5 Star Wrestling Promotion Folds, Issues Statement On Closure
5 Star Wrestling, who once offered CM Punk $1 Million to join the promotion, had decided to close its door and cease operations. The company also promised a 128-man tournament, which was completely rescheduled from last summer to February 2018. However, the tournament never occurred, and the big venues that the company was booking only generated a small number of attendees compared to the size of the building.
There was news released this week from Dan Hinkles, owner of 5 Star Wrestling, that the company would be closing down. Despite attempts to finish dates in Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, and Aberdeen, those requests were not honored, and fell by the wayside. As a result, 5 Star Wrestling released these statements announcing that they have officially shut the promotion down.
It is with great sadness that we announce that there will be no more 5 Star Wrestling events.
Fans need to contact their point of purchase for refunds. Pro Wrestling UK Ltd, the company running the events has been shut down. We're sorry to all involved.https://t.co/6ECAzRvSB4
? #5StarWrestling (@5StarWrestling) March 20, 2018
It is with great regret and sorrow that we announce there will be no more 5 Star Wrestling shows. All events are fully cancelled and ticket holders need to contact their point of purchase for refunds.
We are incredibly sorry that this has happened.
? #5StarWrestling (@5StarWrestling) March 21, 2018
5 Star Wrestling owner Dan Hinkles was on my podcast, Pancakes and Powerslams, shortly after the $1 million pitch to CM Punk, and decided to up the ante while on the show.
"When I say that I'm willing to give CM Punk a million dollars to come join, that's not a stunt. That's a business decision. I'm saying if the guy came to the table and just talked about it, we might even be able to work something better than that, because I'm not saying that it has to be just a million. It could be a million with some big upsides down the [line]. Let's get to the negotiation table, and we'll see.
"I would love to talk to Dana White about this. None of that means anything if CM Punk himself doesn't want to do it. But when I'm putting this money out on the table, what I'm getting at is, I don't know many wrestling companies in the world who could offer a guy a million dollars. In fact, I know [just] one. I'm not sure if [Impact Wrestling] has any guys with that kind of money, I'm not sure if New Japan does. They might be in a position to, but I don't think that they do.
"But I don't know their business inside-out like I know my business. But I do know that the vast majority of [promotions] couldn't do it. What I'm saying is, maybe CM Punk does want to return to wrestling, but maybe he doesn't want to go back to WWE because they've got some kind of problem. There's only one man that knows, and I'm one of those guys that when he's got something that he is trying to do, he goes out and does it."
Although the company had a list of top talents such as AJ Styles, RVD, Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, Drew McIntyre, Jay Lethal, Jack Swagger, Chris Masters, and Carlito, they were never able to attract a strong enough fanbase to cover these expenses. I recently spoke to a top talent of 5 Star Wrestling about the company, and he stated that he had to cancel his flight and appearance due to the poor management of making sure his appearance was booked and flight secured.
@KOllomani contributed to this article.