Game Changer Wrestling is here to stay
By Sam Gladen
How did Game Changer Wrestling become an overnight success?
For those of us who only watch television wrestling either WWE, AEW, or IMPACT Wrestling. The “sudden” popularity of the promotion may seem random. It is neither random nor sudden.
Game Changer Wrestling, previously known as Jersey Championship Wrestling was purchased by Brett Lauderdale in 2015. He took the small New Jersey promotion and began to bring in the top independent talents not only in the tristate area but across the country bringing huge internet buzz and interest to the promotion.
He then signed a streaming deal with IndependentWrestling.TV allowing massive international audience access to the complete catalog of GCW shows up to that point. After that deal ended the promotion transitioned to a traditional Pay Per View model utilizing Fite. TV. They also began to expand their shows outside of the Tri-State area crisis crossing the United States. They continued to put on massive shows with immense online buzz building to a fever pitch until they made the next leap into the stratosphere. An international tour.
In 2019, Lauderdale brought the best and brightest of GCW to Japan for a two-day tour of some of the most legendary venues in the island nation. The tour sparked international interest in the promotion. Interest that they later transitioned into a working relationship to stream their content to Japanese fans via WrestleUniverse.
Following their international tour and mounting interest, they held a massive event in the legendary Hammerstein Ballroom, called The Wrld on GCW. The event was aired live on Fite.TV as well as traditional PPV in the United States, the company sold out the ballroom and put on a truly unique and special event.
They have continued to build on their success and meteoric rise with a recently announced UK tour. Their shows, held in front of comparatively small crowds, usually between two and three hundred ticket paying members of the audience and streamed online, show no signs of slowing down. There will always be a new generation of the hottest commodities in Independent Wrestling, and it seems at least for now. They will always have a home in Game Changer Wrestling.