Billy Corgan Has Bought The NWA

[cero2k]

Source: pwinsider.com

Smashing Pumpkins front man and former TNA Wrestling President Billy Corgan has agreed in principle to purchase the National Wrestling Alliance, PWInsider.com has confirmed with multiple sources. The deal in place would see Corgan purchase the name, rights, trademarks to the NWA as well as the rights and possession of the NWA championship belt.

Once finalized, the purchase of the National Wrestling Alliance would be Corgan's first move within the professional wrestling world since departing TNA Wrestling after failing to purchase that promotion. Corgan began investing in TNA in June 2016, helping to finance the company's Slammiversary PPV and subsequent TV tapings as part of a deal that saw him purchase a minority share in the company. Additional investments in the company led to Corgan acquiring a larger share in the company and on 8/12/16, TNA issued a press release announcing that Corgan had replaced Dixie Carter as the President of the company and would be handling the day to day operations of the company while Carter would "focus on long-term planning, strategic partnerships and global growth."

Shortly after being named President, Corgan announced his intentions to purchase the company and potentially change its name from TNA. He had meetings with different cable outlets about potentially working with him and TNA once that purchase was complete, but as time would tell, it never happened.

Corgan's negotiations to purchase the company saw him unable to close a complicated deal that would see him not only buy the company from Dixie Carter, but other minority owners including Aroluxe and The Fight Network. During promotional appearances to push the Bound for Glory PPV in October 2016, Corgan admitted that he had financed the three previous rounds of TNA Impact Wrestling tapings, describing those deals as last minute agreements where the "ink was drying" as talents were heading to the ring. He made it clear he would not be financing the Bound for Glory PPV tapings and subsequent TV tapings publicly. As it turned out, Anthem Media, the parent company for The Fight Network, silently backed the tapings in preparation of that company eventually acquiring TNA.

Upset over investing in something he would not end up being able to purchase, Corgan (still President) filed a lawsuit against TNA parent company Impact Ventures LLC, TNA Wrestling itself, CFO Dean Broadhead, President Dixie Carter and Serg Salinas in Chancery Court of Nashville, TN in October 2016. In that lawsuit, he sought a declaration from the court that he was, by virtue of a pledge agreement he made with Carter, entitled to Carter's 92.5% of the company, her voting rights and had the ability to replace the current managers with designated managers of his choosing. The court did not rule with him on those matters. Corgan also sought damages for the breach of contract, and at one point, had a temporary injunction preventing the defendants from making business decisions that could "further harm" Corgan and the company and prevented them from attempting to sell the company or it's assets until the lawsuit is resolved. Corgan's lawsuit revealed that while he had been named President, Dixie Carter was still acting without his knowledge to make deals on the company's behalf, including a potential sale of TNA assets to WWE that ended up not happening.

In the end, Anthem Media agreed to settle Corgan's dispute and it is believed he was paid back his entire investment in TNA ($1.9 million) as well as interest ($2.7 million total). Anthem Media now holds majority ownership of that company. In the ruling dismissing the lawsuit, Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle noted that the lawsuit was being dismissed without prejudice. That meant that Corgan would be free to re-file the suit down the line. In an interview with PWInsider.com following the settlement, Corgan made it clear that the settlement only released TNA, Impact Ventures LLC and Anthem from future legal claims, meaning Carter, Salinas, Broadhead and perhaps others could still find themselves in Corgan's legal crosshairs. To date, however, that has not happened.

After Anthem Media gained control of the company, Dave Lagana exited TNA, citing publicly on Jim Ross' podcast that no one could tell him who was in charge and he felt it was better to carve his own future. Lagana has worked with Corgan since, touring with him while documenting a cross-country road trip with that material posted daily on Corgan's social media platforms. One would expect that Lagana would be involved in some form in whatever Corgan's plans for the NWA brand are, if and when the NWA acquisition is completed. Matt Conway, who was Lagana's partner in creative in TNA, no longer works for Impact, so he may be free to work with Lagana and Corgan as well.

A lifelong pro wrestling fan, Corgan has flirted with his involvement in professional wrestling for years. In the late 1990s, he made numerous appearances for the original Extreme Championship Wrestling but rebuffed Paul Heyman's invitation to purchase 10% of the company for $1 million, feeling that the company wasn't worth $10 million at the time. At one point, Corgan acquired the ownership of the old Bob Luce wrestling library, comprised of material from the time period Luce was promoting professional wrestling at The International Amphitheater in Chicago. Corgan would later get involved in Chicago's Revolution Pro, working in creative and acquiring a deal to bring that promotion to AMC as part of a reality series before AMC opted to shut down its reality TV end. Corgan would later pull out of Revolution Pro.

A number of questions remain as the deal closes including what does new ownership mean for the current NWA member promotions and what would this mean for the NWA on Demand Video service. Of course, the biggest question revolves around what exactly Corgan's plans for the National Wrestling Alliance will be.

We will have to wait for those answers as attempts by PWInsider.com to reach Corgan for comment have, thus far, been unsuccessful.

[KILLdozer]

Yeah, ok, sure. .

Whatever will be shall be, I always say.