Promoter Addresses Pushback Over WWE Stars Appearing On Independent Show

WWE

A promoter for a recent independent show has addressed receiving pushback online over the announcement of several WWE stars’ appearances.

Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport most recently took place on April 17, during WWE WrestleMania 41 week.

The GCW show saw a number of WWE stars take part in matches, something that has been a familiar trend in Bloodsport over the years.

Among the stars competing at Bloodsport XIII were Natalya, who revealed a more intense side to her character ahead of facing Miyu Yamashita.

The announcements of eight WWE stars competing did result in some pushback online, which Josh Barnett has now addressed.

Speaking to Good Karma Wrestling, Josh Barnett said:

“This is a wrestler’s show, which is so surprising when, you know, now I get a small amount of people pushing back, throwing a fit about WWE talent being on the show and this one having the most that we’ve had so far.

“For one, they were all upset that no one would cross-promote and the organizations wouldn’t work together which by the way, it wasn’t all due to just competitive, animus, or contrarian views.

“Everybody’s wrestler is a massive line item in the total value of a company and there’s a bunch of money put into every single person that goes under contract so to let me have someone that’s worth a million bucks or something come work on my show, uh, that’s a big ask, right? That’s a ton of trust.”

Barnett would open up about past conversations with WWE and not being able to secure stars for the GCW shows, stating:

“I never really faulted ‘em for not necessarily having wrestlers work Bloodsport. I’d actually been speaking to Hunter (Triple H) and (William) Regal for years, when Vince (McMahon) was still in, and you know, the answer would usually be, ‘You know, no. Not this time.’ It’s like, ‘No problem. But let me know if you change your mind.'”

As for the reaction to WWE stars, Barnett noting that he previously imported stars from NJPW with a view of ‘great matches’, explaining:

“But, they also don’t get upset and they seem to forget there was cards that there was a ton of New Japan talent on it… It isn’t about it being indie or working with this group or that group. It’s about me trying to put the wrestlers in the ring that I think would flourish and make great matches and that I’d wanna work with and that’s that…

“It is pretty cool to be able to bring people from all over because then, like I said, it’s access to these wrestlers that I wanna put in the ring, that I feel are gonna give every bit of value to this show and more so for the fans that are gonna watch.”

Pete Dunne made his Bloodsport debut in April, defeating Timothy Thatcher, on a show that featured the fourth appearance of Charlie Dempsey.

Shayna Baszler also returned to GCW Bloodsport for what would be her final match as a WWE star before her release on May 2.

Despite an abundance of WWE talent on the show, GCW Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XIII was main-evented by Barnett vs. NJPW star Gabe Kidd.

Transcript from Fightful.

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• bloodsport
• Josh Barnett
• GCW
• wwe

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