by Billy Corgan was recently was recently interviewed by Chris Van Vliet, where he talked about Cardona, AEW, Triple H and more.
When he was asked about giving Cardona his first major championship
“I didn’t really think about that way until it happened, and I heard him talking about it. In my mind he was a star, and I’m not a person who necessarily co-relates championships to stardom but obviously that usually the way it goes. There is no question that in his previous life before he became Matt Cardona, he was certainly undervalued, he was a guy who continually got over no matter what was put in front of him, I was certainly a fan and impressed by what he was able to do with seemingly not a lot and there have been people in fact I work with them. Aron Stevens comes to mind where they were in a particular situation and no matter what they were given they were able to get over because they’re super talented people.”
So it was not a question in my mind of putting a belt on Matt but having put the belt on Matt, I think what really distinguishes is not only has he done a great job, and not only has he brought a new audience to the NWA that maybe wouldn’t have necessarily been interested in the programming, but probably in his darkest hour with us when he was injured and here’s a pay-per-view named in his honour, he’s facing probably a five or six month rehab and the freak that he is, he’s already pretty much rehabbed in three and a half months or whatever it is. The day he has the surgery, he holds up the ten pounds of gold, cuts the promo and says, ‘I will be at the pay-per-view’ and he comes when he doesn’t have to come and I thanked him, I pulled him aside and said look I really have to thank you for what you did, he says, ‘It’s not a big deal, It’s you know sort of what I do, I’m here and I’m committed and I like being here’ that’s to me is why he is a champion. Yes, he is a champion because he’s a star, a draw, a champion, a top level professional wrestler but to me, he’s a champion because he is great person to work with, he represents the company on every level behind the scenes and in front of the camera and to the public. So even somebody yesterday asked me, ‘how did you feel, when he got hurt on somebody else’s show’ and I was like well that’s his life. I mean, I support that and by extension I support the other efforts of other independent companies including Game Changer, why would I don’t want Matt Cardona to be on the show and that I didn’t take the question wrong but It was weird to me because Matt Cardona is a independent professional wrestler in a era where he should be an independent professional wrestler and unless I’m willing to come in and you know break the bank to sign him to exclusive contract, he should go out and do exactly what’s best for him and Chelsea.”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet an h/t to WrestlingManiaFan.in for the transcription
