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| (Image Source: FITE/National Wrestling Alliance/Lightning One Inc.) |
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) has forged a partnership deal with FITE, the premier global digital platform for sports and entertainment, for its return since it was on a long hiatus last year due to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the partnership, the NWA will make its return to PPV on March 21st (Sunday) entitled "Back For The Attack" followed by the resumption of NWA POWERRR events beginning March 23rd, Tuesday, at 6:05 pm ET (March 24, Wednesday, 7:05 am PHT) which is slated to become available via a low-cost subscription bundle.
NWA president William Patrick Corgan has been on a decade-long mission to bring professional wrestling to a wider audience and restore one of the oldest and most revered leagues in the sport. The organization that has propelled many professional wrestling legends to the peaks of their careers including Lou Thesz, Dory and Terry Funk, Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Rock 'n Roll Express, and Jeff Jarrett among others has been brought back on the spotlight and is treated as a start-up league when it staged its first major PPV event, NWA 70, in October 2018 via FITE. After resuscitating the now 73-year old promotion, the Smashing Pumpkins is now embracing the digital feature head-on with the commitment to broadcast regularly on the platform.
“For so many, this last year or so has been challenging on just about every level imaginable, and what’s been difficult is that we haven’t been able to help as we’d like: by entertaining and putting on the best show possible for our great NWA fans. And so in that we can’t thank FITE enough for becoming our exclusive broadcast partner going forward, and affording us this great opportunity to bring back POWERRR as well as regularly scheduled PPV’s," said Corgan. On the other hand, FITE felt that bringing the NWA back to fans was an important priority as evidenced by its dedication to professional wrestling and is broadening the promotion's solid reach by offering the Back For The Attack PPV event to cable and satellite providers across different parts of the globe. "Prior to the global onset of Covid-19 a year ago, we’d been working closely with the NWA and were excited by the league’s growth on our platform,” stated FITE’s Michael Weber. “We couldn’t be happier working with them again on their next chapter.”
Several mainstays of NWA's modern era have expressed their excitement and optimism for the promotion's relaunch and the resumption of NWA POWERRR with digital streaming as a new way for fans to enjoy and watch world-class professional wrestling action, and among them is the era's longest-reigning and current NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis. "I’m incredibly proud of this new deal between the NWA and FITE; from the beginning of the Lightning One era of the NWA, FITE have been great pay-per-view partners for the NWA and with the incredible growth that they have experienced in the last couple of years it’s very exciting to enter into a streaming agreement with FITE for our flagship show NWA Powerrr. Streaming is the future and we’re proud to be with a leader in the field for sports entertainment,” Aldis said. Former NWA World Women's Champion Thunder Rosa has also offered her thoughts, saying "I'm very excited that we have partnered up with FITE! La Mera Mera is ready to bring the heat to NWA and to show why I am one of the best wrestlers in the world today!”
