Corrigan’s Corner: Bruce Tharpe Talks NWA—Then And Now (Part 2)

The WWE Network satisfies our hunger for Attitude, but what about old school?

For every five episodes of Stone Cold driving a truck into the arena, there’s only one snippet of Dory Funk Jr. hanging on for a 60-minute broadway.

NWA President Bruce Tharpe (yes, the National Wrestling Alliance still exists) believes it’s his responsibility to preserve the history of professional wrestling rather than bury it in favor of sanitized, corporate, sports-entertainment. With a treasure trove of lost matches from Houston promoter Paul Boesch’s collection, Tharpe has decided to release the best of wrasslin’s yesteryear via a new streaming service: NWA Classics 24/7.

For $8.99 a month or $99 a year, you get access to hundreds of matches dating from the late-60s to the mid-80s. I plan on signing up this weekend to see what all the fuss is about, and so can you at NWAClassics.com.

For Part I of my interview with Tharpe, click here.

Let me ask you about yourself. You seem like a hardcore wrestling fan. Did you watch when you were a kid?

Tharpe: “I was born in the wrestling business. It’s in my blood. My father, Chet, was an associate of Eddie Graham. He was a ring announcer in Florida. Some of the legends of the business helped me when I was a little boy. Lou Thesz and Jack Brisco and Eddie Graham and Don Curtis and Jose Lothario, you know, a lot of those guys knew my father. I can remember some of those guys holding me in their arms.”

Any favorite memories of the Championship Wrestling from Florida days?

Tharpe: “Oh tons, tons of memories. Where do I begin? How much time do you got? I did television with Eddie and Gordon Solie and Dusty for five years, every Wednesday. One of my hobbies when I was younger, matter of fact, it’s still one of my hobbies, was magic. I remember when I was a teenager, I was rehearsing a magic show in an empty theater during the day. My dad happened to be driving around with Eddie Graham. They came in, and I grabbed his handkerchief and proceeded to make it float, levitate all over the stage. Then I walked over to him and gave him back his handkerchief, and he’s looking at it, trying to figure out how I did the trick.

When he gets back in the car with my father, he asks him how I did the trick. My dad goes, ‘Eddie, I’m his dad and he doesn’t even reveal the magic to me.’

A week later I get a phone call inviting me to work in the wrestling office doing errands and whatnot. Eddie realized if this kid is so secretive about his magic, he’s not going to reveal the secrets of the wrestling profession.”

Now that’s a really cool story.

Tharpe: “Yeah, but they still wouldn’t let me into the dressing room. Back in the day, ring announcers were not allowed in the dressing room because most of the time, your ring announcer was a local DJ or fire marshal or dignitary. When I started working, Dusty was the booker and Jerry Brisco was the assistant booker. I was doing payoffs for the wrestlers, but they would not let me in the dressing room. It used to make me so mad. Why won’t they trust me?

Well, Dusty Rhodes was the biggest kayfaber in the world. When he passed a month or two ago, I finally understood. His kids said when Dusty broke his arm in an angle, he wore that cast around the house and would only take it off after his kids went to sleep. He protected the business in his home because he knew his kids were going to talk to their friends at school. He protected the business in front of his family, and that’s what he was doing with me. I wish that he was still alive today so I could thank him for that.”

How did you become the president of the NWA?

Tharpe: “I wanted to become a professional wrestler, but my father told me, ‘No son, you’re going to law school.’ And I’m very happy that he sent me that direction because now I have two wonderful careers. I started promoting wrestling in south Texas, and was invited to join the NWA as a shareholder. Then when I joined, I realized there were some problems with the old regime. Some litigation ensued because of some fraudulent business practices that I encountered. They ended up walking away, leaving the NWA on my door step. I never imagined in a million years I’d be the president, but I’m happy it happened and I take the job very seriously. I believe I’m a steward of a very well-respected brand that has been around since 1948 like Coca-Cola or Harley Davidson. I’m going to do everything in my power to preserve it and make it better.”

Does the NWA have territories like in the heyday of the organization?

Tharpe: “No, but we have about 27 licensed promoters around the world that pay a licensing fee to use the brand. They have to have good talent and promote in credible venues. We have promoters in Perth, Australia and London, England and all over the United States. We’re looking to expand to Europe, South America, and Asia.”

What about the talent—are there local indy wrestlers on the shows or big names that fans recognize from ROH or TNA?

Tharpe: “Some of our top-tier guys are ‘Ironman’ Rob Conway, former NWA World Champion. Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger, just recently the NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion. Tenzan is our current NWA World Heavyweight Champion, he’ll be traveling to the U.S. in about a month in some shots across the country. We’re also developing our own talent. We’re certain that once we get on television, talent will come out of the woodwork.”

So for everyone who thinks the NWA died in the ‘80s, they need to know that it’s experiencing a rebirth.

Tharpe: “Yeah, it’s coming back. There was a period when it was in the hands of the wrong people and the brand was abused, for lack of a better word. Well, there’s a new sheriff in town and I’ve taken this role quite seriously. We wouldn’t be in New Japan if we didn’t have top talent. We want to bring the NWA back to the position of prominence it once held, and even take it beyond that. There’s technology available today that wasn’t available during the NWA’s heyday. Back then they were on TBS, well, during my travels I’ve talked to fans in China, Singapore, and Hong Kong and they can’t get Spike TV. So even if we get a national television program, which is our goal, we still have to look at the worldwide market. That’s why NWAClassics is running on the web so everyone around the world can subscribe to see our product.”

How many subscribers would you estimate you have right now?

Tharpe: “Gosh, that’s really hard to, without looking at actual numbers to quantify, I mean, I haven’t really checked it. But I will tell you this: subscriptions continue to come in on a regular basis. We don’t have the numbers that WWE has generated and we don’t have the numbers that New Japan has generated, but…”

Well, you’ve only been running for two weeks, though.

Tharpe: “Yeah, right. The numbers have been extremely encouraging. And we’re doing this without a huge promotional machine. People have been loving it. On the one hand, I’ve got people out there that are saying why don’t you release these matches in sequential order and put the dates on there? I mean, we could have waited a year and done all that, but I wanted to get this out to the fans as quickly as possible. I’ve got people in Japan and Australia telling me the feed is perfect, there’s no buffering.

You know why there’s no buffering? We spent money. We spent a lot of money to present this in a top-of-the-line fashion. I invested a lot of money up front, which is why we need as many subscribers as possible so we can continue to transfer these tapes over.”

What are some of your favorite matches that are available on NWAClassics.com right now?

Tharpe: “Oh man, great question. Every match on there is good. I saw a tag team match between Hector and Chavo Guerrero vs. Jose Lothario and Alberto Madril. Gino Hernandez, we have tons of early Gino Hernandez footage. I never realized what a natural worker he was, so amazing. We’ve got tons of Dusty Rhodes matches on there. We just posted an NWA World Title match between Ric Flair and Magnum T.A. We’ve got Ric Flair vs. Wahoo McDaniel and they are chopping the hell out of each other. It’s amazing, it’s a blood bath. Terry and Dory Funk vs. Mil Mascaras and Jose Lothario. What a dream match that is! Tully Blanchard and Gino Hernandez vs. Junkyard Dog and Tony Atlas. I’m telling you, these are dream matches.”