Billy Corgan Set to Purchase National Wrestling Alliance Company
It looks like Billy Corgan is getting back in the ring. According to PWI Insider, the Smashing Pumpkins head has "agreed in principle" to buy the National Wrestling Alliance [NWA]. He was previously the president of TNA Wrestling.
The NWA deal will see Corgan purchase the name, rights and trademarks to the organization, as well as the rights and possession of the championship belt to the foundation, which was initially founded in 1948. During a particularly profitable run in the mid to late '80s, the NWA competed directly with New York-based wrestling behemoth the World Wrestling Federation, now World Wrestling Entertainment, and was buoyed by big name stars like Ric Flair, Sting and the Road Warriors tag-team.
Eventually, Ted Turner's Turner Broadcasting purchased Jim Crockett Promotions, who backed the NWA, and re-titled it World Championship Wrestling. The NWA continued to exist, albeit on a much smaller scale, before striking a licensing deal with TNA Wrestling in 2002, one that later fell apart, leaving the former to flounder among the independents.
If the deal goes through with Corgan, the NWA purchase will follow on the heels of his recent failure to purchase TNA, which he began investing in last June. His investments in the company led to Corgan being named the president of TNA late last summer, but despite his best efforts to buy the company in what PWI Insider calls, "a complicated deal," it ended up not happening, as Anthem Media would eventually acquire TNA. Corgan subsequently filed a lawsuit alleging, among other things, breach of contract. He lost the lawsuit but back loans in the dispute were settled, though the terms were not made public.
Corgan has long been vocal about his fandom for professional wrestling, first becoming involved with it in the late '90s, making appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling. He turned down a deal by then owner Paul Heyman's to buy a 10% share of the company for $1 million, feeling that the company wasn't worth $10 million at the time. Corgan later founded Chicago-based Resistance Pro Wrestling, but left after just three years.
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