On the latest episode of The Kurt Angle Show, NWA President Billy Corgan opened up about his tumultuous experiences in the wrestling world, spanning across promotions like MLW, ECW, and TNA, and involving numerous twists and turns. He began
“After ECW folded, and Paul Heyman offered me a piece of ECW — and we could talk about that if you want. But when that didn’t happen, some of the guys from when the company went out of business talked to me about starting a promotion, and I was interested. It didn’t happen. Then Court Bauer of MLW approached me about being an investor. That didn’t happen. Then the whole thing kind of seemed to ebb away and life went on, and I still went to shows. I saw a ton of shows. And I got to know people in the business, including Gabe Sapolsky, who now works for WWE again. And you know, I stay in touch with Gabe. Like, I have those relationships, but I had them only as a fan. And even before Kurt’s time in TNA, I would go down and — you know, when Jarrett started running the fairgrounds in 2002 and they were doing PPVs once a week, I was down there in the crowd hanging out. I just liked being around wrestling, and once I got to make those relationships, I got to know people, okay.”
Corgan continued on,
“So one day this. I met these guys here in Chicago. Used car salesmen, you can’t make this up. And they approached me about it, ‘Do you want to start a promotion?’ It’s a longer story, but that’s the simple version. We said, ‘Sure.’ And so I worked in this indie promotion for a while. I didn’t own it, they owned it but I kind of ran it creatively. That went on for a few years. It ended very poorly, and then I walked away. I was like, ‘Okay, I’m done with professional wrestling. Like, leave me alone.’ And then six months goes by and who calls me but Dixie Carter. ‘Do you want to come work in the office and work on the booking committee?’ It was too tempting an offer because I did have those ties with TNA. When I would go to Nashville, I would have lunch with Dixie but only as a friend. And she would ask my advice and ask my advice on other stuff that was outside of wrestling, where maybe my expertise in media or marketing could help TNA. Including my lending songs to TNA and stuff like that. So it was an intriguing thing. I jumped in on that, ultimately ended up being the owner for a hot second. Big lawsuit got out of that and I said, ‘I’m done with wrestling forever. Leave me, please leave me alone.’”
Despite having twice declared an exit from the wrestling industry, of his own accord, due to its unpredictable and challenging disposition, Corgan today stands as the owner of a rejuvenated NWA, with the organization having recently announced the return of the historic territory system.
As for Paul Heyman offering Corgan a piece of ECW back in the day, Corgan praised him as a salesman, saying that “he’s the best.” However, Corgan did acknowledge Heyman’s tendency to lie and wondered if he was some kind of sociopath. You can read more about that, here.
(h/t 411mania)