On January 19, Game Changer Wrestling will return to the Hammerstein Ballroom for the first time since 2022. The first GCW Hammerstein show has been labeled as the biggest GCW show in history, but many fans walked away disappointed, which was referenced in the video package for the return event.
On December 20, 21, and 22, AEW will hold three events at the Hammerstein Ballroom. ROH Final Battle will take place on December 20, AEW Collision will be live on December 1, and AEW Dynamite will be taped on December 22.
Speaking on The Business of the Business podcast, GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale was asked about the timing of AEW running Hammerstein.
"I don't know Tony Khan personally and I don't know enough of their people well enough to know or to speculate that they would particularly do something like that just to hurt us. Without that being said, the traditional etiquette would be, there is a window where you don't go to the same buildings. Should that window exist? You can call it an unwritten rule, or in many cases it's a written rule. I'm sure when AEW goes to venues, they probably have a rule written in that no other wrestling show can go there within 30 days or 60 days. It's a pretty standard practice in the wrestling business and a lot of entertainment industries, both written and unwritten. Do I think they literally set out to look for a way to hurt GCW? I'm not ready to go that far with it. Do I think that maybe it wasn't the most polite thing to do? Maybe. They are a billionaire company with endless resources and they run multiple television shows every week so they could run an event there anytime they wanted. They don't have to do it in December or January. They can do it in February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September. They could do it every month if they wanted to, but they chose to do it in late December, which is less than 30 days before we are there. It's not the greatest of circumstances for us," said Lauderdale.
Lauderdale said the novelty of seeing wrestling at Hammerstein would be gone by January with AEW running three events with television stars and that GCW would have to put together a strong card and show, which he intends to do.
Later in the interview, Lauderdale was asked about reports that WWE inquired about running Hammerstein, but were told it was too close to AEW running the venue.
"I'm not trying to inflammatory or instigate in any way, but it's in many cases a written rule. There are a certain number of days that you have exclusivity in a building and you don't go in if somebody is already there. It's a type of thing that a company like AEW or WWE would sue a venue for if they let somebody else in. It would be a breach of contract. There are rules to this. It doesn't surprise me that WWE, and I'm only going by reports that you've heard, but it wouldn't surprise me that WWE would be told no because there is already somebody here. That's the way it goes. Didn't they used to say Vince McMahon would book Madison Square Garden so frequently just for the purpose of keeping everyone else out? He knew if he ran this many times, the window would be shut on everybody else," he said.
Lauderdale said it's in GCW's nature to be the underdog and that he likes being counted out because that's when they thrive.
Fans can find more Lauderdale's comments on the first GCW Hammerstein show by clicking here.
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