Billy Corgan's Leadership Causing Frustration Within NWA

Billy Corgan has led the NWA since 2017, but frustrations within the organisation are growing over Corgan’s leadership of late.

A report from Haus of Wrestling suggests that the recent Samhain ‘cocaine spot’ and fallout - including a potentially scuppered broadcast deal with The CW Network - have rocked the company, with Corgan ‘withdrawing’ from those close to him in the wake of WWE NXT announcing a deal with The CW.

The report states that the controversial angle was Corgan’s idea, and as a result led to The CW being littered with complaints ahead of a potential TV deal. What’s more, it’s suggested that talks between The CW and WWE NXT ‘accelerated’ after the Samhain angle aired.

Corgan still records and tours as frontman of The Smashing Pumpkins, with Corgan’s touring responsibilities meaning that he can not always be reached between NWA shows for clarity on his creative direction for the brand. As a result, talent sometimes do not know of the status of their bookings for NWA until as late as an hour before tapings commence.

Other issues with Corgan’s leadership concern contract negotiations, with many NWA stars out of contract in June 2024 and no contract negotiations set to begin until February 2024 at least. Some talents are believed to be eyeing an exit from the promotion due to Corgan’s leadership and are looking at other places to work for when their contracts expire.

As for the talent under contract to NWA, Corgan is believed to favour signing younger talent so he can have ‘first dibs’ on them, and protect them from taking losses elsewhere, whilst Corgan’s man-management skills have also been questioned, with Corgan subjecting many talents to ‘tests of loyalty’ which have not necessarily gone down too well. Such tests include subjecting 'over' talent to do jobs as soon as they enter the company, to being overly critical of talent to see how they will react.