I believe Watts was planning to move his base to Atlanta if he'd gotten the full TBS deal.
Honestly, I think the only other major contender to go national successfully based on markets would be Verne, and he'd never have a national vision. But he had Chicago, he had the Bay Area, he had in-roads in Canada, he had two other good-sized markets in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Denver, and if he'd had the foresight to try to seize upon L.A. upon the closing of the Lebell territory, like had with San Francisco, then he'd really have something. But as much as the AWA is underrated as a wrestling product, it didn't have the consistency or compelling storytelling of Mid-South, Memphis, Crockett, or post-expansion WWF.