick Michaels *

Omega Omega (, ; uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and last letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value ...

* Air Paris * 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 ...

* Sinister Minister * Sal Rinauro * Tony Stradlin * A.J. Styles *

* 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 Defunct professional wrestling promotions