Billy Corgan is getting back into the wrestling business.
The Smashing Pumpkins frontman has agreed to purchase the National Wrestling Alliance, according to a report by PWInsider. Corgan reportedly is purchasing the NWA name, as well as all rights and trademarks associated with it, and rights and possession of the NWA World Championship.
That title, which has a lineage dating back to 1948, currently is held by Tim Storm.
Corgan joined TNA in 2015 as an executive in creative and talent development. In August of last year, he became the new TNA President. That tenure lasted just a few months before a financial dispute led Corgan to file suit against the promotion before he then attempted -- unsuccessfully -- to purchase TNA. Instead, Anthem Sports became the new majority owners of TNA and Corgan left the company.
The NWA was a large and well-renowned entity in wrestling through the territorial era, but that shifted with the rise of the WWF in the 1980s. The NWA name later became synonymous with Jim Crockett Promotions, but that relationship ended in 1991 when Crockett sold to Ted Turner. WCW and the NWA worked together briefly in 1992, and another failed attempt at a partnership between the NWA and ECW failed in 1994 when Shane Douglas cut his infamous promo declaring the NWA as a dead organization after winning the vacant championship.
The most recent NWA owner, prior to Corgan, was Bruce Tharpe, who took control as the president and majority owner in 2012. On Tharpe's watch, the NWA had a working relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling that since has fizzled. The current NWA is made up of a series of smaller independent promotions that are affiliates under the NWA banner.
In an update, we're told Dave Lagana will be joining Corgan after working together closely in Impact Wrestling. Corgan doesn't get any sort of video library, and NWA on demand isn't involved. There's no timetable on a possible "re-boot" or revamp of the company, which has been licensing it's initials for a fee.
Time will tell what plans Corgan has for the NWA name and its long history.
