Billy Corgan juggles new album, stadium tour — and pro wrestling company

In between putting out new albums and rocking out stadiums, Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins will also showcase his love for the squared circle when the NWA’s 76th Anniversary Show takes place at the 2300 Arena on Saturday, August 31, celebrating “76 years of continuous operation.”

Since 1990, Corgan has been frequenting Philly as a rock star, including most recently when his band played Citizens Bank Park with Green Day. With more than three decades of success and influence across multiple Grammy-award winning songs, platinum and diamond albums, the band released Aghori Mhori Mei just a few weeks ago.

“We pretty much went right in the studio the minute we finished the previous record of 33 songs,” Corgan said. “When I was finishing that record, I could feel it in my bones. I felt like it was time to go back to our kind of old school way of doing business, very guitar rock-driven and people really seem to like this new album.”

In the middle of his rock and roll journey, Corgan acquired the National Wrestling Alliance in 2017. While he’s used to working around the clock, adding pro wrestling to the mix has made things a little interesting.

“It’s about a 60/40 in terms of music and wrestling,” Corgan said. “I’m literally in the studio and in between takes writing NWA emails to run the company.”

Corgan said he’s been working nonstop on music and wrestling for the past seven years, including rebuilding the NWA following the pandemic. He said they wanted to come into Philly with “our best foot forward” as he feels the company’s “stabilized enough.”

“It’s like being in a band, you pick your lane and you say, ‘This is who we are,’ ” Corgan said. “If you like it, great, and if you don’t, well go find something else. I’m used to that with my band. A lot of people in wrestling don’t understand that mentality because a lot of wrestling is sort of chasing trends. I’m not a trend chaser. I believe what the NWA represents will never get old.”

The National Wrestling Alliance paved the way for many of the biggest names to have ever stepped foot in the ring, including former NWA champions Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, and Terry Funk. Compared to other wrestling companies, the NWA’s style is more catered to the classic wrestling of the ‘70s and ‘80s, which Corgan said aims to “restore that toughness again.”

“We book in the NWA around the biggest and baddest men and women who can bring it every night with a level of toughness that is often shocking to the audience that come to see us live,” Corgan said. “I know for a fact that the Philly audience will appreciate that toughness … and that’s very reminiscent, of course, of ECW.”

The NWA actually ended up paving the way for Philly’s own Extreme Championship Wrestling, which Corgan got to check out a few times from the bleachers and, sometimes, up close.

“Technically speaking, I’m an ECW original because I was actually in the ring during those years and did an angle with some of the heavy hitters back then. Got a concussion in the ECW ring, which I still bear the scars from … I remember thinking this is definitely going to be one of these companies that people are going to talk about for a long time and I’m glad to see that that’s been proven true.”

While he never got the chance to step into the 2300 Arena, that’ll change Saturday, though his day job may make things a bit complicated.

“I’m playing the night before … the Nashville stadium with Green Day,” Corgan said. “I’m getting on a bus, driving all night to Philly, I’ll get to the 2300 Arena in the morning. Get out, have a cup of tea, work all day on the NWA … And then as soon as the show’s over, say my goodbyes, jump on a bus and I’ve got to drive to Pittsburgh because I’ve got a show the next day. I’m very committed to the NWA and we really want you to come see the show.”

Every NWA title will be on the line Saturday. Tickets for the show start at $19.99. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the first bell is at 8.