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PUTTING THE FTR-GCW RUMORS TO REST, WALTMAN-GCW UPDATE, BRETT LAUDERDALE ON PPV DEBUT AND MORE GCW NOTES

Game Changer Wrestling owner Brett Lauderdale commented on this past Saturday's THE WRLD ON GCW PPV, writing "Last night was crazy. I'm so proud of our crew and our fans. #TheWrldOnGCW was indie wrestling history.  Of course, there are things I wish we could/would have done differently, but some things were just out of our hands. I did my best. Thanks for the support.  #LongLiveGCW"

We are told the early indications are the PPV did extremely well on the streaming end.

In regard to Nick Wayne being pulled from the show, the word yesterday making the rounds was The New York State Athletic Commission wouldn't allow him to work due to him being under 18.  Having actually read their rules and regulations over the years, I don't actually believe there is an official rule on record regarding the ages of professional wrestlers in the State.  To make it up to Wayne, Joey Janela offered him any match of his choosing for the Spring Break event in Dallas over Wrestlemania 38 weekend and Wayne requested Will Ospreay, so stay tuned.

To clear up any rumors, FTR was never booked for the PPV at any point.  My guess is that if and when they face the Briscoes, it could be in Ring of Honor given the angle that was shot at Final Battle.  There was talk at one point that The Briscoes vs. Second Gear Crew might have been the bout at the GCW PPV but I don't believe that was ever an official plan.  Obviously, the right call was Nick Gage appearing at the end of the show alongside Matt Tremont.  There was zero chance of Gage not being on the PPV, not unless GCW wanted the crowd to be deflated, which isn't what GCW is in the business of doing as a company.

As we noted, there was a lot of time cut from different matches as the promotion had a hard out at 11 PM EST on PPV.  PCO noted while appearing on SiriusXM's Busted Open that what he described as the "craziest highspot" in the Ladder Match was cut as they were told to go to the finish, and that was the opening match on the broadcast, so that is just an example of how hard they were trying to cut for time even early on during the broadcast. 

Doing PPV/TV is a completely different animal than a live stream and it was a learning experience for everyone involved.  The fear before the show is they would have a situation similar to the first ECW PPV where that show literally went off the air at the last second before the power blew out.  While power would not have been an issue in the middle of NYC and inside the Hammerstein Ballroom, going off the air without the show having finished as planned was something everyone involved wanted to insure did not happen.  That was brought up, I am told, during a pre-show production meeting.

Ricky Morton missed the PPV due to a death in the family.  Everyone at PWInsider.com sends our best to Morton family on their loss.  Ricky is truly one of the most wonderful, giving folks you could hope to deal with.  We wish him the best.

GCW is now selling the official merchandise from the PPV at GCWMerch.com as well as an official Sean Waltman GCW shirt, so he's absolutely coming back to wrestle for the promotion.

Dark Sheik tweeted:

GCW returns to Houston, Texas on 2/4 with Fight Club 2 at the Houston Premier Arena, TX with Tony Deppen vs. Bryan Keith, Matt Tremont vs. Sadika, plus Mascara Dorada, Second Gear Crew, Drago Kid, Dante Leon, Ninja Mack vs. Nick Wayne and more.  The show will stream on FITE.TV.

GCW returns to Dallas, Texas on 2/5 at The Irving Arena in Dallas, TX with Psycho Clown vs Gringo Loco, Dr. Wagner Jr.'s GCW debut, Mike Bailey and more.  GCW will also be running Dallas over the course of Wrestlemania 38 weekend in March and April.

GCW will be running 2/19 and 2/20 at the Showboat in Atlantic City, NJ with sister promotion JCW and Matt Tremont's H20 running matinees before the GCW events.  JCW will stream live for free on GCW's YouTube Channel.  The 2/19 event will feature Hoodfoot vs. Matt Tremont plus John Watne Murdoch.

 

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