By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

Special Report: Can the NWA Be A Major Player Again?

The National Wrestling Alliance wants to be a major player in the wrestling industry again. Not just a circuit of mish-mashed promotions stretched across the country using the "NWA" name to market their shows, but a national promotion with strong affiliates that can challenge for U.S. market share.

Two men with ties to the territory era believe this is possible. NWA President Bruce Tharpe broke into the wrestling industry working for Eddie Graham in Florida, running around with the likes of Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk. NWA VP Chris Ronquillo got into wrestling as a photographer for Mid-South Wrestling in Louisiana during Bill Watts's heyday.

Today, Tharpe is an attorney in Texas and Ronquillo is a manager for a major wine company out of California. Over the course of several in-person interviews stretched out over four months, I arrived at a bottom line question of why both would venture back into wrestling when they have full-time careers.

"The NWA is in my blood and my heart," said Tharpe. "I grew up with the brand," said Ronquillo.

An affinity for the NWA brought both businessmen into the NWA organization around the same time three years ago. Tharpe and Ronquillo, who quickly took over the NWA Houston promotion in 2010, did not know each other, but they were given a split of the Texas territory under the former NWA organization. It was fateful timing.

As Tharpe and Ronquillo dug deeper into the former NWA structure, they discovered a system that they saw was bleeding money and essentially "sublicensing" the NWA name to anyone who wanted to use it as a revenue stream. In a recent interview on WWE's website, Paul Heyman half-jokingly described it as "buying a membership to the community pool."

More digging into the NWA's financial position resulted in Tharpe and Ronquillo eventually coming to a "Fight or Flight" position. Should they sell their stakes in the NWA and get out? Or, attempt to buy the entire organization and its assets?

"We could have left the NWA, but we wanted to fix the NWA," said Tharpe.

What followed was a lawsuit, hearings, the former structure being exposed in court, and Tharpe and Ronquillo taking ownership of the NWA as of July 2012.

Over the past year, Tharpe and Ronquillo have made it their mission to restructure the NWA from the ground-up. Year 1 Objectives were (a) tear down the old system and weed out promoters not on-board with their business plan, (b) survive and know who their friends are, (c) focus on traditional NWA markets to build successful affiliate promotions, (d) find a trustworthy, recognizable NWA champion, and (e) re-establish their reputations in the wrestling industry.

Coming out of last year's legal proceedings and a major change to the NWA organization, Tharpe and Ronquillo were ridiculed and labeled "outsiders" trying to ruin the NWA. What I learned from talking in-person to both men is their goal was to tear down the decayed structure and try to re-build a new NWA, running it as a business using their business background. This meant big changes to the way promoters used the "NWA" name and promoted their shows, which led to serious conflict. Some stayed, some left.

"We wanted to destroy the sublicensing model," said Ronquillo. "We're not lining their pockets. Anyone could get a cut in the previous model. Now, we're trying to elevate have-nots rather than bleed money."

Tharpe and Ronquillo wanted to find promoters who bought into their vision and were willing to work with them, rather than against them, for the betterment of the whole, rather than individual parts. "Promoters wanted to see if we could survive Year 1," Ronquillo said.

In addition to finding promoters willing to work with them during Year One, the New NWA has benefited from a budding relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling and the presence of NWA champion Rob Conway, who has brought credibility and recognition to their brand.

The relationship with New Japan has led to Conway defending the NWA Title in Japan over the past year. It's also led to New Japan stars coming to the U.S. later this month for the "New Japan Invasion" show.

The NWA has booked a 1,000-seat venue in the Houston area for their "Invasion" show on Friday, October 18. If the show is successful, it could lead to more opportunities working with New Japan.

"New Japan sees value in the NWA," said Ronquillo. "And Rob Conway brings credibility."

The "Invasion" show is part of the New NWA's aspirations to run bigger venues and eventually establish a TV/online media presence. One of the promotion's biggest assets is access to former Houston Wrestling promoter Paul Boesch's tape library, which is owned by Boesch's widow, Valerie.

Valerie and her son, Joey, attended NWA Houston's "Parade of Champions: Paul Boesch Tribute Show" in April to give Tharpe and Ronquillo their blessing to carry on Boesch's tradition of promoting wrestling in Texas.

The tape library, which features virtually every major wrestling star in the industry who passed through Houston Wrestling from the 1960s through 1980s, would be a key component to link the NWA's past to the NWA's present and future, according to Ronquillo.

Both men recognize the uphill battle connecting the "NWA" name to a generation of wrestling fans who really only know "WWE wrestling" and have not seen the NWA in a position of prominence during their lifetimes. The NWA doesn't just want to target older wrestling fans who remember the NWA's glory days, but try to attract a younger demo by introducing an alternative to WWE's "sports entertainment" and TNA's "WWE Lite" offerings.

Ronquillo believes the NWA's two biggest assets - the recognizable NWA Title belt and the "NWA" name - give them built-in brand presence that a nationally-televised promotion like TNA has yet to cultivate.

The key is whether the New NWA can tap into that brand awareness to draw in old and new viewers. They believe they have a good start with the established local promotions who are on-board with their vision.

NWA Smoky Mountain has regularly featured NWA champion Rob Conway, SAW is running regular shows in the key Tennessee market, NWA Houston has essentially become the New NWA's flagship promotion, Branded Outlaw Wrestling has extended the NWA's Texas reach into San Antonio, NWA Florida Underground has brought in big-names for their regular shows in Florida, NWA World Wide is a trusted promotion covering the traditional North Carolina market, and NWA-Championship International Wrestling is becoming a key player, having recently booked Conway and getting access to New Japan star KUSHIDA later this month.

There are many big-picture questions that Tharpe and Ronquillo have thought about, but do not have answers for yet. Year One has been about surviving and laying the groundwork to begin answering those big-picture questions.

Sitting down with both men, it's clear that "passion" for the NWA runs deep for both men, otherwise they would not be sacrificing time from their families and full-time careers to essentially run another full-time business.

To the outside, it seems implausible that an "old" brand like the NWA could have national appeal again. But, even WWE has seen enough value in the "NWA" name to have Triple H mention those three letters last Monday on Raw and in a series of video packages on "WWE Champions vs. World Champions" that aired earlier this year on Raw.

Those three letters being heard by the largest weekly wrestling audience could help Tharpe and Ronquillo with their vision to rebuild the NWA, make it relevant again, and eventually compete for fans on a national level. Technology and Social Media give them a chance to reach an audience that might not even know the NWA is still operating in 2013, then attract fans to a new crop of stars both nationally and regionally.

The NWA wants to use its past as an advantage, but also build for the future by reaching a new generation of fans. Are those fans out there? To try to answer that big question, Tharpe and Ronquillo have sorted out business friends from enemies, they've started to identify Team Player affiliates, and implemented a long-term vision for their restructured business.

Here in 2013, the U.S. wrestling market has contracted to the point of one major promotion on top, a smaller second national promotion, and a host of independently-run organizations. Where does the NWA fit in and where can it go? At this point, it's about moving up the ladder and seeing how far it will take them.

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