GCW Owner Says Bray Wyatt Isn’t “Interested In Making The Rounds On The Indies”
On today's episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily, Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman sat down with GCW owner Brett Lauderdale. Lauderdale spoke on GCW's many relationships with talent across the pro wrestling world, including with former GCW World Champion Matt Cardona. Hausman asked Lauderdale if he has spoken to Windham Rotunda, f.k.a. Bray Wyatt, about making an appearance at a GCW event.
"I have never talked to Bray Wyatt, but my understanding is that I don't know that our world is very appealing to Bray Wyatt," Lauderdale said.
Hausman pressed Lauderdale to elaborate due to how cryptic that statement sounded. Lauderdale cleared up what he meant by saying "our world is not very appealing to Bray Wyatt."
"There's no secret message there. I think that he's not interested in making the rounds on the indies," Lauderdale clarified. "That's my understanding. I don't mean any negative implication that he said anything because I've never spoken to him. From people I know, that he knows and whatever, it just doesn't seem like it's something that's on his to-do list anytime soon."
GCW has seen a meteoric rise over the past several years. Due to stars like Nick Gage and the promotion's openness to deathmatch wrestling, many have compared GCW to ECW calling GCW "the modern day ECW." Lauderdale commented on what he thinks when people make that comparison.
"Of course it's super humbling, and as somebody who grew up as a diehard ECW fan, it's probably the greatest compliment anybody could ever give us," Lauderdale admitted. "And the same goes for a lot of the people on our roster who also were huge ECW fans. I'm not sure that there's a cooler thing somebody can say to you about your company, but at the same time, we're from different eras and different generations.
"It's hard to compare. We should be so lucky to someday be looked at in the same way as ECW was, with the legacy and the way it changed the wrestling business. I would love to be able to someday be held in the same regard and be known by as many people as ECW was, but at the same time, we're our own company. I've never strived to be the next ECW. I've always wanted to be the first GCW. I hope we can be beloved in the same way as ECW, but I'd like to make our own history."
Last month, Lauderdale announced that GCW would be debuting at the Hammerstein Ballroom next year, one of the historic venues that ECW used to run events at. Hausman asked Lauderdale if Paul Heyman had ever reached out to him and congratulated him on his success so far.
"No, never spoken to him. This is gonna be crazy, but I've never talked to any of these people," Lauderdale pointed out. "I've never talked to Tony Khan. I've never talked to Paul Heyman. I've never talked to anybody from TNA. I've never talked to anybody from WWE. We're just kind of out here in our own world, and I'm okay with that. I mean, Paul Heyman is awesome, but I'm not looking for his approval. I'd be happy to hear and to take advice from him, but I'm confident in what we're doing, and I'm confident in our team and I'm confident in continuing to do things our way and make our own path."
You can follow GCW on Twitter @GCWrestling_
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