GCW Co-Owner Slams CZW’s ‘Incompetance’ and ‘Shady Tactics,’ Talks CZW Cage of Death Appearance

– Game Changer Wrestling co-owner Brett Lauderdale slammed CZW following his and Nick Gage’s surprise appearance at CZW’s Cage of Death over the weekend. Lauderdale spoke with WrestleZone’s Nick Hausman about the moment and whether it was part of the show or a shoot appearance, during which he said there is legitimate animosity and said CZW’s DJ Hyde has tried to sabotage GCW.

You can see the highlights from the interview below. WZ says that Hyde declined to comment for the story.

On the relationship between GCW and CZW before Saturday night: “The relationship between GCW and CZW has been ‘whatever’. We all know each other, and we have all been ‘professional’ in shared settings for the last couple years. However, it’s no secret that there has been plenty of animosity on alot of different levels for some time now. Simply put, CZW has a history of incompetent business, and at times very shady tactics towards their competitors which have been talked about but never truly revealed. He (DJ) has gone to great lengths to hurt GCW’s business, including things like telling performers who appear on both companies that they can no longer appear on GCW shows (they ignore him for the most part), all the way up to calling immigration and attempting to make it difficult for our international performers to enter the country despite them possessing all of the legal documents required to do so. DJ Hyde has always been a joke in wrestling. He is respected by few, including his peers. After a while, those shady tactics have just become commonplace and accepted as ‘DJ being DJ’. I could go into details but I’d be talking about it for days.”

On what happened with the Cage Of Death appearance: “Here’s the 100% truth about what happened this past weekend. There had been some talk during the previous week between me and one of the CZW producers (the one responsible for all the awesome vignettes, and the actual watchable segments on CZW shows) about doing an ‘invasion angle’ at Cage of Death. It started on Monday, and eventually he took it to DJ on Wednesday or Thursday. I made it clear that if we were going to do this properly, I needed a heads up so I could get all our pieces in places and arrange travel for guys like Markus Crane, the Rejects, and maybe a couple others. On Thursday night, I was told DJ Hyde was ‘interested’ but he wanted to discuss it with some of the other people on his team. Apparently, everyone else on his team didn’t like it, and shot it down. I saw DJ Hyde on Friday night at the H2O show in Williamstown, NJ and he said nothing to me the whole night. As he was leaving, I pulled him aside and I said ‘Are we doing this tomorrow?’. He looked at me and laughed, and said ‘No’. At that point, It was officially off.

“Fast forward to Saturday night. I got a call from the producer at about 11pm when the cage was being set up for the main event at CZW. He suggested we ‘just do it’. I of course asked him ‘what about DJ?’ and his response was something to the effect of ‘We will figure that all out later’. I hung up, and discussed it with Nick (Gage). At that point, it all came clear. The last 2 years of weirdness, shadyness and outright disrespect hit both of us with a wave of clarity and we both came to the same theory… f*ck him. GCW has built a reputation on being outlaws. We have become known for saying ‘f**k it, let’s do it our way.’ GCW just may be the last real outlaws in professional wrestling. How many chances like this would we have to go out and make a major statement, right or wrong, on our competitors biggest stage? Will people be mad? Maybe. Will the fans like it? Probably. Most importantly, will the GCW fans love it? Of course. Will DJ and his yes men have a problem with it? Probably. But f**k them. He had it coming.”

On how he and Gage were able to get into the building and ring: “We just walked through the front door, and walked right past security. Most likely they just weren’t paying attention. There is a lot of incompetence in that place, so it’s no surprise we walked right in like we owned the place…Same way we walked through the front door, we walked into the cage. I’m assuming most of the personnel near the cage assumed it was part of an angle and if we had made it that far, they should just let us go the rest of the way.”

On if they accomplished what they hoped to: “The goal was accomplished. We did something that has never been done before, and we did it with ease. All in the face of those who have attempted to hurt us and hold us down. Sounds corny, but at the end of the day that’s how it breaks down.”

On if this will lead to anything further in terms of storyline: “You would think it would lead to something more, but this is CZW we are talking about it here. DJ’s CZW has over a decade of history that says they drop the ball on every opportunity that falls into their lap. I was told through an intermediary that DJ Hyde was upset, but that he would call me in a week when he returns from Disney Land (no that’s not a joke). At this stage however, I’m not sure it will go any further. GCW really doesn’t have anything to gain from working with CZW going forward. We made our point. Time will tell if something will get worked out but as of the time I am writing this, it’s over and done with.”