Various: GCW Fake COVID Testing Allegations Update, PCO Impact Contract Update, Kurt Angle Update

Jun 5, 2022

GCW Owner Comments on Allegations of GCW Committing Fake COVID Testing for Talent

As noted before, indie wrestler Dirty Ron McDonald recently accused Game Changer Wrestling of purposely committing fake COVID-19 testing for their talent for their events. McDonald also accused the company of not paying their talent for hotel and travel expenses and low pay given to talent to work at GCW events.

A recent episode of The Business of the Business podcast had GCW owner Brett Lauderdale as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Lauderdale’s comments on the recent fake COVID-19 testing accusations made against his company.

“Again, all of these are coming from the same source. Somebody who, again… you know, if you look back and I don’t wanna — again, this is one of those things about engaging and giving any kind of energy to this negativity. This is somebody who’s throwing a lot of sh*t at the wall and again, I wanna be careful how I respond to this because I don’t wanna engage in this and because also, some of the things that were said, borderline on, you know, there could be legal implications to some of this so, I prefer to disengage in this and let’s see what happens and you know, I’ve talked to people from a legal aspect that have advised me to approach it a certain way so, I don’t wanna give too much credence to this other than to say I’m proud of our record during COVID and the pandemic and the proof is in the pudding. Pretty public, everything we did so I’ll leave it at that.”

Lauderdale also gave his thoughts about the accusations of GCW not paying for travel expenses and low pay given to talent booked at their events.

“Well, I mean, again, where this one is — these particular set of comments comes from is silly. It comes from people who would have no idea how I do my business or who gets paid what or how or when or where and again, I mean, it can get annoying but you saw the way — people who were actually really engaged in this particular round of controversy so to speak, you saw a lot of people from the GCW roster itself kind of speak up and just say, ‘Hey, just so you guys know, this is bullsh*t.’ This is wrestling, the same that AEW is gonna pay CM Punk more than they’re gonna pay Sammy Guevara. Of course if Kevin Nash comes in, he’s gonna get paid more than Gringo Loco. It’s just the nature of the business. He has a history behind him, he has a certain fan base that, you know, in the same way that CM Punk brings a different fan base than Sammy Guevara brings. Kevin Nash is gonna bring different fans than Gringo Loco brings. So there is a certain pay scale to this and of course there are times when these legends do get paid more than the guys that are the current roster guys. That’s just how business works, you know? And let’s say CM Punk wasn’t getting paid what he is being paid, he wouldn’t be wrestling on Dynamite every week or even coming so, that’s just business. Business 101. But our guys, I’m… I can confidently say that I take good care of our people and I’ve put so many people on their first airplanes and I put everybody in nice hotels. I can say that with confidence and look myself in the mirror, you know? We don’t — my guys don’t sleep in cars, they don’t get their own rental cars, they don’t sleep in sh*tty hotels. I make sure that I take care of our people and I think most of them will attest to that.”

Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com

PCO Impact Contract Status Update

As noted before, PCO signed an official contract with Impact Wrestling this past January.

A recent episode of the Juice Pro Wrestling podcast had PCO as the guest. One of the topics discussed included PCO confirming the reports of him being currently signed with Impact.

“I don’t do that many indies because I’m pretty booked solid with IMPACT. I’m under contract and I got a lot of work to do with them but, I try to do, on some weekends off, sometimes I try to pick one here and there and Black Label’s been like one of my first date[s] so, but it’s been a good one for me, you know? Since day one so, I just like it there man. Winning the [BLP Heavyweight] title, it was awesome, it’s great. I’m really looking forward to June 4th and it’ll be cool.”

PCO also revealed that his current deal with Impact expires this October.

“A few times I had talks with AEW but, right now, I can’t do anything. I’m under contract with IMPACT Wrestling and to be honest, I really like what’s going on there right now, I’m really happy with the way that things are going and the way they approach the ‘French Frankenstein’ and the character and everything. I think they’ve done a great job so, I don’t know. I got this contract lined up. I’ve always been very loyal to when I sign a deal somewhere so, I’m the type of guy that’s gonna ask maybe a special permission just to do, you know, to go and try somewhere else and see how it goes and how it is so, yeah. We’ll see down the line because my contract is finishing up in October so, yeah, it’s just around the corner. We’ll see what’s going on there.”

Transcript h/t: PostWrestling.com

Kurt Angle Health Status Update

As noted before, Kurt Angle underwent double knee replacement surgery this past May.

During a recent episode of The Kurt Angle Show podcast, host Angle provided an update on the status of his knees and health following his surgery.

“A week later, I’m not doing much better. It’s pretty brutal. Especially when you have both knees done at the same time. I never went through anything this difficult. I also have a little bit of a back problem so I can’t use my legs but I can’t use my back. So I’m pretty much useless. It’s pretty crazy. When I did the surgery, they found a screw in my left knee. Just hanging out in my knee socket. It’s pretty incredible. It must have been from my surgery 10 years ago, the ACL surgery I had on my left knee and the screw popped loose and was just hanging out in my knee socket. It was crazy.
Yeah, I started rehab the next day. They’re on you. They stay on you and want you to work through it. The more you do without injuring yourself the quicker you will heal. They’ve had me do a lot of rehab ever since I got out of the hospital. I go to a rehab facility three days a week over near my house and then the other four days I do five different sessions of rehab on my own. It’s a long process but hopefully, it will work out. It should and I’m very positive about this.
They’re trying to straighten my legs. That was a lot of the problem with my last knees. My knees, from all the injuries and everything, they stayed bent. It was wearing on my knees and that’s how I got arthritis in my knees because I couldn’t flex my quad anymore. So my quad was always on fire when I was walking. That put a lot of pressure on my knees, so that’s the reason why I had to have knee surgery because my legs won’t straighten out entirely and that’s what they’re trying to do now is straighten them out.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com