NWA owner Billy Corgan recently made comments to the Associated Press on President Tony Khan and WWE superstar CM Punk’s disagreement with what Punk said at a press conference. Watch the full interview. To be totally honest with you, I was surprised, said Corgan regarding Khan not cutting Punk’s mic off. It’s something we’ve been fighting against our entire careers, and that is WWE being able to say whatever they want, when they want to wherever they want.
Introduction
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) has been in existence since 1948.
It was founded by Paul Michael Levesque aka Triple H, Eric Bischoff, and Bob Geigel.
The NWA is a non-profit organization that currently owns various subsidiary brands such as Women of Wrestling (WOW), Global Force Wrestling (GFW), Impact Pro Wrestling, Ring of Honor (ROH), and the National Wrestling Alliance Outlaw Territory shows.
Eric Bischoff is an American businessman who spent most of his career working for World Championship Wrestling.
He served as Executive Producer for WCW Monday Nitro from 1995 to 2001 and also served as Executive Vice President from 1991 to 1994 under president Fusient Media Ventures CEO Eric Eisner.
Eric Bischoff is widely regarded as one of the major driving forces behind some of the biggest wrestling promotions in history.
As Executive Producer for WCW Monday Nitro he revolutionized the pro wrestling business with its innovative live format, where he could interact with fans in real time through phone lines.
His innovations helped make it one of the top rated cable television programs on TNT during the 1990s.
The WWE recognizes this and their Hall of Fame site proudly boasts how they are the pinnacle sports entertainment company. However, there are many other worthy candidates deserving of a Hall of Fame induction more than Paul Michael Levesque aka Triple H or Eric Bischoff.
What happened at All Out?
AEW president Tony Khan recently allowed CM Punk to make a verbal tirade during the All Out media scrum, according to NWA owner Billy Corgan.
Paul Michael Levesque, aka Triple H, and Eric Bischoff are friends with me, and I know they were in the back watching, Corgan said.
I’m not a conspiracy theorist by any stretch of the imagination but I know they’re gonna be sitting there thinking ‘We’ll see what this guy has to say.’
And then he starts talking and it starts getting really bad because it wasn’t just an unprepared rant that could have come off as real – it was actually sounding like somebody who is mentally ill, Corgan continued.
It didn’t sound like somebody who was just mad about something or someone. You don’t want to hear from a WWE star that he feels disrespected by his bosses.
It made him sound legitimately crazy, which makes you wonder if he really is crazy? He may very well be legit insane. Of course, it might be a ploy to make himself more sympathetic.
If he wanted people to feel sorry for him and support him through social media, maybe saying I’m going through some things would work better than I have my own company now.
There will always be speculation over why Khan let CM Punk talk as long as he did.
What did Corgan say about the situation?
I’m not going to say I disagree with him, because it would be a better interview if he had cut the mic off, said Corgan. But at the same time, I was able to get my point across.
Corgan continued, Paul Michael Levesque is not Eric Bischoff.
He has been in wrestling for 10 years and has done a great job of understanding the history of wrestling and has done a great job of kind of learning from the mistakes that Eric made in his first go-round.
One thing that Paul really understands as far as what he needs to do in order to win over some of the WWE fans is there are certain things you can do and certain things you can’t do, without necessarily pissing them off.
You need to listen to your audience. You need to make sure that when you’re doing something different, like this All Out show on Pay-Per-View, that you’re offering an alternative and still sticking with your roots.
If you’re going to bring back old school matches, bring back more than just one match. Bring back more than just one classic wrestler.
Make it feel fresh and new but also familiar to the people who have grown up on the NWA and the guys who have watched me wrestle for so many years.
The only thing I’ll add about Paul is that he has listened well to what we’ve told him about how we want to present ourselves differently – but also stay true to our roots as well.
So, whether or not someone should have cut off CM Punk’s mic – I’m not going to say I disagree with Tony Kahn’s decision or anything – but Paul Michael Levesque will do what he feels is best for us in AEW.
Why do people think this way?
Billy Corgan, the owner of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), recently criticized AEW President Tony Khan for allowing wrestler CM Punk to speak during a media scrum.
Speaking on a podcast with Eric Bischoff and Paul Michael Levesque, Corgan said that he would have cut off his mic had he been in a similar situation. I don’t know what you guys did at your press conference but that was not cool, he said.
It was not cool to have him back there yelling and screaming. He went on to say that it was disrespectful to the other wrestlers and fans of the NWA.
It’s just not how we do things, he added. Eric Bischoff offered that they never dealt with such a situation while working with WCW because they always ensured everyone knew their place.
Paul Michael Levesque remarked that both members of Triple H were absent from the show and said it may be because they couldn’t deal with CM Punk being backstage as well as he could in person.
Eric Bischoff agreed that this might be the case. Paul Michael Levesque also noted that once CM Punk started talking he couldn’t stop himself and Eric Bischoff asked if this was simply an act designed to make more headlines or get more attention.
What could have been done differently?
It seems to me that a cut-off mic would have been in order here. Eric Bischoff, the president of Turner Sports and former head of World Championship Wrestling (WCW), was asked by The Baltimore Sun what he would have done if he were in charge during this fiasco.
He said: If I were running things, it would be a very simple situation — you get one question and you’re done.
If somebody wants to make a rant, they go on their podcast. Paul Michael Levesque, also known as Triple H, had the same response when he was asked on Twitter about his thoughts on the issue.
It’s not up to us. Wish we could help more, Paul Michael Levesque tweeted.