Brett Lauderdale Comments on GCW Advertising Jon Moxley’s Return Before AEW

In an interview with DAZN, GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale spoke about the company advertising the return of Jon Moxley before AEW did this week. Moxley will defend the GCW World title against Homicide at The WRLD on GCW, and after the match was announced, AEW then announced a return on Dynamite. AEW will get his first match back, however, as Moxley will face Ethan Page on tonight’s Rampage before the GCW event on Sunday. Here are highlights:

On if he ever thought GCW would sell out Hammerstein Ballroom: “I have a two-part answer for that. The realist in me says, ‘I don’t know. Probably not. It seems pretty far-fetched’. There’s no other way to put it than that. This is a big deal this weekend. But also, the other part of me says, ‘Yes, I did think this was possible. I’ve always been confident and who GCW is and what we stand for, (the) kind of the vision, the spirit, and the attitude of GCW. I’ve always thought this was possible. But it doesn’t make it any less significant or make us any less nervous or excited as this weekend approaches.”

On how he became the man in charge of GCW: “The simplest answer to this is, I’ve been good friends with Nick Gage for 15 years now. When Nick was locked in prison, I maintained our relationship. I used to visit him on a weekly or monthly basis. We always talked about wrestling and the things that he wanted to do when he got out of prison. And one of the things that we had always talked about for years when I would visit him was (that) we should do our own deathmatch tournament when you come out. The Nick Gage Invitational, that was our idea that we came up with while sitting in the visitation rooms in Trenton State Prison. So when the time finally came that he got out, I was like, ‘So we’re going to do this? All right, who can help us? Who can help us do this?’ Because at the time, I didn’t have a company, and Nick had nothing. We just looked into the Rolodex of some people we know that have a wrestling ring or an infrastructure already in place. That was the people who at the time were involved with Game Changer Wrestling and JCW (Jersey Championship Wrestling). We just borrowed their name for a day, and borrowing their name for a day turned into what it is now.”

On selling out without announcing Moxley, Ruby Soho, Jeff Jarrett and others: “A lot of people keep bringing that up. That is a testament to the work that our company has put in for years now and to the level of credibility that we’ve built with our fans.

People at this point trust GCW. They know that they’re going to get their money’s worth no matter what. They trust that they’re going to get something that’s exciting, unpredictable, chaotic, fun, and entertaining. They know that they’re going to get everything we have with every show. We don’t have B shows. We don’t have B towns. We don’t have house shows. Every show we do, we put everything on the line. It’s not just a saying or something we promise. We’ve built this credibility over the last four or five years. People don’t necessarily need to see a lineup in advance. They know that this Hammerstein Ballroom show is going to be a good deal. I don’t think there’s anybody that could possibly think that we would come to Hammerstein Ballroom with anything less than our best. That’s something we’re proud of. ”

On advertising Moxley’s return before AEW: “Obviously, a lot that went into that, and probably parts of it that I probably can’t talk about, or I shouldn’t talk about, just out of respect to all parties. But I think the bottom line here is that Mox wants to be here. He wanted and wants to be a part of this show. He is the GCW champion, and he cares about GCW. So, you know, I think he’s in a position where he’s earned the ability to do a lot of the things that he wants to do, obviously. AEW most definitely respects that, and they respect Mox. It was unusual circumstances that put it all in this position. It’s just one of those things. You got to call it on the fly. Of course, we defer to Mox, and we defer to AEW. He’s contracted to AEW. He’s not contracted to GCW, so certain things have to happen for it to happen. Mox wanted to be here, and here he is.”