Heres the latest arm-twist to the field of professional wrestling: Billy Corgan yes, that Billy Corgan wants to use a medium that is decidedly heavy on piledrivers and figure-four leglocks to explore issues of race, ethnicity and gender.
Corgan, leader of the innovative rock group Smashing Pumpkins, has joined TNA Impact Wrestling as senior producer of creative and talent development and, as such, will have a strong hand guiding such luminaries as Kurt Angle, Bobby Roode and Jeff Hardy and their exploits on TNAs flagship Impact Wrestling program that has airs on Discovery Communications Destination America cable network. Rather than trotting out the same old heels and babyfaces pro-wrestling argot for bad guys and good guys Corgan thinks fans are ready for new stories.
There is a tremendous opportunity to go into really fresh, new directions, Corgan explained in an interview. Having characters who explore race or transgender issues is certainly a possibility, he suggested. There are ways to explore those themes in ways that are productive, create new stars and show that value-based babyfaces, no matter what their background, no matter where they come from, can draw new audiences and inspire people in new ways.
Corgans thinking is necessary to stand out in a crowded field that is largely dominated by World Wrestling Entertainment and is also filled with overseas competitors like Japans New Japan Pro Wrestling and Mexicos AAA Mega Championship, explained Dixie Carter, TNAs president, in an interview. We need to make our existing characters have a greater depth to them, she said. We want the stories to have a depth and a meaning to someone that is relevant today. Billy can really help that.
For Corgan, the match-up with professional wresting is not as unlikely as it might first seem. The writer of such tunes as Bullet with Butterfly Wings and Tonight, Tonight says he has been a wrestling fan for much of his life, originally getting into the sport by following competitors such as Verne Gagne and Dick The Bruiser. It was about tough guys in tights, before the really colorful stuff came in more fully into the 1980s, he said. In recent years, Corgan even ran a small wrestling promotion around Chicago.
TNAs Carter said she met Corgan several years ago and was familiar with his deep interest in the sport, and convinced him to join her executives for a plotting session. Some of his creative work will begin to show up in TNA programming slated to hit the air in early May, she said.
Corgan believes his ideas will break new ground. In 2015, he said, adding those social and cultural issues that are sort of a dont go there subject will result in themes that will feel more meaningful to current audiences. I think theres an endless supply of things in our culture where people are dealing with race or with gender, et cetera, and you can get into these things in a way that is both revelatory and enlightening. Treated the right way, ultimately, the good guy wins. The right ideas win.
TNA bouts have run on Destination America since January. Discovery and TNA struck a multi-year deal in late 2014 that also includes the U.S. premiere of various series and specials from the company and gives Discovery international broadcasting rights for the programs in certain regions