NWA East Disbands From the NWA AllianceStory By: Rich Conner
March 15, 2003
NWA East Disbands From the NWA Alliance
The following article was written by my buddies at
WrestlingScene.com and William B. West.
Controversy and turmoil within the NWA. WrestlingScene.com broke the news earlier today about the conflicting reports coming out of the NWA.
One a press release from Richard Arpin, dismissing NWA East from the National Wrestling Alliance. Text of the release:
"National Wrestling Alliance Member NWA East Leaves the NWA
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - March 12, 2003 - The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) announced today that Mr. Jim Miller and his company, NWA East / PWX are no longer a Member of the NWA.
We wish Mr. Miller only the best of luck in all of his future endeavors."
A quick check confirmed NWA East had been pulled from nwa-wrestling.com member listings.
Then a press release from Jim Miller and NWA East. The text of the release:
"There seems to be some confusion coming from NWA President Arpin's office. Jim Miller and the NWA-East is running and will continue to be running shows under the NWA banner. We are currently the oldest active member in the NWA. I would hope this doesn't cause any of our fans a problem, but we believe in the NWA and we will be here for a long time.
Just like many of you, and many NWA members, Mr. Arpin's previous press release was the first I had heard such a statement. I would hope Mr. Aprin makes an apology and clears this misinformation up quickly.
Come see the NWA-East stars this Saturday night as NWA East presents its annual 'Burgh Brawl event at the Sportatorioum in McKeesport, PA at 8:00 pm. We are working on a new web-site and some special new designs. So keep in touch as we build the NWA for the better of all the members. "
After Jim Miller and NWA East being removed from the Membership listing earlier today @ www.nwa-wrestling.com, Jim and NWA East were back. The press release concerning the departure of NWA East has also been taken down, suggesting either the matter has been settled or there has been some severe miscommunication between Mr. Arpin (NWA President) and his staff. At least that's what I thought.
Things turned very interesting as the day progressed. On the current official NWA Message board http://www.nwavirginia.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=NWA;action=display;num=104
7690555 there was a post concerning the reports I had made at WrestlingScene.Com and PWBTS.Com, these post mysteriously disappeared. Upon further investigation, I found out the posts had been indeed censored, someone within the NWA wanted this story to go away.
As the day has progressed I have been in contact with various sources within the NWA and what has been revealed is a Alliance in the midst of a power struggle.
The events of today apparently stretch back to Jim Miller's presidency of the NWA. According to my sources Jim's term was cut short by a virtual coupe of sorts led by Richard Arpin. The battle between these 2 men apparently carried over to the temporary removal of NWA East. My sources tell me that the action was taken by Mr. Arpin without approval by the NWA Board. Though not substantiated it is said that this had the backing of Fredric G. Rubenstein (Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Arbitrator) - NWA Over the Top (aka Fred Richards) as he is looking into expanding into PA.
The controversy with Richard Arpin apparently doesn't stop there. There is the NWA Buckeye situation. NWA Buckeye is a promotion being ran by NWA Tri-State worker Romeo Godwin (Bill Runyon), and using basically the roster of NWA Tri-State. Officially according to many Arpin has denied the existence of NWA Buckeye. A local Ohio promotion was threatened with a lawsuit for advertising Chris Harris as NWA-TNA star Wildcat Chris Harris. They agreed to remove any indication of Chris Harris being a NWA-TNA star, and were offered NWA Affiliation in Ohio for $500. They turned down this offer, and shortly thereafter the AWF was formed and became NWA Buckeye. Now according to my sources to be a member of the NWA is around $3,000 so this begs the question, where would the $500 go? To the NWA, or to NWA Tri-State?
The other controversy and a point of heat with some members of the NWA is the big NWA Anniversary show. 2 bids were put in to host the show. Joe Price co promoter of NWA Florida, and Ernie Todd promoter of NWA Manitoba. My sources tell me Mr. Arpin informed Joe Price that his email with the bid came in to late for consideration, and told Mr. Todd it wasn't feasible for people to fly into Canada. The sow was then awarded to Arpin's promotion. The feeling of many members within the NWA is that Price and Todd were sabotaged by Arpin.
I have attempted to reach Mr. Arpin via MSN messenger today for comment but he seems unavailable or offline, and have asked for clarification on the deleted posts on the NWA forum but have yet to get a response there. Many members feel strongly about some of the recent tactics out of the President's Office, and feel a full blown investigation by the NWA is merited. Others have suggested he should step down at the very least for the apparent unilateral dismissal of the NWA East. At any rate it appears there are some serious internal issues in the NWA and at the very least the appearance of abuse of power.
I hope to have comment from Mr. Arpin in the coming days as well as other members of the NWA who would like to speak on the record. Any one wishing to comment or give further insight feel free to contact me at news@wrestlingscene.com .
Adverisement: http://www.midwestmarks.com
