GCW Owner Brett Lauderdale Confirms He Nearly Bought Notable Indie Promotion

Game Changer Wrestling owner Brett Lauderdale revealed in an exclusive interview with Wrestling Inc. last week that he nearly bought another prominent independent wrestling company.

Speaking with Wrestling Inc. Senior News Editor Nick Hausman, Lauderdale said he recently attempted to purchase Combat Zone Wrestling — a deal which he said fell through at the last second.

"It is true," Lauderdale told Wrestling Inc. "I actually had a deal to buy CZW. We had a signed MOU, which is a memorandum of understanding, where we outlined the terms and it was signed by all parties. And yeah, it was basically a done deal. And then when it became time to progress, [CZW owner DJ Hyde] bailed. I guess he got cold feet or whatever. ... Or somebody got in his ear, or whatever it was, and he just bailed out."

Lauderdale has owned the hardcore wrestling-focused GCW since 2015. In 2017, Lauderdale and current GCW World Champion Nick Gage made headlines when they invaded CZW — one of the other top hardcore wrestling companies in the United States — at the end of its Cage of Death 19 pay-per-view event. Hyde was reportedly not aware of the angle, and the confusing fracas resulted in police being called to the venue.

Since then, GCW has grown into one of the top independent promotions in the U.S., airing its first pay-per-view event earlier this year with The Wrld on GCW event.

Lauderdale told Wrestling Inc. that he has plans to expand the company's reach internationally in 2023, including goals to expand into Japan and across Europe. "You're starting to see GCW wrestlers pop up all over Japan, Freedoms, DDT, NOAH," he told Hausman. "Again, I think this is just the beginning and that's really one of our targets for 2023."