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What's the story?
Smashing Pumpkins frontman and 1990s music icon Billy Corgan isn't just a lifelong pro wrestling fan - he's been trying to become a major player in the business for years. Now, after attempting to purchase Impact Wrestling, it seems he's finally ready to make his mark on the industry with his latest acquisition - the National Wrestling Alliance.
In case you didn't know...
Corgan began his foray into the wrestling world by founding Resistance Pro Wrestling in his hometown of Chicago. It spawned this local TV commercial:
In 2015, Corgan was brought on by TNA Wrestling to "develop characters and create storylines", which eventually lead to him becoming president of the company. As with most things that happen with TNA, that ended poorly, and Corgan eventually ended up suing the company to get the money he invested into it back.
In May of this year, Corgan signed an agreement to purchase the right to the National Wrestling Alliance - ownership that went into effect on October 1st.
The heart of the story
Now that Corgan is 100% in charge of the NWA, what exactly does he plan on doing with it? Well, it seems that Corgan has a "20-year plan" to return the NWA to the force it once was in the 1980s.
"We have seen how the WWE is positioned," Corgan stated in a press report and how Anthem has positioned Impact Wrestling. "It makes [me] want to improve with NWA.”
Corgan also intends on working with industry veteran Dave Lagana in order to achieve this goal. When it comes to exposure of his brand, Corgan stated that he'd "rather have 300,000 people watching the NWA for free than 4,000 people watching it behind a paid wall."
What's next?
As important as the NWA is, historically, to the wrestling business, it's not a name that resonates with fans outside of a couple of documentaries on the WWE Network.
This works out well in Corgan's favour, as he can take his time to cultivate a new company, and working out the kinks in it, while still having the benefit of a major historical name brand.
Author's take
While Corgan might be known more these days as the former grunge-era rock star who discusses conspiracy theories with Alex Jones, he's dead set and determined to create a new wrestling promotion that fans can get behind.
I don't trust him when it comes to chemtrails, but I do believe him when he says he wants to create a bonafide wrestling company.
