This is a script for a video on my YouTube channel. You can find the full video soon, but the audio can be found Here.
Before I go any further, this is one of those videos where I'd really love to hear your thoughts in the comment section. Also maybe you could tell me what the CW actually is because to me it doesn't look like the kind of network that would be interested in indie level pro wrestling to begin with.
This video isn't about the event as such, more a minute of it that went viral. So whats all the fuss about? Well at one point in the pay per view, James Mitchell is introduced and a spotlight is put on him in the crowd, with a group of men and women who are obviously partaking in some white powder and drinking. The camera lingers on them for a bit longer than is really necessary while the commentators act like they have no idea what to say. My guess is, as a person can be seen sweeping debris in the ring before they pull in on Mitchell, this was maybe just meant to be no more than a filler moment for the pay per view while the ring was being cleaned up from the match that took place before it. I wonder if the substance use had been a little more implied than it was, might things have panned out any differently? Regardless the clip made the rounds on social media and may have done NWA more harm than good.
According to a report from Haus of Wrestling on November 4th, NWA Powerrr and an accompanying reality show were due at some point soon to begin airing for the first time on television, on CW, who it turns out weren't thrilled upon seeing this moment, and probably the attention it was getting. This could even result in Powerrr being thrown off the air before it was even on it, being relegated to the CW app, which I would imagine has less eyes on it than YouTube, the platform they're currently on. The report also notes that the CW were quote "flooded" by social media posts about the clip, which begs the question, who are these fans that are actively trying to do the NWA harm? Posts that by the way, I couldn't find evidence of because the reporting of the story is all that comes up now.
What interests me about all of this is that the spot was again according to the report, Billy Corgan's idea that he pushed for, based on the notion that quoting the report, "Corgan was told that the network would not be watching the pay per views and would only be concerned with what happened on the TV show airing on their platform." Here's the thing though, if I were working for the CW buying content from a company, I'd be concerned with what that company is doing in totality, not just what hasn't yet aired on my network, especially in the beginning. Imagine if you did your due diligence, signed a deal with NWA, and they then pull a stunt like that. Could you trust them going forward? Also it feels quite naive to me that Billy would just assume that he could air such an angle on his pay per view and figure that the network wouldn't have any thoughts about it.
We as wrestling fans are very aware that traditionally wrestling pay per views, especially online ones, can get away with being more risque than television products in many different ways, but is a network person from outside the wrestling business going to share that perspective, or are they going to see that clip and wonder what they got themselves into? I get wanting to push the envelope with your product, but maybe not at the same time that you're starting a new business relationship based on the product you're currently presenting. All of this comes at the same time as the NWA is attempting more expansion, having recently upgraded all of it's production equipment which was thought to be in preparation for the CW deal, and recently announcing plans to form it's own territory system, bringing the Alliance back to the NWA.
Billy's business acumen is shown even more when the report states that he paid for the reality show to be made himself, and the CW contributed nothing, but would make a profit from selling advertising, to a show that potentially far less people will see now. Furthermore Haus of Wrestling's report notes that a big part of the deal was that the reality show would include footage of Billy's recent wedding. The networks quote "excitement" to air that while seemingly tolerating the wrestling content is another red flag right there. Well done mate. It's obviously too early to know whats going to happen, but right now this feels like a spectacular set of mistakes, dare I even call it an onmishambles. It's also worth pointing out that if Billy backpedals on the edgy content for a while and shows the CW people that Powerrr can be tamer than what he airs on pay per view, the ship can maybe be righted, but for now it's not looking good.
Had the Samhain clip and potential fallout been an isolated incident there wouldn't be much more to talk about, but the whole story is another example of what might be Billy's biggest strength, his creativity, but maybe also his biggest weakness, his insistence on his own vision. Billy Corgan himself clearly has a great creative mind, having done some truly great things not just in wrestling, but in music first. I'll always give him his due respect for the Ten Pounds of Gold series, and his efforts in general to make the NWA World title a valued belt again, which was even more impressive considering that people thought him buying the NWA to begin with was a joke. The peak of that might well have been All In, where the NWA World championship match between Nick Aldis and Cody Rhodes felt a big deal, and was the only championship match on that night.
Unfortunately though Billy has a history of harming his own creations, usually unintentionally. Siamese Dream for example, is admittedly a favourite album of mine, but one on which Billy was said to have gone to the trouble of re-recording much of his bass player Darcy Wretsky's parts himself through his own perfectionism, hurting his own reputation and relationships in the process. If you fancy a deeper dive than I'm prepared to go into here, look up Teargarden by Kaleidoscope, an overly ambitious project partly inspired by the changing way in which people consume music in modern times because of streaming services, intended to consist of forty four free singles that released roughly once a month, that would later be monetised once the collection was complete. At the time this felt like a unique way of addressing the potential fall of the album model due to services like Spotify and YouTube, and it resulted in a fair few good songs, before eventually falling back into the album format that it was designed to break away from, and was ultimately abandoned about thirty songs in.
Getting back to wrestling, having been spotted in the crowd of many WWE, TNA and even ECW shows prior, Billy was a known wrestling fan for years before he started his own company. His first route into pro wrestling was founding a Chicago based indie called Resistance Pro in 2011 which he left in 2014, but the company would go on for a while longer. Upon leaving that project he published an exit notice as convoluted as any Smashing Pumpkins fan who looks up the lyrics might expect. Interestingly Corgan was also shopping around a reality show based on the behind the scenes of that company too. It even got a greenlight from AMC, only to fall apart once Corgan left.
Billy then got involved with TNA Wrestling in 2016, even serving as the company's President, and according to reports at the time he was bank rolling tapings himself during a very dark period for the company where it felt like they could go out of business any day. That whole situation is very messy, and ended in Corgan failing to take control of TNA, leading him to eventually buy the NWA, putting us down the path we're on now.
You might notice I've been fairly critical of Billy Corgan and the NWA in this video, and I suppose part of that comes from my disappointment as a fan. When NWA Powerrr first launched it felt like a breath of fresh air. A true throwback with some modern twists, and a well built up champion to believe in. Especially in the early days, Billy showed a very good eye for talent, and to his credit and his company's detriment, he to my knowlege has never prevented any of his roster from grasping opportunities with bigger promotions, even wishing them well like LA Knight, Thunder Rosa and Ricky Starks. Billy had a big part in creating that, and I'll not knock him for it, but it also feels like the promotion has become as Nick Aldis said, "one man's vision", and maybe thats a problem. To be honest, I nearly made this video when Aldis left, then again when Billy insisted on pushing Tyrus, but Samhain might be the biggest detriment to the NWA yet, or it might blow over once Billy has had enough time to build bridges with the CW.
Whether you buy into his vision for the NWA or not fair play to you, but I'll be interested to see what happens for them next. Let me know your thoughts on the situation in the comments, and I thank you for your time.
Sources:
Haus of Wrestling report: https://www.hausofwrestling.com/2023/11/04/cocaine-spot-at-nwa-ppv-could-negatively-impact-the-cw-deal-exclusive/
James Mitchell Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw-o7OFWxTU
Res Pro exit notice: https://loudwire.com/billy-corgan-addresses-exit-resistance-pro-wrestling/
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