On a recent episode of his podcast, “Everybody’s Got A Pod”, WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase Sr. spoke on a range of topics, from his attempt to wrestle the NWA Worlds Title away from Ric Flair in Georgia Championship Wrestling, to the tendency of the NWA to represent their World Champions as villains. Here are some key takeaways from the podcast discussion:
Discussing the NWA, DiBiase Sr. pointed out: “In terms of national recognition, the NWA was probably leading the pack. They had their reach in several territories, including Georgia, Mid-South, Florida, to name a few. Contrastingly, the WWE mainly ruled the East Coast, with a stronghold in major cities like Maine, Pennsylvania, and New York. On a national level, the NWA World Championship was probably more widely recognized than the WWF, owing to its territorial reach. Being the NWA World Champion meant traveling to a new territory every week, and once you completed the cycle, you would circle back to where you started.”
When it came to the role of the ‘heel’ or villain in the NWA, DiBiase Sr. had this to say: “In their shows, the NWA would construct their narrative in a way that the World Champion would only be deemed as ‘face’ or hero in his home ground. For example, Ric Flair’s home territory was Charlotte. But even there, it’s questionable if he was perceived as the ‘face’. The methodology of why the NWA World Champion was a villain was due to a strategic build. They would boost their top ‘face’ competitor, giving him the opportunity to challenge and potentially defeat the World Champion. That’s why the NWA World Champion was typically a ‘heel’.”