Kevin Gill was the voice of Game Changer Wrestling since 2019, but disappeared from the promotion in September 2022.
GCW often tweeted about Gill's status, saying he signed a contract and would be part of the kick-off shows, but Gill has yet to return.
Speaking on the Business of the Business podcast, Gill detailed his GCW departure.
"This is something that I never really addressed in any interviews or anything. It's sad, in a way. It hurts a lot. I think you're seeing it now. At first it was, 'It's just Smart Mark Video that can't get along with Brett (Lauderdale).' Then it's 'Oh, it's just Rickey Shane Page. It's just Eric Ryan.' Now it's, 'Oh, Kevin is a problem. Alex Colon is a problem.' It makes you wonder, are all of us a problem or is the problem something else? For me, GCW is something that I loved whole-heartedly, I gave my heart and soul. I worked a lot behind the scenes with Brett and putting stuff together and the logistics of events and anything I could do because I truly felt like this was something we were doing. Like, we are the revolution. At the end of the day, my issue, I guess I don't have a definitive feeling in the end because I have an unresolved issue with GCW in that, I'm owed money by GCW and I haven't spoken about that. To say I've given a myriad of time, this goes back to the summer and fall of last year that I was inquiring about this money, needing this money. I was about to move back east and I was in a tough situation for life. You get that wake up call, 'Oh, no one matters at all, everyone is interchangeable, commentary doesn't matter.' Ask anyone who watches wrestling, I've been watching the A&E Biography stuff. Every moment is punctuated by the commentary. Those are part of the moments," said Gill.
He went on to explain the important of commentary for major moments before saying, "To me, it's weird to cut their throat or step on them over ego, greed, semantics, whatever it might be. Business is business. The friend side of me, the brother side of me, you want to see your friend get his head out of his ass, do the right thing, make things right. Every day that passes, you're like, wow, this person literally wakes up every day, knowing the situation. They put out a thing saying I had signed a contract with them during this time, which I thought was mean spirited and it affected my ability to get work. It's hard for me to fully understand it all. I can say that because this is a business and people make agreements and there are terms to those agreements, I'm happy to go to use the resources available to all people when they need to resolve matters. There is a pretty clear cut matter between myself and GCW and I find it horrific that they've done nothing to address it and have left it like 'wink wink.' They'll tweet stuff like 'Kevin can come by and do commentary.' It's misleading and bad form considering what I contributed. Even though I did a lot behind the scenes, I'm still a small part of the overall thing. The talent, to me, is always paramount. Seeing that talent, sometimes, be utilized to their maximum and explode in a crescendo of wrestling greatness, there are just as many people like, 'Why is this person sitting at home every weekend? They are one of our core guys. Why don't we book them?' Now, we're seeing more and more of that unfold because wrestlers, like commentators, they are very loyal, but the old saying is, 'Listen when someone tells you who they are.' If someone tells you that you're of no value, that they have no friends, that they don't believe in loyalty, believe them. If you don't believe them, you can end up getting caught out there. There is a list of wrestlers and production people that were part of it, that aren't part of it anymore. All ended suddenly or with the same core issues. It's a blemish on what would be, otherwise, a truly incredible and revolutionary thing."
Gill said that many fans look back fondly on the pre-Hammerstein Ballroom era of GCW and how GCW established itself as the premier independent promotion during that time.
"It is overall disappointing and I hate that I have to be put into this situation where I have to resort to business means to handle what shouldn't need to be escalated to that level because you're friends. You're supposed to be friends and brothers through all this. To me, in the end, it was very hurtful and it was at a time where my girlfriend was spending alot of time in New York with her dad, who was sick at the time, I'm sitting alone at home in California, dying to work, dying to do shows. Not booked for Japan, England, LA. It just becomes, if you want to fuck me, first you have to kiss me. You can't shit on my head and tell me it's raining. That's truly how I feel," he said.
Gill then claimed that Lauderdale was close to getting into a physical confrontation with someone, and Gill was the only person who intervened. He wondered if Lauderdale would have done the same for him.
"Alex Colon announced that he's joining XPW, which indicates that he's not competing in GCW anymore. If you read his tweets, it sounds like what they did to me. Alex talked about all the same things; loyalty, friendship, honor, remembering who was there for you and who helped build stuff. Alex Colon got the 'okie doke' too, just like Nate Webb and everybody else. It's a small business, it's a small world, you're better off treating people fairly, being honest with people, and not scumbagging people over money or perceived status," he said.
It is unknown if Gill will ever return to GCW. He has done commentary work for various independent promotions and conventions while away from GCW.
Lauderdale and GCW have not commented on the claim that they owe Gill money.
Fightful will update fans on the situation when more is known.
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