GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale is unsure of what to make of the PCO incident.

The 57-year-old wrestling veteran made headlines over the weekend with his appearance at the People vs. GCW event. PCO who was the reigning TNA Digital Media champion brought the belt with him at the show and destroyed it in front of the public using a sledgehammer. At first, people thought that it was part of a storyline but multiple reports since then have claimed that TNA officials had no knowledge of it beforehand.

Lauderdale talked about the incident on the Game Changer Weekly podcast and mentioned that PCO is a longtime friend of his who he has a lot of respect for. Discussing his knowledge of the incident in question, he claimed that he was under the impression of the whole thing being a work:

“What happened and what I thought was gonna happen were slightly two different things, and I thought we were kind of doing him a favor by letting him advance a storyline and returning to GCW at the same time, so I only kind of realized that it was more than that after the fact when I started reading reports that he may or may not have done that on his own.”

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I Think There Is A Storyline Going On: Brett Lauderdale

PCO was one of the many names who had his TNA deal expire at the end of last year and per reports, he was supposed to finish up with the company at their next taping. After the incident, however, TNA has removed both PCO and the Digital media title from their website, and the former WCW star is not expected to be brought back for any more shows.

Though despite these claims, Brett Lauderdale is not entirely sure of the legitimacy of the whole thing and he still believes that it could be a work:

“No. I know a lot of the people at TNA, so I feel like I would have been contacted if there was any major issue that would have been on us or if they had questions about it.

That’s why I think maybe there is still a storyline going on with it because I feel like maybe if there wasn’t, after the fact, they would have said, ‘Hey, what happened?’

TNA is set to follow up the January 19 Genesis PPV with a live Impact taping from San Antonio, TX this Thursday, January 23. Whether or not the whole thing is really a work should become clearer after this show.

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Brett Lauderdale says he doesn’t know why Ricky Starks was pulled from GCW shows.

The AEW star was announced for several upcoming GCW events after his surprise appearance at the Dream On show on November 23. The former FTW champion, however, was pulled from the announced dates only days after by the Elite promotion. This was a curious development as Starks’ other indie appearances were not canceled.

Lauderdale addressed these turn of events on the most recent episode of Game Changer Weekly. He explained that contracted talents reach out to him if they want to get booked. Brett noted that wrestlers are responsible for getting clearance from their employers themselves. He said that he has no direct line of communication with AEW so he can’t be sure why Starks was pulled:

“I found out about this the same time as everybody else did, for the most part. I’ve stated this many times before and it’s no secret. I don’t really have a line of communication with AEW. I’ve never talked to Tony Khan on the phone or via text in my entire life. They don’t talk to me. I’m not trying to say that in a negative context, but I guess we’ve never really had to talk.”

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It’s Part of The Deal: Brett Lauderdale

The indie promotion has featured many AEW talents on their shows over the years including top names such as Jon Moxley. Brett Lauderdale claimed that because of the lack of communication, he doesn’t know if the freeze applies just to Starks or other talents as well.

Speaking about all the different rumors that have been floating around, Lauderdale noted that he’s heard things too. Though he can’t say for sure if they’re true as reports have been wrong about the AEW-GCW relationship in the past. Brett said that he’s always thought the two companies to be on the same side, and admitted that it doesn’t feel great to have an announced talent be pulled like that:

“I would love to know if there’s something to be done or something we can be doing. We got to the point where this stuff was agreed upon, announced, and fans were looking forward to this. To promote something and have to pull it back is not ideal. At the same time, and I’ve said this many times, when you do book television or contracted talent, you do it with the understanding this could happen at any time for any reason. It sucks, but it’s part of the deal.”

The GCW official also commented on reports saying that Effy’s referencing Shad Khan on his podcast saying ‘Brett doesn’t have a dad who pays him to stay away’ might have caused the rift between the promotions. He noted that Effy is also an independent contractor and his podcast is not related to GCW in any way.