David Lagana talks rebranding, James Ellsworth, All In, Billy Corgan, and more
On the latest edition of “The Matt Riviera Show” podcast hosted by 3x NWA World Tag Team Champion & Reality TV star, “The LVR Boy” Matt Riviera, Matt welcomes to the show NWA Wrestling’s David Lagana. David is a former Writer/Producer for WWE, ROH, TNA Impact, & is currently the Vice President of Lightening One, working under Smashing Pumpkin’s lead singer & current owner of the NWA, Billy Corgan.
In this clip, David talks about Billy Corgan’s passion for pro wrestling, what drives him to want to be a successful promoter, & describes the challenges of rebuilding the NWA from it’s previous incarnation & transforming it into a viable wrestling promotion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAet_2ru0gQ
Other Topics Include:
Criticism for bringing James Ellsworth in to challenge Nick Aldis for the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Title: “800, 000 people watched the match on YouTube. It was 10 times the size of anything else we’ve done since we launched. And James was perfectly easy to deal with. He had no problem, agreed to everything, & we all saw the upside… Why would I turn down 800,000 people looking at something we’re doing?”
Working under Vince McMahon: He’s actually very simple & very complex at the same time… You would present an idea, he would have his feedback, you would counter it, and then after that if he didn’t like it, you move on. I would always be like rapid fire… it’s his company. That’s how he likes it to work.
Cody Rhodes & the Young Bucks investing their money into the “ALL IN” event in Chicago this coming September & attempting to draw 10,000 people: I think anything’s possible… if they think they can sell 10,000 tickets, now the work starts… I’ve offered my support… whatever we can do to help, we’re here to help, because, guess what. Selling 10,000 tickets in the wrestling business outside of WWE is good for everybody… I think there are people who’d be very happy that 400 people were in a ballroom somewhere & that was all that was the wrestling business. Because they don’t want 10,000 people to go to an independent show.
Matt and David also discuss how he came to work for WWE, the plans for “Broken” Matt Hardy to “Delete” the entire TNA Wrestling company, Tim Storm, Nick Aldis, the “10 Pounds of Gold” series, Stephanie McMahon, travelling with Dusty Rhodes, what it was like booking in WWE with Bruce Prichard, Michael Hayes, Paul Heyman, Pat Patterson, and so much more!!
Episode 19 of “The Matt Riviera Show” can be viewed my clicking here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlA5yz7otyQ
or by visiting The Matt Riviera Show channel on YouTube!!
Twitter: @MattRivieraShow
Facebook: facebook.com/MattRivieraShow
Email: mattrivierashow@yahoo.com
