This past weekend at NWA Samhain, long-time pro wrestling manager Father James Mitchell participated in a controversial segment that went viral. Mitchell was seen at a private seating area near the ring surrounded by scantily clad women drinking bottles of alcohol and some very energetic pro wrestlers. The reason for their amped-up energy? Cocaine. Mitchell could be seen snorting the illegal substance and passing it around to his young compatriots to indulge in as well.
As Haus of Wrestling reported, the NWA, owned by Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, recently signed a pair of deals with The CW. The deals will see the NWA bring their weekly Powerrr show and a new reality TV series to the top twenty channel. However, we have learned that the recent cocaine spot upset higher-ups at The CW. We were also told that the cocaine spot was Corgan’s idea, and he pushed for it to be on the pay-per-view.
As it stands, Haus of Wrestling is told that there is an active push by those higher-up at The CW to have the NWA’s content air solely on their The CW app and not on their actual television airwaves. Apparently, when negotiations were going on to bring the NWA to The CW, Corgan was told that the network would not be watching the PPVs and would only be concerned with what happened on the TV show airing on their platform.
That changed following the cocaine spot, as The CW, which fans knew would be the new home for the NWA, was flooded with social media comments. Haus of Wrestling was told there is now a 90% chance that the NWA reality show and Powerrr will air on The CW app and not on TV.
We also learned that the reality show was fully paid for by Corgan, the executive producer of the series, and he has the final creative say on it. We are told that The CW did not pay for the reality series and would profit from it by selling ads. Corgan is optimistic that the exposure of being on The CW will lead to higher ticket sales for NWA events, on top of improved merchandise sales. There is also the potential that if the first season of the reality series is successful, there could be guaranteed money for season two.
One of the big selling points for The CW to get behind the reality series was that Corgan said his recent wedding would be a part of it, something they were excited to air. The other pro wrestling aspects of the series, along with the added Powerrr deal, all were agreed to under the understanding The CW would be able to air the Corgan wedding footage.