Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins makes Tampa the TV home of NWA wrestling

TAMPA — Nearly four decades since television studio professional wrestling was last a regular part of Tampa, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan has brought it back through the National Wrestling Alliance that he owns.

The NWA first filmed episodes of the "NWA Powerrr" television series in a WEDU-PBS studio in February 2023. They shot there again this January and then in April.

Next month, the promotion returns to WEDU, making it official: Tampa's PBS affiliate's studio is the new home of "NWA Powerrr."

"We are excited to welcome the NWA to produce 'NWA Powerrr' and host in-person matches at our state-of-the-art production studios," said Paul Grove, president and CEO of WEDU PBS. "The NWA team has been incredibly professional, and it's been a pleasure to support Tampa's vibrant wrestling community."

On Oct. 5 and 6, the NWA will shoot around six hours of footage that will be broken into 12 episodes for the series that streams on the CW Network.

Performers to be featured include NWA tag team champions Mike Knox and Trevor Murdoc, NWA TV champion Max the Impaler, and Corgan, who also portrays an on-screen authority figure .

Once production wraps, the NWA will hit the road for shows in larger venues, including a Halloween-themed one Oct. 26 at Robarts Arena in Sarasota. Footage from those will be incorporated into what was taped at WEDU.

The NWA will return to WEDU sometime next year to film another season.

"WEDU was appealing to us because of Tampa's long and storied history with wrestling," NWA spokesperson Paul Pratt said. "The National Wrestling Alliance leans so heavily into its extremely powerful and storied history. Tampa really represents a huge part of that for us."

The NWA was once the largest professional wrestling organization in the world.

Back then, regions throughout the United States had promotions that operated with their own cast of wrestlers under the umbrella of the NWA.

Beginning in the late 1940s, Tampa was home to the NWA's Championship Wrestling from Florida promotion that made stars out of performers like Dusty Rhodes, Jack and Gerald Brisco , Boris Malenko and Eddie Graham.

From 1965-1987, they taped shows at the Tampa Sportatorium at 106 N. Albany Ave., which is currently slated for demolition . Those episodes were broadcast throughout Florida and in select cities throughout the nation.

But that show was different from what modern professional wrestling fans are accustomed to. Rather than filming in arenas with thousands in attendance, the Tampa Sportatorium was a television studio that held up to 200 fans in folding chairs.

Today's NWA is different.

It no longer has regional promotions. All performers are part of a single cast.

But NWA's television show still uses the studio format.

A wrestling ring and television set are constructed inside a WEDU studio that fits between 100 and 150 fans.

The small format puts more pressure on the performers to make their scripted violence look legitimate.

"It's more challenging for the talent to win audiences over in that kind of environment than it is in a much bigger environment because you're quite literally in their lap," Pratt said. "It's a make it or break it situation."

It is also a different experience for the fans.

"If people want to see the stars up close and feel like they're influencing a television product for professional wrestling, you can't do that at a stadium show or an arena show," Pratt said. "But when you are in the audience of a television studio, your voice is quite literally heard on the air. You get to interact with the stars in a way that I just don't think that most modern fans have ever experienced."

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