Wrestling fans love to argue about which company is better between WWE and the newcomers, AEW. Fans in the '90s were arguing online about who was better between WCW, WWE, and ECW, which created the Monday Night Wars. What is interesting is that it wasn't new.
Before the Internet, there were still arguments between fans about the better wrestling promotion — WWE or the NWA. The AWA was around too, but pick up any issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated from the '80s, and it was clear that fans had taken sides, with the NWA and WWE battling non-stop for fans, even after WWE grabbed the ball and ran with it.
10 WWE:Â WrestleMania
Both the NWA and WWE tried to pick up more fans when they started holding closed-circuit television events of big shows and then moved into the new realm of pay-per-view shows.
There was even dirty play, with the companies trying to sabotage the other's PPV events with some at the same time. However, the second that WWE held the first WrestleMania, it was clear the NWA had lost the PPV wars. Not even the prestigious Starrcade could match up with WrestleMania each year.
9 NWA:Â Great Wrestling
While WWE was getting bigger and bigger and was buying all the talent they could from the territory system, the one thing the NWA had going for it was the actual in-ring wrestling action. Ric Flair was a wrestler who held the title, as opposed to Hulk Hogan, a superhero holding their title. Ricky Steamboat was a top wrestler in the NWA, and outside of about one year of his career, he was a showman in WWE. NWA was always about wrestling action first.
8 WWE:Â Crossover Appeal
The NWA was all about wrestling, but WWE began to pull in massive audiences and take a lot of the shine away from the NWA because of the crossover appeal. WWE had a cartoon that brought in young fans who never once looked back at NWA once they saw WWE on Saturday mornings.
WWE brought in Mr. TÂ & Cyndi Lauper for WrestleMania, and that brought in non-wrestling fans to see what would happen next. NWA fans hated it, but television networks loved it. WWE made the cover of Sports Illustrated.
7 NWA:Â Nature Boy Ric Flair
The biggest argument among fans in the '80s was which world champion was the best. As far as any wrestling fans were concerned, it was no contest. Nature Boy Ric Flair was the best wrestler in the world. He could go 60 minutes with anyone on the planet, no matter what style they wrestled in.
He held the NWA World Title for most of the '80s, and he created stars when it came to his opponents. He made everyone look great, from Magnum T.A. and Nikita Koloff to Ricky Morton and Ron Garvin.
6 WWE:Â Hulk Hogan
On the other hand, if you ask any WWE fan, it was always about Hulk Hogan. He didn't make stars. He was different. Hulk was a superhero. WWE brought in monsters and put them against him, and he vanquished them.
Hulk beat the monsters, and they were gone, no new stars made. He was the man who defended the children of the world from the boogeyman, and that made him a bigger-than-life wrestling star.
5 NWA:Â Serious Storylines And Action
WWE loved to do silly things in their storylines. However, the NWA was a serious wrestling promotion. This wasn't about goofy soap opera storylines. This was about one man proving he was better than the man across from him.
The Four Horsemen broke Dusty Rhodes' arm to protect Ric Flair's title. The Rock'N Roll Express and Midnight Express only cared about proving which tag team was better. This was wrestling for grown-ups.
4 WWE:Â Mainstream Programming
WWE pushed itself far beyond the wrestling ring and wrestling action. There was a show on Tuesday nights that had the wrestlers interviewed, and it was mostly a goofy show that let them remain in character. But there was more to it than that.
Hulk Hogan made an appearance on The A-Team, and then Mr. T showed up in WWE. There was the cartoon that brought in young fans and hooked them from the start. Wrestlers showed up on real talk shows, made magazine covers, and appeared in MTV music videos. WWE was everywhere.
3 NWA:Â The Territories
The best thing about the NWA was that it wasn't one promotion that was pushing the top stars at all others' expense.
The NWA was a group of promotions working together. Mid-South would build its stars, as would World Class, Memphis, Florida, and Crockett Promotions. Ric Flair would travel the world and defend his title in different promotions, which helped build a giant talent pool. Sadly, that talent pool would not last.
2 WWE:Â Money
WWE had the money. Ted DiBiase was a massive star in Mid-South, so WWE opened its pocketbook and brought him to WWE to become The Million Dollar Man. The same thing happened with Jake "The Snake" Roberts. Randy Savage was a star in Memphis, so WWE hired him.
WWE brought in names like Terry Taylor, Matt Borne, and Steve Keirn and did little with them outside of stripping the NWA of its talent pool.
1 NWA:Â Not A Cartoon
The one big reason the NWA was always the better wrestling promotion than WWE in the '80s was that they treated their wrestlers like stars. WWE, on the other hand, turned them into cartoon characters. The rugged Ted DiBiase became the arrogant Million Dollar Man.
The blue-chip Mike Rotundo became a tax man called IRS. The American Dream Dusty Rhodes wore yellow polka dots and danced around. Junkyard Dog carried a chain and barked like a dog. WWE mocked the best wrestlers in the world after the NWA proved they were stars.