The Wrestling Underground, News and Opinion

Be Wary; GCW Has Shown Their True Colors

David Arquette showed class, dignity and respect to the industry he so loves after he released a statement clarifying what happened at Game Changer Wrestling’s L.A. Confidential.  The show saw Arquette take an errant light tube shot to the head, a spot that ended up slicing his neck, causing him to gush blood.

Arquette released the statement via his Twitter account two days ago about the incident.  In it he takes responsibility for the spot that injured him.  He accepts that he was unprepared for the reality of the situation he was stepping into.  You can read the full statement just below.

 

 

Yet before this happened, Game Changer Wrestling’s promoter and apparent Co-Owner, Brett Lauderdale, trashed Arquette in a public statement released to Pro Wrestling Sheet.

In the statement he ignores the root of most complaints, and even goes on to undermine Arquette’s injuries, saying that he might be “…playing it up for the documentary cameras with Luke Perry.”

Arquette “wrestled” a  match with convicted felon Nick Gage, known for his bloody and dangerous Death Matches.  Gage has a reputation for working stiff, and for being a “liability” in the ring.  Something Ggae himself once said; but in the world of pro wrestling, who’s to say what’s real or what’s fake.  Especially on social media.  Considering Gage actively put lives in danger for the sake of a quick financial windfall back in 2010, it seems plausible he believes that he’s a real-life liability.

For Lauderdale, those tactless comments come off as pathetic and sad.  Taking shots at a man to save face?  Who does that?  The issue with the Arquette-situation had little to do with Gage injuring him.   Most saw it as an accident when it happened; but what came after is the true sticking point.

There was no medical ringside, which is rather uncommon in wrestling these days.  Just about all major feds in the States and Japan have medical on standby either at ringside, hiding in the corner of the arena, or behind the curtain.  Arquette went to the floor looking for help and found none.

The other problem is how Gage reacted to the grizzly injury, as Arquette on three separate occasions tried to end the match, only for Gage to violently retaliate.   Showing no regard for his opponent, as Aruqette bled wildly from his neck, Gage continued to beat on Arquette.  Gage violently stuck him and picked up another glass lighting tube, smashing it against a prone and injured Arquette.  At this point Arquette sprung to his feet, grabbed a folding chair and swung for the fences at Gage’s head.

Gage quickly ended the match after the chair shot.

Following this Arquette left the ring, only for Gage to insult Arquette,  Gage had grabbed a mic and according to the Wrestling Observer told the crowd something to the effect of …“if you’re not willing to take my sh*t(sic), don’t come into my world”.

Arquette had ended the match prematurely due to his dire injuries.

But things continue to get worse for Arquette, who only wanted to redeem himself in the eyes of the wrestling fans following his disastrous stint in the now-defunct WCW promotion.  According to The Blast, Arquette was taken to the hospital yesterday due to complications over his neck injury.  He’s active on social media, and tweeting today, so it looks like either he’s gotten those new kinks worked out or he’s at the very least being taken care of.

I’ve reached out to Lauderdale on Twitter for a comment, but received no reply.  The tweet was typed hastily from my phone, so it’s possible he didn’t take me seriously with the few mistyped errors.   I respect that.

Lauderdale though should apologize to Arquette for how he was treated by the company after he was injured.  Not for the injury, but after, just to be perfectly clear.  The closing minutes of the match looked more like a horror movie than a wrestling match, and to publicly disparage Arquette and his injuries in the ensuing moments after the match and again days later really paints Lauderdale negatively.  Yes, it was Gage who made the first comments, but it’s Lauderdale who’s responsible for booking the convicted felon on his show.  Thus anything Gage does reflects Lauderdale.

Lauderdale has developed a reputation as a maverick promoter and co-owner for Game Changer Wrestling.  Back in December of 2017 Lauderdale, alongside the aforementioned convicted felon Nick Gage, actually entered another promotions ring and attempted to hijack a Combat Zone Wrestling show.  In an interview with WrestleZone, Lauderdale even admitted to not having consent to do the run in, and did it anyway.

I’ve talked to a few people who worked with Lauderdale and the word “untrustworthy” and “rat” were used often.  He’s been accused of leaking information to fans and journalists, as well as ruining the results of shows he was set to work on later in the day as a referee.

Even veterans like Low Ki, who is either respected by many, or loathed by all depending on who you ask; have run afoul with Lauderdale.  The famed wrestler arrived at Lauderdale’s GCW Bloodsport event back in April of 2018 injured, and unable to wrestle.  Low Ki reached out and contacted close friend Homicide, the head trainer for GCW’s wrestling school and informed him of the injury.

Lauderdale outright admits that he ignored a call from Low Ki and didn’t bother calling him back at all over the course of the next four days.  Low Ki then contacted Matt Riddle and came up with a compromise, though Lauderdale didn’t like it and shot it down on principal; saying;

In addition, any idea that Low Ki had which would impact the budget, payroll, or “storyline” of the event would need to be pitched to the promoter himself for approval. This was not done, and this constitutes what is known as “going into business for yourself.

Low Ki eventually showed up, hoping to make things work but Lauderdale believes Low Ki was scamming GCW and sent him on his way.

Lauderdale has shown a history of repeat behavior of “deny and deflect”, going to social media to discredit people he has issues with.  He’s let his self-described “outlaw” wrestling company run wild, with little regard to those around him.  Need further proof?  Here’s Joey Janela, the promotions most notable star, performing a piledriver on an untrained fan in the streets of New Orleans back in April of 2018.

The video is courtesy of former GCW/CZW employee Giancarlo Dittamo, and shows Janela performing the dangerous move on a drunk fan.  Dittamo now works for the WWE.

Lauderdale has risked a violent brawl over an unplanned spot, publicly shames people he feels has wronged him, allows his wrestlers to put his company at risk by being unbelievably unprofessional and actively insults those injured working for him.

Lauderdale has shown his true-self during this and other ordeals; one of  a man devoid of empathy or respect.  Be wary working for him, those that live on the edge are doomed to go over eventually.