SEScoops

Author: David Bixenspan

  • Billy Corgan Claims TNA Is Telling Talent He’s Responsible For Them Not Being Paid

    Billy Corgan Claims TNA Is Telling Talent He’s Responsible For Them Not Being Paid

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH0QeI9SAqw

    More new documents were filed as part of Billy Corgan’s lawsuit against TNA today, and Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet has gotten to look them over.  The details continue to paint a grim picture of TNA, with a few in particular standing out. For starters, there’s this, which comes from an affidavit that Corgan filed with the court:

    Impact Ventures also continues to not pay its talent, except now defendants are blaming me and the temporary restraining order in this case for the lack of payment.

    If TNA management is in fact telling talent that, then yes, that would appear to be a lie. The restraining order, which you can read here, is primarily concerned with stopping the company from selling equity or the tape library for cash infusions.

    Also of note:

    Impact Ventures had been planning a 3-day taping scheduled for November 1-3, 2016. However, on October 25, 2016, Impact Ventures postponed that event due to lack of funds.

    Since TNA has no reason to return to Universal Studios until January, those dates would appear to be set aside for the tapings set to take place entirely at Matt and Jeff Hardy’s compound. That’s not for 100% sure, though.

    Corgan also alleges that he never got a new employment agreement after being named president of the company, which turned out to be a figurehead title. Instead, he claims that Jason Brown of Aroluxe Media is unofficially running TNA’s day to day operations. More on all this as it develops, as the hearing to determine if Corgan is underway as of this writing. Nate Rau of The Tennessean newspaper is live tweeting the hearing.

  • Lucha Underground Lands A New International TV Deal

    Lucha Underground Lands A New International TV Deal

    Turner Broadcasting has issued a press release announcing that starting December 10th, Lucha Underground will be on the air in Germany.  Every Saturday night, TNT Serie will be broadcasting the show at 10:40 p.m. local time. Former WWE announcer Günter Zapf and former TNA announcer Mike Ritter will handle commentary during the matches, with everything else being in English with German subtitles.

    “Lucha Underground captivates the audience,” said (roughly, thanks to Google Translate) Marion Rathmann, Turner’s programming director of entertainment channels in Central and Eastern Europe. “Not just with spectacular matches, but above all with an exciting story that is told throughout the season.”

    “We are really looking forward to taking part in the launch of the world’s most innovative wrestling format in Germany,” said both announcers in a statement (also machine translated). “The atmosphere at the Temple is absolutely exceptional, and we are incredibly happy to do commentary on the spectacular matches. Of course, we’re looking forward to seeing some wrestling stars we have encountered in the past and whose careers we’ve been accompanying in the past. The fans may be curious to see who will emerge all at Lucha Underground! ”

    The wrestlers named in the press release are Johnny Mundo, Chavo Guerrero Jr., Alberto El Patron, Prince Puma, Fénix, Pentagón Jr., Sexy Star and Ivelisse. Alberto’s presence means that the German run is most likely starting from the beginning of the series.

    Analysis: Unless I’m missing something, Lucha Underground is the first professional wrestling show to air on any Turner network anywhere in the world since Jamie Kellner cancelled all WCW programming in 2001, necessitating the asset sale to WWE. It’s been a long 15 and a half years.

  • Chyna’s Mother Gets Control of Her Estate From Manager

    Chyna’s Mother Gets Control of Her Estate From Manager

    For those who have been suspicious of the motives of Chyna’s manager Anthony Anzaldo, whether in general or after the Bleacher Report profile of Chyna came out, this is fairly big news: Chyna’s estate is no longer in his control, instead going to her mother, Janet Laque. Laque sent this statement to Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet:

    My petition to the LA superior court to become Joanie’s estate administrator with “special letters” has been approved and gone through.  YEAH!!!!!!  This is a very big deal for me. Now I have to begin the work of getting it all together with the help of my wonderful CA attorneys and looking into what’s gone on since her death.  Should be interesting!!

    For Anzaldo’s part, he told Satin that “I’m not at war with Chyna’s mother. She should be the executor. I was just here, merely, to help when it was asked upon me.”

  • Billy Corgan’s Lawsuit Reveals He Saved TNA From Being Foreclosed on by Aroluxe

    Billy Corgan’s Lawsuit Reveals He Saved TNA From Being Foreclosed on by Aroluxe

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPIaAV1UyqU

    The narrative of exactly what’s going on with TNA became a lot more clear on Tuesday, thanks to Billy Corgan’s complaint in his lawsuit against the company being unsealed  (Thanks to Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet for sending the documents along). Among other things, it reveals that when Billy Corgan signed documents in August giving him control of the company if it became insolvent, there was a very good reason he got Dixie Carter to give up so much:

    If he hadn’t injected more cash into the company, Aroluxe Media had the right to foreclose on the company because TNA hadn’t paid off its loans to them, either. From the complaint (emphasis ours; note that “plaintiff” = Corgan and “Mrs. Salinas” = Dixie Carter-Salinas):

    On or about August 11, 2016, Impact Ventures again needed funds to continue to operate and to avoid immediate foreclosure or all of its assets by Aroluxe. Specifically, the company required funds to pay Aroluxe so that Aroluxe would proceed with its production of TNA Impact Wrestling episodes upcoming in August. In addition, as ofAugust 6,2016, Aroluxe’s agreement to forbear on exisi ing defaults under the Vendor Financing and Security Agreement expired by its terms, thereby allowing Aroluxe to foreclose on the company at any time.

    That takes us to what we already deduced last week, that Dixie Carter pledged her majority interest in TNA (Corgan believes that Dixie has 92.5% of the company, with Aroluxe holding 5% and the companies related to The Fight Network holding 2.5%) as collateral to Corgan, and he could collect if/when TNA became insolvent:

    Impact Ventures and Mrs. Salinas also entered into an equity pledge agreement with plaintiff whereby Mrs. Salinas pledged 100% of her equity interest in Impact Ventures to plaintiff as security for Impact Ventures’ performance of its obligations under the Second Amended Corgan Loan Agreement and August 2016 Corgan Note (“Salinas Pledge Agreement”).

    Other noteworthy information in the complaint and attached exhibits:

    • Corgan outright says that Anthem Sports and Entertainment (Fight Network parent company) and MCC Acquisitions are one in the same, which was suspected because they share an address but not confirmed until now.
    • TNA needing to go to MCC/Anthem during the last week of September is what Corgan is asserting is the insolvency/event of TNA defaulting under their agreement. TNA didn’t reply to any communications where he asserted his right to take over the company.
    • No reference is made to the other lawsuit filed against TNA for non payment that week, which means it’s either a coincidence or that creditors following wrestling news decided to get their debts on the record.
    • “Mr. Salinas” (unclear if a typo for Dixie or a reference to her husband, Serg) told the roster at the post-Bound For Glory meeting that TNA was negotiating with WWE to sell the promotion’s video library even though both she and Dean Broadhead, TNA’s Chief Financial Officer, had denied to Corgan that the rumors were true.
    • “This recent conduct is consistent with the way that Mrs. Salinas and the other managers have dealt with plaintiff since the inception of his involvement with Impact Ventures.” When you consider that Corgan’s investment/loan/whatever you want to call it was not the beginning of his interactions with TNA, that’s a very interesting statement. If he was that distrustful of Carter and Broadhead, why was he so willing to front TNA money?

    There will be a hearing tomorrow (Wednesday) to determine if Corgan’s temporary restraining order against TNA (keeping Carter from selling more stakes in the company, or selling the video library, or making any other business moves) will be converted to an injunction. That the judge granted the restraining order is a good sign for Corgan because it shows a strong belief that he will prevail at trial.

    Again, thanks to Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet for contributing to this report.

  • Report: WWE ‘Not Happy’ That Value of Indie Shows ‘Skyrocketed’ Thanks To FloSlam

    On Monday, as word leaked about the FloSlam announcement and after FloSports officially announced the launch of said new streaming service, Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer was fielding questions about the story on his website’s subscribers-only message board. As sometimes happens, he broke a bit of news in the forum discussion, and these are the key takeaways:

    • Pro Wrestling Guerrilla refused to even talk to Flo and “turned them down flat without a conversation.” (PWG is one of the few promotions that still does strong DVD sales, and not doing streaming allows them more flexibility in matchmaking, like booking Evolve and ROH wrestlers in the same matches)
    • WWE is a silent partner in FloSports with “zero influence” per the deal the company agreed to when signing on as an investor.
    • “WWE is not happy that the price value has just skyrocketed (and that word is not exaggerated) if they want to get into the indie content game, and they obviously did based on their surveys.”

    Analysis: It appears that WWE had no idea that this was coming, which is fascinating because there had been whispers about this for months. It had even come up publicly on the forum for the popular Voices of Wrestling podcast, where noted Twitter troublemaker/news breaker “rovert” brought it up a few weeks ago:

    If WWE didn’t know and has no direct involvement, then that also means that the company didn’t steer WWN/Evolve towards Flo, which you might think at first glance. Until WWE put out that survey about indie wrestling on a new tier of WWE Network, it there was no real buzz about WWE doing it themselves on the Network, so Flo most likely didn’t know about those plans, either. That’s not nearly as strange as WWE not knowing, though.

    It’s a very good time to be an indie promoter with buzz right now, even if the underlying politics of any potential bidding war are very strange, to say the least.

  • Evolve/WWN Announces Subscription Streaming Deal With FloSports’ ‘FloSlam’ Service

    FloSports and WWN Live issued the following press release late Monday afternoon:

    FloSports Announces Five-Year Agreement With WWNLive To Live Stream All Events on FloSlam.tv

    Exclusive Worldwide Partnership Includes EVOLVE, SHINE, Full Impact Pro, and WWN Supershow

    Austin, TX (Oct. 24, 2016) – FloSports today announced a five-year partnership with World Wrestling Network Live (WWNLive) to make FloSlam.tv the exclusive worldwide streaming partner of all WWNLive properties, including EVOLVE, SHINE, Full Impact Pro and WWN Supershow.

    The agreement begins Friday, Nov. 4, with live coverage of SHINE 38 from Ybor City, Fla. There will be live coverage of approximately 60 events annually on FloSlam as part of this deal.

    “We’re excited to serve die-hard pro wrestling fans with live streams of some of the best independent promotions in the world,” FloSports co-founder and CEO Martin Floreani said. “This is a groundbreaking agreement that will take WWNLive to new heights.”

    In addition to live coverage and replays of all future WWNLive promotions, FloSlam will host archives from all WWNLive events dating back to 2003 and will produce a series of original documentaries focusing on the lives and stories of the athletes who compete in pro wrestling events across the world.

    “Everyone at WWN is excited to be partnering with such an innovative and groundbreaking company like FloSports,” said Sal Hamaoui, President of WWN, Inc. “I recently had the opportunity to meet and speak with their senior management and take a firsthand look at their operations in Austin, Texas. To say that I was impressed with the overall knowledge of their team, the quality of their live streams and their user-friendly platforms would be an understatement. This relationship will allow us to continue to serve and expand our loyal, passionate fan base who will have access to all WWN-branded events at a very affordable monthly or annual price.”

    Top independent pro wrestling stars including Timothy Thatcher, Matt Riddle, Zack Sabre Jr., Tony Nese, and Drew Gulak will be featured in upcoming events.

    FloSlam users can access all live streams and premium content on the site via monthly ($20/month introductory price) or annual ($150/year) FloPRO subscription. Annual subscribers to FloSlam receive a universal pass to all premium content across the FloSports network, including FloWrestling, FloGrappling, FloCombat, FloKO and others.

    In addition, FloSlam content is available on all screens now with the recent launch of the FloSports’ Roku and Apple TV apps.

    Analysis: If you’re already buying two or more WWN-branded shows a month, then you’re spending what the FloSlam new service costs. And if you’re a fan of any of Flo’s other programming, then the annual subscription to FloPRO gets you those, too. As for the value proposition, it’s an improvement over WWN’s current model, especially in light of this tweet from Evolve’s Gabe Sapolsky:

    https://twitter.com/BookItGabe/status/790663745903165440

    Obviously, if FloSlam adds more promotions, that becomes an even better value.

    As for the hype for the announcement from PWTorch’s Wade Keller on both Twitter and his website, it appears that it’s based around the type of money Flo is willing to spend on shows. If it really is substantial enough to be a game changer, then you can understand the hype, since it changes the business model for “buzz-worthy” indies.

    Also, we have to keep in mind that  WWE was part of the group that invested in Flo Sports recently. While it appears that they have no direct involvement with decision making (after all, this competes with the planned new WWE Network tier), it’s still interesting that Flo’s first signing is a promotion that WWE has close ties to.

  • New Details on Chris Jericho’s Next Book Have Been Released

    New Details on Chris Jericho’s Next Book Have Been Released

    Da Capo Press, the publisher of Chris Jericho’s next book, “No Is a Four-Letter Word: How I Failed Spelling But Succeeded in Life,” has released this blurb about the title to various media outlets and via Google Books:

    Six-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion and renaissance man Chris Jericho explains his secrets to success in his trademark writing styleridiculous stories, hilarious referencesshowing how a small-town Canadian kid made his seemingly impossible dreams come true, against all odds.

    Organized around 22 principles, “No Is a Four-Letter Word” outlines Jericho’s guidelines to achieving your dreams and making it to the top, explaining how his encounters with legendary musicians, actors, and wrestlers influenced each principle. Whether it’s learning how to make any situation work to his benefit, spending money to make money, understanding to always sell himself, or letting go of losing the gig of a lifetime, Jericho takes you with him on his journey up success’s ladder and shows you how to apply these principles to your own life.”

    As you can see, this is a self-help book and not the latest in his series of autobiographies. It’s listed as 224 pages with a release date of Feb 7, 2017, though it’s not available for pre-order as of this writing.

  • WCPW to Make American Debut on WrestleMania Weekend in Orlando

    WCPW to Make American Debut on WrestleMania Weekend in Orlando

    There’s a new promotion in the WrestleMania weekend indie show mix, and it’s a surprising one. WhatCulture Pro Wrestling, the new UK-based promotion, announced on Monday that it will be running a show in Orlando on the afternoon of April 1st.

    That’s the day before WrestleMania 33, and if past years are any indication, WCPW will likely be running shows opposite WrestleCon, WWE Fan Axxess, Shimmer, possibly Evolve, and probably various local promotions. Announce so far are Joseph Conners, Joe Hendry, Martin Kirby, El Ligero, Grado, Primate, Drake and “Many more yet to be confirmed!” In other words, WCPW’s core wrestlers are committed but not any outside talent as of yet.

    WCPW got a lot of attention for an internet pay-per-view a few weeks back that included very expensive fly-ins like Minoru Suzuki, Kurt Angle, Bret Hart as a surprise, and the commentary team of Jim Ross (during college football season, no less) and Jim Cornette (who never flies except for offers he can’t refuse). The response was mixed, in large part due to streaming issues on the WCPW side (FITE TV’s stream was unaffected).

    Analysis: WrestleMania weekend is already a crowded space, to the point that this only makes sense if a lot oft he costs (staff flying in for WrestleMania weekend, the wrestlers working other shows and having promoters split the costs of flights, etc) are already taken care of in large part. Maybe this will have a unique appeal to the throng of British fans in town, but they also could decide they’d rather see different wrestling if they’re traveling abroad.

  • John Cena Makes a Very Adult Joke To Answer a Kid at Phoenix Fan Fest Q&A

    John Cena Makes a Very Adult Joke To Answer a Kid at Phoenix Fan Fest Q&A

    On Saturday, John Cena, Daniel Bryan, and The Bella Twins did a question and answer session at the Phoenix Fan Fest, a young fan asked Cena what his favorite food was. Then this happened:

    https://twitter.com/mannixxbella/status/790230538292436992

    Cena decided to get a bit bawdy for the occasion:

    Cena: “What’s my favorite food? Umm…well, if I were to have Nicole stand up this time, I couldn’t show you.”

    [Everyone laughs]

    Cena: “You’re gonna get that in a few years. I’m kidding, totally kidding.”

    Brie: “Bryan would have said that, too, right?”

    Bryan: “I would have said the same thing.”

    [Cena drops the mic]

    Nikki: “He loves steak and vegetables.”

    Cena: “Thank you. That is the right answer. Oh man, I’m an idiot. Thank you, guys, for dealing with me, I appreciate it.”

    Well, that was different. For more of that rowdiness, tune into new episodes of “Total Bellas” on E! every Wednesday night.

  • Vince McMahon Tweets That Women’s Title Match Is Hell In a Cell Main Event…Sort Of

    Vince McMahon Tweets That Women’s Title Match Is Hell In a Cell Main Event…Sort Of

    Vince McMahon tweeted this late Sunday morning:

     

    That wording is likely to fuel plenty of speculation. With all of the conversation about whether or not the first women’s Hell in a Cell match will close the eponymous pay-per-view event, this tweet, giving it the same weight as the other Cell matches on the show, isn’t exactly clear. There’s clearly a lot of interest in the Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte, more so than the other Hell in a Cell matches. The argument is there that this is the bout most deserving of a headline slot since the women’s division was overhauled.

    Even if you want to look at this pessimistically, with some fans seeing it as a lame duck show since promotion for the dual brand Survivor Series has already started, there isn’t much “harm” that Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte in the “real main event” slot could do. This will likely continue to be a hot topic among wrestling fans in the remaining seven days until the pay-per-view.

  • Unsealed Billy Corgan Lawsuit Documents Shed Light On Why He’s Suing TNA

    Unsealed Billy Corgan Lawsuit Documents Shed Light On Why He’s Suing TNA

    https://youtu.be/p_tKRMoMkk0

    This afternoon, Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle of Nashville Chancery Court officially unsealed most of the filings in Billy Corgan’s lawsuit against TNA parent company Impact Ventures LLC. The only documents still hidden from public view are the initial complaint and the memorandum that Corgan filed to get a temporary restraining order against TNA. Those will be re-filed publicly on Wednesday (October 26th) with certain sections redacted, but everything else was made public today.

    Of what came out today, two filings are especially noteworthy:

    The restraining order is about what you’d expect: It stops TNA from “taking any action without the consent of” Corgan (like signing new contracts), as well as selling the company, its videotape library, other assets, etc. On Wednesday, there will be a hearing to determine if Corgan will get a injunction to replace the temporary restraining order.

    The motion to compel discovery (or rather, the responses to previous requests attached as exhibits) is where we get the most information about the lawsuit so far. Based on the questions that Corgan asked of both Dixie Carter and Impact Ventures, as well as how they were answered, this is what appears to be going on:

    • Corgan and TNA (for the purposes of this article, TNA = all of the defendants unless otherwise noted), entered into an “equity pledge agreement.” The date of the agreement was possibly August 11th, as TNA claims to have not been insolvent since then . That was also 11 days before TNA’s debt to Anthem Sports and Entertainment was filed with the state of Tennessee.
    • If TNA defaulted/became insolvent, Corgan would be able to take over the voting rights to Dixie Carter’s shares. From there, Corgan could then “remove the managers of Impact Ventures and replace them with designees of [his] choosing,” as he would, for all intents and purposes, be the majority owner. This likely explains why Corgan loaned money personally to Dixie Carter, and, really, this was the only way that move made sense.
    • On September 29th, the Thursday before Bound For Glory, Corgan notified TNA that he was exercising his rights under the agreement because there had been “multiple events of default under the equity pledge agreement.” This was two days after Audience of One Productions sued TNA, which makes you wonder of the former tipped Corgan off. It was also the same day as Corgan’s cryptic interview on The Dan Le Batard Show, which is embedded at the top of this article. One day later, TNA’s debt to MCC Accquisitions (sister company to Anthem/Fight Network) was filed with the state of Tennessee.
    • TNA denied being insolvent, saying that “The term ‘insolvent’ is not defined in the Pledge Agreement. Under Tennessee law, an entity is insolvent only if the sum of the debtor’s debts is greater than all of the debtor’s assets, at a fair valuation. Impact Ventures’ assets are of greater value than its debt, […] There has also not been an Event of Default as that term is used in the Pledge Agreement.”
    • TNA objected to a request for all documents showing the company’s inability to pay any debts in full, “because it theoretically seeks all correspondence, financial documents, vendor invoices/statements, and other documents concerning any instance in which Impact Ventures may have been late and/or obtained an extension with regard to paying a debt in full, and any such documents are not maintained in a manner that would enable Impact Ventures to readily obtain such information[.]”

    It would seem that, once TNA denied being insolvent and refused to let Corgan take over, he started preparing for the lawsuit. This ostensibly included filing Carter’s debt with the state of Tennessee on October 11th, the day before he sued. Since Carter/TNA said in sworn statements that TNA is not insolvent in spite of mounting evidence otherwise, and it would be wrong to assume that anyone is committing perjury, there’s only one logical explanation as to how that could be truthful. That would be that TNA valuing the company’s most subtantial asset, the video library, at more than Corgan thinks it’s worth.

    Based on what WWE normally pays, the library is worth about $1 million, but TNA is more than $4 million in debt based on public records, which don’t include their debts to Corgan, the state of Tennessee, or any staff/performers. When you factor in that Dave Meltzer has reported that Anthem owns at least part of the video library know, it makes you wonder if they made a deal where TNA can point to a valuation of the collection at much more than $1 million. Otherwise, it doesn’t really track how TNA could not be considered insolvent right now.

    Also: For what it’s worth, TNA’s income from its TV deals with Challenge TV in the U.K. and Sony Six in India would be classified as receivables and not assets.

    Some other notes from the filings:

    • For the record, TNA Entertainment LLC (TNA’s old parent company) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Impact Ventures LLC (TNA’s current parent company).
    • For most, if not all of the documents Corgan asked Carter and TNA to produce, it was alleged that he already had access to them. This includes TNA’s communications with WWE in 2016. Before he filed the lawsuit, Corgan was cryptic about how he didn’t know about any such deal even though he should, so TNA’s position is interesting, to say the least.

    There’s clearly a lot more to this that we still don’t know. Depending on what exactly is redacted from what is released on Wednesday, we may learn a lot more.

  • Bruce Prichard Claims TNA Got Him in Trouble with the IRS Over Unpaid Taxes

    Bruce Prichard Claims TNA Got Him in Trouble with the IRS Over Unpaid Taxes

    This week’s edition of “Something to Wrestling With,” Bruce Prichard’s podcast on the MLW network, went up today, and the topic is Prichard’s time in TNA.  Late in the show, at the 2:37:30 mark, there’s a VERY interesting exchange between Prichard and co-host Conrad Thompson (they’re overlapping slightly at times, so I’ve removed any small interjections that didn’t go anywhere):

    Conrad: “Do they owe you any money?”

    Bruce: “[sighs] You know, they did something that was really bad. I had some financial issues, and they were supposed to pay to the government, and so on and so forth, and they didn’t do it. They garnished things from my check…”

    Conrad: “Your withholdings from the federal government…”

    Bruce: “Right. ”

    Conrad: “That TNA kept, that weren’t included in your checks, but then they didn’t actually pay the government.”

    Bruce: “Correct. Then the government came after me for [not] paying them.”

    Conrad: “So they stole your money. How much money did they steal from you?”

    Bruce: “Oh, that was about…it was only about $10,000.”

    Conrad: “Still…”

    Bruce: “But still, the arrogance…”

    Conrad: “And you never got it.”

    Bruce: “Well, it wasn’t coming to me, but the government finally got it. Because it was the government coming after me for the money.”

    Conrad: “And you showed them proof…”

    Bruce: “I show them proof! ‘Here’s where they took it…’”

    Conrad: “‘I did my part.’”

    Bruce: “So, I don’t know, ’cause I never heard the end of it, other than the government was satisfied. And…it was just those kind of little petty things that didn’t have to happen, that made you kind of feel dirty at the end.”

    With everything that has come out about TNA as of late, it’s a very interesting allegation. Especially since, as we first reported a week ago, the state of Tennessee has a lien on TNA’s assets for unpaid business taxes. We’ve reached out to TNA for comment on Prichard’s allegations, and will update you if we hear back from them.

    Thanks to Ben Straughn for the tip on this story.

    [Photo: Screen Grab from Title Match Wrestling on YouTube]

  • Balls Mahoney and Axl Rotten Diagnosed with CTE in Postmortem Examination

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWiEvGzUhD8

    Late Thursday night, The Boston Globe broke the news that for the first time since 2009, deceased professional wrestlers have been diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in a post-mortem examination. According to the article, both John “Balls Mahoney” Rechner and Brian “Axl Rotten” Knighton were suffering from the degenerative neurological condition at the time of their deaths, though it was in the “early stages” in Knighton’s brain. MMA fighter Jordan Parsons, who recently died in a car accident, was also diagnosed as having CTE.

    CTE is the modern name for the former dementia pugilistica, a specific type of brain damage caused by repeated blows to the head. Initially discovered in football player Mike Webster, the issue began to get significantly more attention when Chris Benoit was diagnosed with CTE a few months after his suicide. Later, in 2009, Andrew “Test” Martin was diagnosed with CTE after his passing, but no pro wrestler had been diagnosed with it since then. Rechner and (to a lesser extent) Knighton were both known for taking incredibly hard chair shots to the head.

    Dr. Julia K. Kofler, a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian neuropathologist, made the diagnosis, which was communicated to the Globe by Dr. Bennet Omalu, who verified the results. Omalu did the examinations of Benoit and Martin, which WWE has refused to accept the results of in the past due to missing chain of custody records, which would have documented the provenance of the samples as being from Benoit. WWE refused to comment on the new findings pending its own review of the research.

    WWE also intimated that Konstantine Kyros, the plaintiffs’ lawyer in the “concussion” lawsuits against the company, pushed the story on the Globe to distract from court motions it filed this week asking for him to be sanctioned for misconduct. Kyros denied this when reached for comment.

  • The Fight Network’s Parent Company Confirms ‘Working Capital Loan’ to TNA

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXDHtaBVnuw

    The Fight Network has issued the following statement:

    Toronto – Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp. (“Anthem”), the parent company of Fight Network, today confirmed that it recently made a working capital loan to fund the operations of TNA Impact Wrestling. Fight Network is a licensee of TNA programming for broadcast in the U.S., Canada and other international markets, and is also the exclusive licensee of TNA for streaming Internet-delivered TV.

    Fight Network has also offered to provide TNA Impact Wrestling with funding to repay the loans made by Mr. Billy Corgan and is positioned to provide additional transitional assistance to the company.

    “TNA is a strong property for Fight Network and as a licensee and global distribution partner we have a keen interest in seeing the company not only survive but continue to grow and thrive, alongside our own growth,” said Leonard Asper, CEO of Anthem. “We are hopeful that the company can soon get back to doing what it does best, which is to produce great wrestling content.”

    Note that this only takes care of the debt to Corgan and not TNA’s debts to Aroluxe Media, Audience of One Productions, American Express, The Navarre Corporation, etc. But it’s a life raft that will presumably lead to the resolution of Corgan’s lawsuit.

  • Breaking: Fight Network Offers To Pay Off Billy Corgan’s Loans to TNA; Hearing Delayed

    Breaking: Fight Network Offers To Pay Off Billy Corgan’s Loans to TNA; Hearing Delayed

    The Live Audio Wrestling Twitter account, which is run by John Pollock and part of the Fight Network family, tweeted the following on Wednesday afternoon:

    The first tweet alludes to the Davidson County Chancery Court website reflecting a delay in Billy Corgan’s lawsuit against TNA. The first hearing in the case, originally set for tomorrow (Thursday/October 20th), has been rescheduled for next Wednesday, October 26th. The temporary restraining order that Corgan got against TNA last week will be reevaluated at that hearing, and the judge will hear his request for a temporary injunction. With the lawsuit sealed, it’s still unclear what specifically he’s trying to stop.

    The second tweet refers to Anthem Sports and Entertainment, The Fight Network’s parent company, who funded the last two sets of TNA both directly and then indirectly through sister company MCC Acquisitions. It appears that Anthem is about to officially announce that it is funding TNA to offset the debts to Corgan. As we’ve reported previously, the state of Tennessee only has a record of Dixie Carter being indebted to Corgan personally, and it’s not yet known if that complicates this deal at all.

    More on this as it develops.

  • Update On American Express Non-Payment Lawsuit and Other TNA Debts

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-NoWRta00s

    In a follow-up to the earlier post on American Express’s lawsuit against TNA for defaulting on their corporate account, I noticed something off when taking took a second look at both the complaint and the proof of service of the complaint. The lawsuit was served at TNA’s old office at Cummins Station in Nashville, which the company had been evicted from over three months earlier. Note that on the proof of service, the process server had to include a handwritten note indicating that the receptionist said that she could not sign for anything; this makes more sense when you realize that she wasn’t TNA’s receptionist.

    It’s unclear at this time if TNA has actually been served with a copy of the lawsuit. When Audience of One Productions sued the company in September, they served TNA’s registered agent in Chattanooga, who isn’t going anywhere. However, like American Express, the Davidson County Court in Nashville has not done the level of research that Audience of One did, as they confirmed to me today that TNA still owes $250 in court costs due to an invalid address. This stems from their lawsuit against Scott Steiner, which was dismissed earlier this year. The cost bill was sent on April 4th, right around the time of the eviction.

    As for the American Express lawsuit, multiple sources familiar with the situation have provided additional details as to how TNA has been dealing with that. Apparently, when TNA’s corporate credit card used for travel was cut off, at least one member of TNA management started charging those expenses to a personal card.  This is a dangerous precedent to set, to say the least.

  • TNA Sued For Defaulting On American Express Bill

    TNA Sued For Defaulting On American Express Bill

    Ever since Billy Corgan filed a lawsuit against TNA last week, we’ve found numerous public records of the company’s debt, and it’s bad enough that it looks like the promotion is limping towards filing bankruptcy. Today, we were tipped off to and able confirm another debt owed by TNA, one bad enough that the creditor sued TNA.

    On July 21st, American Express Travel Related Services Company sued TNA Entertainment, LLC in New York County Supreme Court in New York (New York County = New York, NY = the borough of Manhattan). TNA was served with the lawsuit (case number 653846/2016 in the New York State Unified Court System) on August 8th.

    In the complaint, American Express alleges that TNA defaulted on their account to the tune of $269,049.50. There are very few details other than that, like how long TNA was delinquent on payments, but clearly, it was long enough for American Express to decide it were never getting paid and take legal action.

    The only other real information in there is that it was an American Express Corporate Card (which is no surprise), and that, based on the division of American Express suing TNA, it was likely earmarked specifically for travel expenses.

  • Report: TNA ‘Probably’ To File Bankruptcy Soon; What Does It Actually Mean?

    Report: TNA ‘Probably’ To File Bankruptcy Soon; What Does It Actually Mean?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYxqY3Lh0uk

    Today’s TNA business story comes from something that Dave Meltzer mentioned last night on Wrestling Observer Radio: “They’re probably gonna end up filing for bankruptcy. And then what happens? I don’t know.” After recapping the situation, he also added that “Dixie is still trying to figure out a way to — this is why it hasn’t been sold — to…I don’t know if it’s to stay in control, but the whole thing is she doesn’t want to look bad publicly.” Which is a ship that may have sailed.

    First things first, let’s clear up some confusion that’s come up whenever this topic is broached: Does this mean they’re going out of business? No, not inherently.

    There are two types of bankruptcy, Chapter 7 and Chapter 11. Chapter 7 is the type that the average person associates with bankruptcy, which is liquidation and pretty much guarantees the end of the company. Chapter 11 is restructuring, and allows a chance for the company to continue operating while settling the debts. For example, when HHG, ECW’s parent company, filed bankruptcy in 2001, it was Chapter 11, but was eventually converted to Chapter 7 for reason that should be obvious. TNA could theoretically file Chapter 11 and come out of this running shows.

    With that out if the way, if TNA filed bankruptcy, who would they put down as creditors (the people/companies that it owes money)? Based on what we know, the list would include:

    • Audience of One Productions, the production company suing TNA for about a quarter of a million dollars in unpaid fees and interest.
    • Aroluxe Media, the production company that replaced Audience of One and has put money into the company yo keep it going.
    • Anthem Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of The Fight Network, which airs TNA in Canada, as well as MCC Acquisitions, which is believed to be a shell company related to Anthem. MCC is the company that paid for the last round of TV tapings.
    • The state of Tennessee, which has a lien on TNA for unpaid taxes.
    • Various wrestlers who have not been paid or not paid in full, including Trent Barreta, who tweeted that the company refuses to reissue a check that he waited too long to cash.

    You may have noticed that Billy Corgan is not listed above: That’s because, as we reported last week, while the debts to Aroluxe and Fight Network/Anthem/MCC are on file with the Tennessee Secretary of State, there is no such debt to Corgan. Instead, Dixie Carter is listed as owing him money personally, and that was filed with Tennessee the day before he filed his lawsuit. If that means that TNA has no debt to Corgan, then he’s in trouble if TNA files bankruptcy and Carter doesn’t.

    https://youtu.be/izzV-Wcwlew

    There’s another debt, filed with the state of Delaware, listed in public record databases that we hadn’t mentioned yet. It shows TNA (through previous parent company TNA Entertainment,t not the current Impact Ventures) owing money to Navarre Corporation, their DVD distributor, since 2005. Starting in 2008, Navarre went through both a merger and a subsequent acquisition, and the debt listing itself has not been updated since 2010.

    If TNA does file bankruptcy, then the secured creditors (those that TNA offered up collateral to and would have a lien on said collateral) will be first in line to collect. This would leave the wrestlers, Audience of One, and potentially Corgan (who looks like he has a secured claim, just with Dixie Carter and not the company) unlikely to collect. It also means that if The Fight Network wants the tape library (and it’s been reported that they may even have a portion already), they’d be in better position to get it than WWE. It’s long been believed that this is why WWE loaned ECW $587,500 in 2000, to get priority on the tape library and other intellectual property. However, that was a non-secured debt.

    What does this mean for Corgan? We may find out Thursday if his lawsuit filings are unsealed by the court as has been rumored. Based on what we know now, though, he may have to hope that Dixie Carter files personal bankruptcy like Paul Heyman eventually did. Otherwise, his only recourse may be through his mysterious lawsuit.

  • WWE Claims 19 of 50+ Wrestlers in Concussion Lawsuit Signed Away Right to Sue

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TxBv2lQU08

    Earlier today, WWE filed various motions in the consolidated lawsuits that deal with both claims related to WWE’s treatment of brain injuries as well as the alleged illegality of the company’s contracts. One of the exhibits was something that WWE sent the plaintiffs back in August, which is proof that a whopping 19 of the over 50 wrestlers pursuing the lawsuit signed away their right to sue. Previously, when Rene Dupree tried suing over WWE Network royalties. a similar conflict came up. Those who WWE claims signed away their right to sue are:

    • Jazz (Carlene Moore-Begnaud), stemming from her signing a contract on January 18, 2007 that entitled her to a $13,000 advance on royalties.
    • Rodney Mack (Rodney Begnaud), Jazz’s husband, who signed an identical contract on the same date.
    • Henry Godwin (Mark Canterbury), who signed on June 15th of this year “from any and all personal injury claims, now known or later discovered, arising out of or related to [his] past affiliation with, or performances rendered to, WWE.”
    • Adam Bomb/Bryan Clark (Bryan Emmett Clark, Jr.), who signed a contract that, effective January 9, 1996, released WWE (then Titan Sports) from any future claims, after he was cut by the promotion.
    • Mohammad Hassan (Marc Copani), who signed a similar contract to Clark effective September 20, 2005 when he was released.
    • Blake Beverly (Mike Enos), in what appears to be a similar situation to Clark and Copani when he signed a contract as part of his release effective September 9, 1993.
    • Demolition Ax (Bill Eadie), who, “with the knowledge, advice, and consent of his legal counsel,” signed a settlement agreement on May 25, 2001. Eadie had been engaged in a lawsuit against WWE (then WWFE) for almost a decade over, among other things, the rights to the Demolition gimmick.
    • Mantaur (Michael Halac) released what was then Titan Sports from future claims as part of signing a contract that released WWE/Titan from future claims when he was let go on July 24, 1997.
    • Boris Zhukov (then James Harrell) signed away future claims in a similar situation on February 28, 1991.
    • Kamala (James Harris) did the same on September 9, 1993.
    • Marty Jannetty signed contracts dated both February 9, 1993 and September 15, 1995, that taken together, released WWE (then Titan Sports) from future claims.
    • Mark Jindrak appears to be in similar straits to most of the above wrestlers, with his release of WWE effective July 12, 2005.
    • Black Bart (Rick Jones) released WWE from their claims in a contract dated January 11, 1991.
    • Road Warrior Animal (Joseph Laurinaitis) released WWE from future claims via a contract dated June 6, 2006 related to him being cut.
    • Shane Douglas (Troy Martin) was in a similar situation effective December 19, 1995.
    • Ahmed Johnson (Anthony Norris) also has a release of WWE tied to his March 6, 1998 termination.
    • Jimmy Snuka (James W. Snuka-Reiher) released Titan/WWE on  November 15, 1991.
    • The Warlord (Terry Szopinski) released Titan/WWE on May 18, 1992 after he was cut, and signed another contract (possibly a legend/nostalgia deal) on January 8th of this year that did so as well.
    • The Berzerker (John Nord) released WWE from claims in another possible nostalgia contract dated January 15th of this year.

    This development is unlikely to sit well with Judge Vanessa Bryant, who is presiding over the combined cases. She’s had less and less patience with the plaintiffs and their lawyers as of late.

  • Lawyer For Alberto El Patron’s Estranged Wife Sends A Warning To Paige

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNs3ZL1iuYc

    Not only has Paige’s father, Ricky Knight, come out against her engagement to Alberto El Patron, but unsurprisingly, Raymond Rafool, the divorce lawyer for Alberto’s wife, has as well. On Monday, Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet if asked Rafool the divorce has been finalized yet, to which he said “They are far from it at this stage.” In other words, they’re still legally married. Alberto’s wife alleges that he started his relationship with Paige before they separated.

    Rafool made sure to add that “Of course, Paige should watch carefully how Alberto is denying and treating his current wife and the mother of his children in this divorce.  History repeats itself.”

    Previously, Rafool was the lawyer for Linda Bollea in her divorce from Hulk Hogan, eventually netting her an incredibly generous and lopsided settlement that gave her a significant percentage of the gross (not the profits) of Hulk’s businesses.

  • Exclusive: Tennessee Strikes Back At TNA to Collect Unpaid Taxes

    Exclusive: Tennessee Strikes Back At TNA to Collect Unpaid Taxes

    TNA’s financial issues are even more dire than previously thought, as unlikely as that may sound. We already knew that there are multiple lawsuits pending, a restraining order believed to be designed to stop the company from selling shares again, a dispute over music rights, and debt owed to various entities who funded the recent tapings. Yet there is still plenty of room for more.

    On Friday morning, I confirmed with the Davidson County Register of Deeds that the State of Tennessee issued a tax lien against TNA Entertainment LLC about five weeks ago on September 8th. While the listing for the lien in some online databases has the debt recorded as “$0,” that is because some public record search companies misread the Register of Deeds not recording the amount of the lien.

    TNA lien screenshot 09-08-16

    Essentially, what this means is that TNA owes a lot of taxes to the state of Tennessee, to the point that the state now has the right to seize TNA property if the debt is not repaid. While the wrestling company is now operating under the newer Impact Ventures LLC company that was formed this year, Tennessee tax law covers successor companies. If someone actually buys the company, potential scenarios include TNA/majority owner Dixie Carter having to take a lower sale price so as to pay off the lien, or the new owners risking the scenario where Tennessee goes after them for the tax liability.

    It’s up to the state whether or not to assert its rights and start seizing assets from TNA. While the restructuring as Impact Ventures LLC increases the distance from the original debt and thus requires more work by the state to collect, it can still do so. Tennessee would just have to assess a lien against Impact Ventures and, if it got that far, a buyer as well. However, the state cannot go after a successor for more than the purchase price.

  • Exclusive: Who Funded TNA’s Latest Tapings, Dixie Owes Corgan Money

    Exclusive: Who Funded TNA’s Latest Tapings, Dixie Owes Corgan Money

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mQkNSXF37c

    In the new lawsuit filed by Audience of One Productions against TNA, there’s a note about how the debt that TNA (technically the Impact Ventures parent company) owes Aroluxe Media is on file with the Tennessee Secretary of State. If you look up Impact Ventures in the relevant database, you get three debts registered by the company:

    It’s been difficult to find any information on MCC Acquisition Corp, but everything else at their address (171 East Liberty Street, Suite 230 in Toronto) is related to Anthem/The Fight Network in some form. There are a couple companies involved that “MCC” could stand for, though it could just be a new shell created for this transaction.  Why the latest round of funding wouldn’t have gone through Anthem again is unclear, and if it was for secrecy, they didn’t do the best job of covering their tracks.

    However, this gets a LOT more interesting.

    When you search for Dixie Carter (who is legally Dixie Carter Salinas, her married name), you get this, which was filed Tuesday morning (October 11th):

    Record of Dixie Carter owing Billy Corgan money.

    Yes, as of Tuesday, Dixie Carter officially owes Billy Corgan money personally.

    The address given for Corgan appears to be that of the offices of Smashing Pumpkins Machine, his company. A day later, on Wednesday, as reported earlier today (Thursday), Corgan sued Impact Ventures, TNA Entertainment, TNA COO and CFO Dean Broadhead, Dixie Carter Salinas, and her husband Serg Salinas. Being that everything filed so far in the lawsuit is sealed from public view, we can’t be 100% sure what this is about yet, but the two issues sure look like they’re related.

    I have reached out to Dixie Carter’s known email addresses as well as TNA proper for comment, and will update this article if she replies.

    Kris Zellner also contributed to this report.

  • Understanding How Paige’s Painkiller Prescription Probably Violated WWE’s Wellness Policy

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rlpQle2Zvo

    One of the big news stories in pro wrestling so far this week is WWE suspending Paige (real name Saraya-Jade Bevis) for her second violation of their Talent Wellness Program just a few weeks after her previous 30 day suspension ended. Paige and her loved starting speaking openly about the suspension almost right away, with Paige tweeting (I’ve fixed her formatting for clarity’s sake) “Same shit different day.  Kids…Please don’t get prescriptions or doctors notes. Not acceptable.” and “Rules apply depending on your status.” Her boyfriend, Alberto El Patron/Alberto Del Rio, quickly chimed in to back up her story, with her father, Ricky Knight, and brothers, Zak and Roy, all posting on Facebook that she was flagged for doctor-prescribed painkillers.

    So, what makes this a violation? First, let’s reexamine the key section of what Zak wrote:

    She has gone private and went to a different Dr, who is amazing I’ll add. He gave her PRESCRIPTION pain killers to ease the pain that she’s in 24/7 and I have witnessed.

    They’ve not excepted [sic] this and this leads to yet another suspension.

    Nobody is disputing that Paige has a legitimate neck injury to the point where she may need narcotic/opiate painkillers to be functional. It’s been reported in the past (and was alluded to by Dave Meltzer on Monday night’s Wrestling Observer Radio for F4WOnline subscribers) that WWE prefers to have talent get painkiller prescriptions from the company doctors. Presumably, this also extends to any specialists that the company sends talent to. This way, WWE avoids the perils of talent going doctor shopping, as the performers’ use of dangerous and addictive drugs is being tracks by trusted physicians

    https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/785511161341046784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

    The implication of Zak Knight/Zak Bevis writing that Paige “has gone private” is that she got a second opinion from a doctor other than the one(s) that WWE sent her to. That means that they’re going to be more scrutinizing of prescriptions for banned substances. Still, the written policy has a procedure for requesting a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) to a banned drug, and there are no medications or classes of medications listed as ineligible for exemptions That said, according to the policy, it appears that the talent just needs to have the doctor provide a copy of the prescription if the drug is being taken for less than 60 days.

    If “the use of such prohibited drug is required for more than sixty (60) consecutive days,” that’s when the more formal TUE process must be undertaken. According to the policy, “A WWE Talent in need of a TUE must immediately notify, or cause his/her issuing physician to notify, the Medical Director of the existence of a prescription for a prohibited drug and the medical need for the TUE.” A TUE lasts one year, and “A urine sample which is found to contain a prohibited drug will not be deemed a positive test result if such sample was provided by a WWE Talent with a valid and effective TUE for that prohibited drug.”

    https://twitter.com/RealPaigeWWE/status/785511591353679873

    If a performer tests positive for a banned prescription drug and does not have a TUE, then they “may not challenge a determination that he/she violated the Policy by contending, in connection with a ‘no fault or negligence’ defense or otherwise, that he/she believed he/she would qualify or had qualified for a TUE.” In other words, don’t plead ignorance. In Paige’s case, it appears that she’s saying that whatever happened with her, which presumably involves a non-WWE doctor, was not substantively different from other cases where the talent was not deemed to be in violation.

    Also, specific to painkillers, “a test that confirms the presence of drug metabolite concentrations in excess of the levels expected when a drug prohibited by this Policy is being used consistent with the therapeutic management of pain will be treated as a positive test.” There’s no specific definition, numerically speaking, given in the policy. Since continuous use of narcotic painkillers can, even if taken as directed, lead to the patient building up a tolerance and requiring higher doses to get the same effect, this isn’t inherently a sign of abuse, but for the safety of the talent, it’s definitely cause for concern.

     

  • Jim Ross: ‘Very Reliable’ People Told Him WWE Is Buying TNA’s Video Library

    Jim Ross: ‘Very Reliable’ People Told Him WWE Is Buying TNA’s Video Library

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4e_MBIWOac

    On the latest episode of “The Ross Report,” Jim Ross’s podcast, he dropped the following rumor on the TNA sale situation:

    WWE is allegedly very close to buying the TNA library. Not the promotion, the TNA library. Obviously, with WWE Network, the TNA library could be a nice resource, a nice asset. Now, you know, TNA does have some talents I’m sure WWE would like to have down the road, but now I hear that WWE and TNA have had talks about buying the library and that a deal is imminent.

    Ross stressed that this was a “rumor” that had “not been verified” from people who are “normally very, very reliable.” Besides his general connections in wrestling, both on the talent and front office side, at one point, Ross was the point man for WWE’s acquisition of video libraries. If anyone outside the company would be well sourced on those acquisitions, it would make sense that it would be Ross.

    Of course, it does need to be pointed out that Dixie Carter said during a TNA talent meeting on Monday that while there had been talks with WWE about selling the library, she would not let a sale happen, so to speak. Being that she is still the majority owner, it’s unclear why said conversation would happen if Carter wouldn’t consider making a deal.

    Analysis: Of course, we need to take Ross’s caveats into account here. With regards to what Carter said, the only possible explanation that would allow us to take her at face value is if the she talked to WWE but balked when she realized they wouldn’t keep TNA going. Being that reportedly, WWE has been out and then back in at various points, that may not track.

    As for the specific rumor that Ross forwarded and how that fits in, it’s not the worst idea if Billy Corgan is looking to start fresh with a new name, image, etc. The back catalog won’t fit into that for the most part, and TNA can’t monetize it well anymore, so maybe selling the library to fund the sale/erase much of the debt.

    Update: Reporter Justin LaBar says Billy Corgan will be taking over as the company’s new majority owner and will probably rebrand, finally putting the letters “TNA” to rest.

  • Dixie Carter Addresses Rumors During Talent Meeting At TNA Tapings

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn13PwaRQ6s

    Both F4WOnline and PWInsider (NSFW ads) are reporting that the promised TNA talent meeting with Dixie Carter to address the rumors of the insolvency and potential sale of the company ended up taking place at Monday’s Impact tapings, a day later than originally expected. Dave Meltzer’s F4WOnline report classified the meeting as having little new information past Dixie Carter confirming that WWE had expressed interest in buying TNA for the tape library, only to add that she wouldn’t let that happen. She also made sure to say that WWE had not purchased the tape library (as in leaving TNA alive but without its archival content), either.

    PWInsider’s report had a bit more information, with these being the key notes:

    • With regards to Bound For Glory, while the report cites Carter as saying that the show “was never not going to happen,” it does use quotes to denote that she used the word “scrambled” to describe what TNA management had to do to make sure the show happened. Those sound self-contradictory barring something like Carter opting to pay for this week’s shows personally, like having to “scramble” when nobody else came through and the company itself couldn’t.
    • Carter was apparently surprised that there was so much concern about the company’s future, to the point that she apologized to the locker room.
    • She said that any late payments were a result of money that TNA was waiting on was also late in coming in. If true, this shows that the company that the company is operating hand to mouth without cash on hand to make payroll unless money owed comes in.
    • Carter is still the majority owner, but she said that the minority owners have been fighting for power, which meshes with what Billy Corgan has been saying.
    • Billy Corgan chose not to attend the meeting.