Billy Corgan opens up to GQ on wrestling

In GQ's September issue, on newsstands now, the magazine catches up with Smashing Pumpkins front man Billy Corgan.

The alt-rocker, whose celebrated album Siamese Dream came out twenty years ago, claims to have now found the lost rebellious spirit of rock 'n' roll in the most artificial of places: the wrestling ring.

Currently serving as "creative director" for an independent wrestling company in Chicago called Resistance Pro, Corgan opens up to GQ about his new calling, discusses the similarities between the wrestling and music industries, and brings GQ along for a blood-spattered, pile-driving Friday night.

Billy Corgan on the culture of wrestling, and its similarities with the music industry: The two industries share a similar "crassness," he says. Both are "flesh trades." But the wrestlers know the deal, and Corgan thinks there is something still unsullied about their world, especially at the level of Resistance Pro.

"Wrestling's one of the last true subcultures left in America," Corgan says. "Being off the radar gives it a certain funky credibility. That's why we can be a little more edgy—the unobserved part of it all."