Formed in 1948, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) was the largest governing body in professional wrestling until the 1980s Rock 'n' Wrestling Era. Under the control of the NWA Board of Directors (consisting of various prominent, regional promoters), the governing body oversaw wrestling's national territory system, a system which saw promotions (referred to as "territories") recognize one world heavyweight champion, participate in talent exchanges, and collectively protect the territorial integrity of NWA members. Unlike modern independent promotions, the territories were regarded as major promotions and often collaborated with other NWA members. In 1993, the NWA was reorganized following the withdrawals of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), with the majority of new NWA territories being small independent promotions. As other territories withdrew from the governing body, the NWA would discontinue its memberships in August 2012 and adopted a licensing model. In 2017, the NWA was purchased by Billy Corgan's Lightning One, Inc., which abandoned the licensing model and gradually transformed the NWA from a governing body to a stand-alone wrestling promotion. In October 2023, while still under the ownership of Billy Corgan's Lightning One, Inc., the NWA reintroduced the territory system. The first NWA-affiliated promotion introduced under the new system was NWA Exodus Pro Midwest, owned by then NWA World's Heavyweight Champion Michael "EC3" Hutter.

Current NWA-affiliated promotions and/or territories

The following promotions joined the NWA after the re-establishment of the territory system in October 2023.

Former NWA-affiliated promotions and/or territories

The following promotions were members/licensees of the NWA between its founding in 1948 and the organization's acquisition by Lightning One in 2017. † indicates a founding member of the NWA

Timeline, 1948–1993