(ST. LOUIS, MO) Smashing Pumpkins’ front man Billy Corgan has never hidden the fact that he is a lifelong fan of professional wrestling.
The Chicago native, and multi-Grammy Award winning artist, purchased the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) in October 2017. The legacy sports franchise had lineage that dated back to the 1940’s, but the promotion had been mostly silent during pro wrestling’s contemporary boom in the late-90s.
Now four years deep under his helm, Corgan’s updated NWA is set to fully re-establish itself within today’s squared-circle market.
He and numerous athletes under his wing made a promotional stop at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel Tuesday to hype an August quad-event at the fixture that is synonymous with St. Louis wrestling history.
Four consecutive nights of NWA action is scheduled at the Khorassan Ballroom August 28-31. The venue hosted “Wrestling at the Chase” events that were televised locally on KPLR-TV in the late-1950’s.
“The NWA is living history and the Chase is living history,” Corgan said of his company’s upcoming showcase. “When you put those two things together, it’s like a brush fire. And particularly in this local community of St. Louis, it’s like the response was overwhelming.”
Tickets go on sale Friday at 5 p.m. through Ticketmaster.
The first night of the quartet features NWA’s first all-women’s event, “Empowerrr,” on Saturday, August 28 that will be available on pay-per-view and streaming services.
“We’re going to kick it off, so we’re going to set the bar,” said NWA Empowerrr Executive Producer Mickie James. “There’s so much happening,. It’s going to be a really incredible four days.”
The Sunday event features the NWA’s 73rd Anniversary show that’s also earmarked for pay-per-view.
“There are people in this area for whom this is such a huge part of their cultural fabric,” said current NWA World Champion Nick Aldis. “They’re just so excited that it’s back. They never thought that they would see that Wrestling at the Chase is back.”
Aldis, a two-time NWA champion that has held the proverbial “Ten Pounds of Gold” since October 2018, will defend his title against a challenger that will be named prior to the event.
Also slotted for the four-day stretch are tapings on August 30 & 31 that leads to future programs streamed for their weekly signature show on fite.tv.
Corgan anticipates plenty of thrills during the late-August stretch.
“This is the circus,” he said. “It’s loud. It’s noisy. It’s fast-paced and it’s like riding a tiger. And hopefully, you don’t fall off. And by the end, you’re like ‘Oh my God, I hope I don’t have to do that that again.’ And literally the day you get home, you’re like. ‘Well, next time.’ And you start all over again.”
For more information on the NWA, go to their official website.
By trade, he is a six-time, regional Emmy Award-winning news videographer/editor for KTVI/KPLR-TV. By hobby, he is a writer for Arch City Media, dating back to February 2014. Emphasis is on featuring and promoting local women's sports, but will cover anything that is not reported by traditional media outlets. Also a contributor to local concert reviews.
