Billy Corgan on His NWA Plans and “Backstabbing and Lies” in TNA

Billy Corgan was interviewed by Sports Illustrated and talked about his future plans for NWA, which he officially became the owner of yesterday.

“People asked, ‘What are you buying?’ We’ve looked at how the WWE has positioned itself and how Anthem has positioned Impact Wrestling, and now a brand like the NWA, which has built-in recognition value and a history that is unmatched, suddenly starts to become more valuable in this shifting landscape. Maybe we’re not so crazy for buying these three letters after all.

“The numbers show that wrestling, at its peak, was averaging eight-to-ten million people a week on television. Where did all those people go? I think they’re still out there, and there always new fans to be made.

“Our focus is on the NWA plan, and we have a 20-year plan. We’re not going to just come in and throw money around for two years. We’ve learned from the past mistakes of TNA, which we have intimate knowledge of.”

Corgan also talked about his time at TNA and learning from the mistakes made there:

“I was very, very frustrated by the obstacles I faced internally, both culturally and fiscally, at TNA. I dealt with a lot of backstabbing and lies.

“I was able to push through some things that ended up being successful at TNA, and I was very frustrated because you would think the success would have led to more leverage and further opportunities. But it was exactly the opposite. People were out to get me because I had power. At least now, in this situation, I am my own boss.

“You have to build your own infrastructure from the bottom up and work with people you really trust. The traditional ‘carny’ aspect of the wrestling business that plagues a lot of companies, and has plagued a company like TNA, are problems that hold the business back. You can’t run an effective business if it’s like Game of Thrones every week.”

However, he apparently has a good relationship with Impact’s current owners:

“I speak to Ed [Nordholm] at least once, if not twice, a week,” said Corgan, who, contrary to popular belief in the wrestling community, never lost his lawsuit. Corgan only lost a motion when the judge ruled there was not yet enough information. Once that motion was declined, Corgan and Anthem came to a satisfactory resolution.

“After everything was resolved in the settlement, I called Ed and said, ‘I think we’re going to be doing business together in the future and I want you to know there is no issue.’ I obviously got involved in the Hardy situation which never got resolved to anyone’s satisfaction, though it was close at times. Ed has had to clean up a lot of messes and he takes a lot of stick in the press. Behind the scenes, I’ve found him to be a pretty straight-forward guy.

“We’ve made various overtures to Anthem along the way and they’ve made various overtures to me. We haven’t found anything that is ideal, and I’m a firm believer that if a deal doesn’t go both ways, then it’s not a good deal to make. If the NWA was going to be involved in some level with Anthem, we’d want it to be a good way all the way around.”

Corgan gave further details about his NWA hopes in the full interview.