Former UFC fighter turned pro wrestler and promoter Josh Barnett says he’s spoken with CM Punk and other names from WWE and AEW about competing for his Bloodsport promotion, which is affiliated with Game Changer Wrestling (GCW).
The upcoming Bloodsport X event over WrestleMania weekend will feature a special attraction match pitting WWE Superstar Shayna Baszler against TNA’s Masha Slamovich.
Barnett wants to get more WWE (and AEW) contracted names to step into his league’s domain. During a recent appearance on the Under the Ring podcast, he revealed that he’s actually spoken with CM Punk about participating, as well as AEW star Malakai Black.
Both Punk and Black have martial arts experience and their offensive styles would translate well to Bloodsports’ ‘shoot-fight’ presentation.
Barnett also named Chad Gable, Born Breaker and Miro as grapplers he’d like to see fight in Bloodsport.
Punk has been out of action since suffering a torn triceps in the 2024 Men’s Royal Rumble match. The injury has robbed Punk of an opportunity to step in the ring at WrestleMania 40, but he still vows to make his presence felt.
CM Punk signed with the UFC in 2014 just months after leaving WWE. He wouldn’t make his debut until 2016 and lost in decisive fashion. Stephanie McMahon mocked Punk’s loss on WWE television, one of many examples of how bitter that relationship was for many years.
Punk’s second and final UFC fight was another decisive loss to Mike Jackson. That loss was later overturned and the result ruled a ‘no contest’ due to Jackson failing a test.
