Ted DiBiase Explains Why the NWA Always Had Heel World Champions

On the latest episode of Everybody’s Got a Pod, WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase talked about wrestling Ric Flair for the NWA World Title in Georgia Championship Wrestling, why the World Champions for NWA were always heels, and more. You can check out some highlights below:

On the NWA: “The NWA was probably as — nationally, probably the most recognized. There was NWA, and that was several territories. Georgia, Mid-South, Florida, I can’t remember. But then like the WWE was like, the East Coast. Maine and Pennsylvania and New York and, you know, big cities. But the NWA on a national scale, I mean it was probably a more recognized World Championship than the WWF, in terms of territories. Where the NWA — if you were the NWA World Champion, you were going to a different territory weekly. And once you made the rounds, then you start back at the one where you started.”

On there always being a heel NWA World Champion: “They would build their show — and the only time that the NWA World Champion was a babyface would be in his home territory, wherever home was. So for Ric Flair, that would have been Charlotte. And I’m not sure he was a babyface there, either. But anyway, the NWA World Champion was always a heel. Why? Because as a territory, you’re going to build somebody up. You’re going to build up your big babyface to have an opportunity to wrestle the World Champion and possibly beat him. That’s why the NWA World Champion was generally always a heel.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Everybody’s Got a Pod with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.