An announcement about GCW’s streaming is going to be made by November 1st.
The future of where Game Changer Wrestling events will stream is going to be formally announced by November 1st. GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale returned to The Business of the Business podcast and shared that news.
Lauderdale is confident in this decision and said he would not make this move if it was not going to benefit GCW in the best way. He could not dive into specifics because he’s not allowed to but spoke about the process that led to this.
So first and foremost, there’s gonna be an announcement coming between now and November 1st, the future of GCW’s streaming and where you can watch and how you can watch GCW events. It’s gonna be an announcement that fans are going to be very happy about, it’s gonna be something that people have basically been asking for and it’s gonna be something that’s gonna make it a lot easier for GCW fans not to just watch GCW but to watch every show. So, I’m happy and excited to be able to make that announcement and to make GCW more accessible. I’m not gonna tell you what it is because I’m not allowed to until the announcement is made but I will tell you a little bit about the process because this has been an ongoing process for over a year now, and we’ve had so many options on the table. We’ve explored everything from following models that are already in place for individual streaming networks to creating our own from scratch and this includes I did have meetings with literal developers, multiple, in different places. Talking to people who have helped build networks for other companies outside of wrestling. Just hearing how they build these and put these togethers and hearing how much work and how much it actually costs to build these things which I learned they’re actually very expensive. It’s not as simple as, you know, just creating a website and uploading a file of a wrestling show. Actually, there’s a lot more that goes into it… we’ve looked at every option, we’ve weighed every option, we’ve looked at the numbers of everything on all those options and what those numbers would mean and what they could mean before coming to our conclusion and ultimately, I think the route we’re taking is the one that makes the most sense for us and will be the easiest transition for our fans. So, I am, again, I’m very excited for this and I think it’s great for the fans and I also think it’s great for GCW and if I was not sure this was gonna be great for GCW, I would not doing be doing it because this is a game changer in how people will view GCW and how it will be streamed and it’s a big difference in going from a literal every show is a pay-per-view model to what we’re gonna be doing so, without the circumstances in place, I wouldn’t be doing this and we’re very fortunate. This is a great opportunity for GCW and we’ll see. I’ll be able to talk more about it very soon and I’ll be happy to come talk about it once the announcement is made.
He would later go on to confirm that he was approached by those at Pluto TV about migrating GCW’s content onto their platform. Brett expressed that he felt it was not a good move.
It was explained to him that by GCW content being on Pluto TV, the promotion would make money off ads. Lauderdale added that they’ve protected the GCW library to this point with the intent of making it mean something.
There was people that approached me about putting our stuff on there [Pluto TV] and I remember them saying to me, ‘Well yeah, you’ll get money based on the ads’ and yeah, I just remember it not sounding like it made sense, at all, because I’m not about to start putting — we protected the integrity of our library this whole time with the intent of, you know, really making it worth something at some point. So yeah, just putting it out on something like Pluto or whatever where we’re gonna get paid, maybe or maybe if they sell some ad time just didn’t seem like a good idea for us.
There was a conversation held about Jon Moxley. Up until ‘Fight Club’ night one on October 8th, Moxley had been reigning as GCW World Champion since September 2021.
Lauderdale was asked to reflect on Moxley’s reign and is appreciative of what Moxley did for the promotion. He knew he was not going to be able to make every show due to his personal commitments and commitments to AEW. He added that Moxley’s contributions to GCW extend beyond the in-ring work.
Yeah, it was [a big run that Jon Moxley had with the GCW World Title] and one thing about Mox’s run, I know there were a lot of people that wished that he could have been at every show but, we have to be realistic here. This guy’s one of the top stars of a weekly television wrestling company and he’s not gonna be able to make every show. He has commitments, real-life commitments and professional commitments that extend beyond GCW. So, as I saw it, I loved him being champion for that entire time because it made him seem extra special every time he would come and every time he would have a match, put the title on the line. To me, it seemed like a bigger deal than had he been there every week or every show or once a month. But yes, it was also significant, obviously having for obvious reasons. He’s one of the biggest stars in the world so to see him wearing our title belt and wearing GCW sweatshirts on TV and doing crazy matches for us when he doesn’t have to do them, it’s obviously a big deal for GCW and it opens our eyes, it takes us beyond the indie wrestling bubble and introduces new fans to us that otherwise would never know what GCW is and furthermore, I mean when other wrestlers, AEW wrestlers or just top-name international talent or even just top indie wrestlers, when they see Moxley willing to come and do GCW, knowing that the guy doesn’t need the money, it’s not about a payday. When they see that he does it because he wants to be there, obviously it helps GCW’s credibility, it helps our reputation amongst wrestlers and [personalities] inside the business so, Mox, again, his contributions to GCW also extended beyond the ring.
When it comes to Moxley’s future now that he’s reached a new long-term agreement with AEW that comes with an increased backstage role, Lauderdale understands that he may not be around GCW as much.
He went on to state that when it came to Moxley appearing for GCW, Lauderdale did not deal with AEW and he always dealt with Moxley. It was the current AEW World Champion who would run his GCW dates by AEW. When it comes to Jon coming back to GCW, Lauderdale can’t see Tony Khan saying ‘no’ forever.
Well again, I’ve had very little interaction with AEW itself over the years and booking [Jon] Moxley, I never spoke to AEW. So it always was just Mox, talking to him and him I guess handling whatever needed to get handled with AEW but, I’m sure things are gonna change now [with his new contract]. I don’t think we’ll see him as frequently. But I do think we’ll see him again. I think if there comes a time when there’s somebody he wants to wrestle or a show he wants to be a part of, I think he’ll be there. I think he’ll let me know, much of the same way that he’s let me know over the last whatever it was, 399 days. He’ll shoot me a text and say, you know, ‘What do you got coming up in this month?’ Or, ‘When you are gonna be in this place?’ And that’s how it would often come together so, I wouldn’t be surprised if I hear from him again in a few months or six months or whatever, some time in the next year. I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes back again and stops in for another event but you know, I mean again, he does have priorities and I don’t expect it… I wouldn’t be surprised and I’ll continue to look at it as a bonus any time he comes around.
He’s not doing it for the money. This guy does not need money from indie wrestling companies and I can’t pay him the amount of money — I can’t pay him anything close to what he probably gets paid on a weekly basis from AEW so, nor would he ever expect that or ask for that. He’s just here because there’s a side of him that still loves indie wrestling. That’s where he came from and it’s part of his personality, you know? And I think there’s a reason why he’s done so many shows for us… and why he was cool with being our champion for over a year and that’s because I think he respects us and what we do and what we stand for so, you know, again, even with this new contract, I still think he has the ability to call a lot of his own shots and if he were to ever ask for a favor or ask for permission for something, I don’t see why — I can’t see Tony Khan saying ‘no’ forever, you know? I think there’s always a time and a place or a reason that could make sense so, we’ll see.
GCW held their ‘Drop Dead’ show on 10/22 and on 10/23, they’ll be running their ‘Moment of Clarity’ show from Columbus, Ohio.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit The Business of the Business podcast with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
