Billy Corgan Speaks On Working With Pope And His Value To NWA

Speaking recently with Fightful, NWA owner Billy Corgan commented on getting veteran wrestler Da Pope (aka Elijah Burke) working with the NWA, among other topics. You can watch the full interview and read a few highlights below.

On his background with Pope and convincing him to join NWA: “Well, again, and this goes back to TNA, Pope and I worked together behind the scenes. I got a little bit inside baseball from him somewhat and other people in the company of why he didn’t want to wrestle at the time. The sense that I got was he didn’t feel he was being properly valued as a wrestling talent. So he was more comfortable being on commentator because, in essence he wasn’t in the political scrum week after week. So coming into NWA, I knew—or at least I felt—that was something he was sensitive to, so I assured him, ‘Look, with me, you always have the best possible opportunity,’ and I think I’ve proven that over time. I’ve given him every opportunity and he is one of a kind at connecting with people. Nobody can light that place up better than he can.”

On the performer’s difficulties with the industry: “I think, when you see him succeeding at the highest levels, you can see why he’s been frustrated by the business at different times but also why he’s been so undervalued. Maybe because people don’t necessarily understand the rhythm in the way he walks—meaning where he comes from as a person on the inside. I think if you let him fly, using a really poor analogy, to the height that he can fly, then that’s what it should be and that’s what I try to do with anybody in the NWA. I try to give everybody who walks in that door the best possible opportunity.”

On how Corgan views his own purpose in the wrestling business: “Again, looping back one more time, that’s the whole point of what I’m trying to say about everybody on the roster. I try to give everybody the best opportunity. I try to give them an unfettered chance to reach their highest potential. One thing we don’t always talk about in this country enough is that people need chances at redemption, people need opportunities, and people need sometimes even a second chance. I’m not saying that’s what I’m here to do. I’m here to run a professional wrestling company, but that becomes part of the story. Not everybody falls into a perfect box and the NWA, I think, has done a really good job of taking people who are undervalued, under appreciated, and sometimes even overlooked. I think if you look at the people who come through our doors over the last three or four years and went on to bigger opportunities on bigger stages because the NWA was able to highlight what they’re so good at. I think that really speaks to why the company operates the way it does.”