Various: Billy Corgan on NWA Willing to Work with Anyone but Impact, Hidden Gems, Indies

Billy Corgan Comments on NWA Being Willing to Work with Any Promotion Except Impact Wrestling

Billy Corgan held a NWA press conference this past Monday in Atlanta, Georgia and one of the topics discussed included the NWA being willing to do business with any wrestling company except for Impact Wrestling.

“We consider ourselves a free agent in the market. We’re available to work with anyone from All Elite Wrestling to Championship Wrestling from Hollywood to Ring of Honor. The only prohibition is IMPACT. We won’t do business with them. Of course, we’ll do business with WWE. We feel like an early UFC or Bellator. We feel like we’re in the market and can do whatever we want to do. We have the champions right here.Think back of when ECW guys would appear on Raw. I think people really want innovation in the space,” said Corgan. “I think our relationships with Ring of Honor, which extend to New Japan — we have a great relationship with AAA. I think we could work with anybody at any time.”

Full press conference:

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

WWE Network Hidden Gems Addition

This week’s addition to WWE Network’s Hidden Gems series is SmackDown themed, featuring four classic matches.

The first gem is from a November 29, 2001 episode of WWF SmackDown! featuring a dark match of Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Orton.

SmackDown Taping Dark Match 11/29/2001 – Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton face off as phenoms
Before they would go on to dominate the WWE landscape for nearly two decades, Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton face off in this rarely seen contest.

The second gem is from a January 3, 2002 episode of WWF SmackDown! featuring a dark match of Brock Lesnar vs. Rico.

SmackDown Taping Dark Match 01/03/2002 – Brock Lesnar before he was “The Next Big Thing”
An up-and-coming Brock Lesnar gives Rico one of the toughest challenges of his career.

The third gem is from a March 23, 2007 episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown! featuring a dark match of Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz.

SmackDown Taping Dark Match 03/23/2007 – Kofi Kingston and The Miz’s early showdown
Kofi Kingston shows The Miz the definition of awesome as he battles the cocky superstar in The Miz’s hometown of Cleveland.

The fourth and final gem is from a December 14, 2007 episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown! featuring a dark match of Kofi Kingston vs. Steve Corino.

SmackDown Taping Dark Match 12/14/2007 – A young Kofi Kingston faces an extreme opponent
Before winning multiple WWE titles, Kofi Kingston takes on former ECW Champion, Steve Corino, in this rarely seen match.

Misc. Wrestling News & Notes

AEW’s Dynamite debut show reportedly drew an attendance of 14,129 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., according to Cody Rhodes.

Major League Wrestling announced that they have recently signed Zeda Zhang to an official contract with the company. Zhang becomes the first official member of MLW’s upcoming women’s division and the deal was stated to be multi-year in length.

Starrcast announced that The Shockmaster, Taz, and Ron Simmons will be appearing at their Starrcast IV convention, which takes place from November 7-10 in Baltimore, Maryland.

New Japan Pro Wrestling is currently rumored to be planning for a Chris Jericho vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi match to take place at next year’s Wrestle Kingdom 14 event in Tokyo, Japan, according to Sports Illustrated.