During a recent episode of his podcast “Everybody’s Got A Pod”, WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase Sr. shared his perspectives and experiences about his challenge to Ric Flair for the NWA World Title in Georgia Championship Wrestling and an in-depth discussion on why the World Champions for NWA were frequently presented as heel characters.
Here are some of the crucial points he discussed in the podcast:
Talking about the NWA’s prominence, DiBiase said, “The NWA emerged as one of the most recognized associations nationally. It boasted multiple territories such as Georgia, Mid-South, and Florida, among others that I can’t recall. Contrarily, the WWE was predominant on the East Coast, covering places like Maine, Pennsylvania, and New York. On a national level, the NWA probably possessed a more recognized World Championship than the WWF given its territorial coverage. As the NWA World Champion, you’d tour different territories weekly, and once the cycle was over, you’d return back to the beginning.”
Discussing why the NWA World Champion was typically a heel, DiBiase explained, “The structure of the show was designed such that the NWA World Champion would be a hero only in his home territory. For example, Ric Flair’s home was Charlotte – even though I’m not sure if he was a hero character there. Nevertheless, the NWA World Champion was predominantly a heel. This was because within a territory, the narrative would build up a popular protagonist character, who would then get the chance to wrestle the World Champion with a hope to beat him. This was the predominant reason why the NWA World Champion was almost always a heel.”