Historically, St. Louis has been considered one of the anchor points for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).
With matches presented at the St. Louis Arena (also under its Checkerdome namesake) and at Kiel Auditorium, the NWA showcased their hard-hitting talent with championship bravado.
In 1959, the locally-produced television series “Wrestling at the Chase,” was launched on KPLR-TV, Channel 11. The St. Louis Wrestling Club, helmed by NWA President Sam Munchnik, presented the organization’s weekly fare from the Khorasan Ballroom inside Chase Park Plaza Hotel, located in the city’s Central West End.
With a nod to the past and a push towards the future, the NWA is set to bring their brand back to St. Louis with multiple events slotted in late-August at the historic ballroom.
Image Credit: National Wrestling Alliance
NWA President Billy Corgan revealed Tuesday night that the organization is presenting a quartet of televised events Saturday-Tuesday, August 28-31.
During that stretch, a pair of live pay-per-views will be presented and multiple episodes of their weekly series will be recorded for future playback.
“The Chase is the literal, emotional home of the NWA.” said the Smashing Pumpkins front man during the opening of the ‘NWA Powerrr’ episode that debuted online at FITE.TV Tuesday night. “I can’t tell you how excited I am. I am bursting at the seams with pride and excitement.”
The first of four days features an all-women’s pay-per-view on Saturday, August 28. Corgan introduced former WWE Superstar Mickie James as the Executive Producer of the event, billed as “NWA Empower.”
“This is something that I’ve wanted to do for a very, very long time,” said James, who has held multiple wrestling titles during her career, to Corgan. “I was cut off at every opportunity and you sir have given me the opportunity to make a real difference.”
The August event will be James’ first foray into an executive producer’s role.
”Everybody kept saying, ‘What’s next, Mickie?’ I thought I could go out there and have some real killer matches against the greatest women’s talent we have ever seen, but this is different. We have a real opportunity here with so much history.”
Then on Sunday, “NWA 73,” will be the brand’s anniversary show, also aired live on pay-per-view.
Matches and talent for both events will be revealed over the next few weeks.
On the final two days (August 30-31), the NWA will record multiple episodes of its “NWA Powerrr” series that airs weekly on FITE.TV.
“It will be historic,” said Corgan.
Ticket availability and pricing will be revealed shortly.
For more information on the NWA, go to their official website.
By trade, he is a six-time, regional Emmy Award-winning news videographer/editor for KTVI/KPLR-TV. By hobby, he is a writer for Arch City Media, dating back to February 2014. Emphasis is on featuring and promoting local women's sports, but will cover anything that is not reported by traditional media outlets. Also a contributor to local concert reviews.
