Billy Corgan Reportedly Interested in Buying TNA Impact Wrestling

In a development that is unexpected but not necessarily surprising, it now looks like the leading candidate to buy TNA Impact Wrestling from Panda Energy International is Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan.  Corgan is a long-time wrestling fan who made multiple appearances in ECW and runs an independent promotion out of Chicago named Resistance Pro Wrestling.

It was a week ago when Wrestling Observer Newsletter editor Dave Meltzer reported on his subscribers-only Wrestling Observer Radio podcast (h/t WrestlingInc.com) that the company is indeed for sale.  This came on the heels of the company canceling a number of planned touring TV tapings so they could move back to Universal Studios to cut costs.

During the week, according to PWInsider (h/t WrestlingInc.com) and confirmed by ProWrestling.net, TNA issued a denial in an internal memo.  Janice Carter, who is Dixie Carter-Salinas's mother and has been in charge of the financial of the the company for a while, said the Panda was not "attempting to sell its ownership stake" in TNA.  

In the ProWrestling.net story, Jason Powell also stated that he stood by his own reporting that "at least one group led by a notable name has shown a desire to purchase a majority interest in the company."

It's also at least theoretically possible that there's a game of semantics going on: WWE technically didn't buy WCW, only its assets, so if a similar sale was being negotiated, Carter could be telling the truth even if TNA is for sale.  Right now, though, the reports are indeed pointing in the direction of Panda selling their majority ownership in the company.

Then we had a name: Justin LaBar at WrestleZone and Brett Clendaniel of WrestleChat.net both reported Billy Corgan as the "serious buyer."  Last night, Corgan's friend Lou D'Angeli (Sign Guy Dudley/Lou E. Dangerously in ECW as well as a former WWE employee in the live events department) tweeted the following:

"

Yes! From what I understand @billy is in negotiations to buy @IMPACTWRESTLING! I don't know anything else but he was in Nashville last week!

— Lou DAngeli ♫ (@LDAngeli) November 2, 2013"

"

Is @billy set on buying @IMPACTWRESTLING??? I know he is pretty serious in at least partial, if not, majority ownership. #TNA

— Lou DAngeli ♫ (@LDAngeli) November 3, 2013"

That's the latest as of right now.  One last historical note worth mentioning: In the recent Barbed Wire City documentary about ECW, Corgan talks about a meeting he had with Paul Heyman at the end of ECW's life.  Corgan was willing to buy into ECW to keep it afloat, and Heyman's offer was that he could get 10 percent for $1 million.

Corgan's response?  "Paul, we both know that ECW is not worth $10 million."

David Bixenspan has been Bleacher Report's WWE Team Leader and a contracted columnist since 2011. You can follow him on Twitter @davidbix and check out his wrestling podcasts at LLTPod.com.

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