Game Changer Wrestling and Josh Barnett revealed one of their biggest announcements to date within the company as well as Bloodsport. WWE‘s Shayna Baszler, who was trained by Barnett, will compete at this year’s Bloodsport X event in Philadelphia during WrestleMania weekend.
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The news shocked the wrestling world as WWE continues to open the proverbial “Forbidden Door” to work with organizations outside of its own. Earlier this year, WWE sent NXT’s Charlie Dempsey (William Regal’s son) to AJPW where he competed in a few shows. In the 2024 women’s Royal Rumble, WWE echoed a former move having the Knockouts World Champion Mickie James return in the 2022 Royal Rumble. This year, they invited Jordynne Grace to compete and though she didn’t get any eliminations, she won fans over with her power and charisma.
Bloodsport is a yearly show that fans attending the huge GCW Collective weekend that runs opposite of WrestleMania really look forward to. The show is a direct contrast to many professional wrestling events you will see, because not only are there no ropes around the ring, each matchup is required to end in either a knockout or a submission. Throughout the years, many big names have competed in Bloodsport, including AEW’s Jon Moxley, Marina Shafir and Kota Ibushi, “Filthy” Tom Lawlor, Minoru Suzuki, TNA’s Killer Kelly and NJPW’s Alex Coughlin.
Fightful Select is reporting that this isn’t the first time WWE and GCW have been in contact about bringing in a WWE talent. At a prior Bloodsport, Barnett inquired about possibly bringing in former MMA fighter Jessamyn Duke who was under WWE contract at the time. While she was up for it, WWE was reportedly not interested. Despite that, Barnett and WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque are said to have a great relationship that dates back years.
Her match has yet to be announced, but TNA’s Masha Slamovich has already made it clear she wants a piece of the former Women’s Champion. Baszler has long been vocal about wanting a match with Suzuki as well, and he is set to take part of this year’s show. In an interview conducted with Dark Puroresu last year, Baszler admitted she’s a fan of intergender wrestling when it’s done right, noting she’d “love” a match with any of the guys going today, but none more than the “Murder Grandpa” himself, Suzuki. “Especially any of the technicians,” she said, adding, “Namely [Minoru] Suzuki, as he is my favorite.”
Though the event is completely sold out, fans looking to watch Baszler can do so by visiting Triller TV. Will you be checking out Baszler’s GCW/Bloodsport debut? Let us know in the comments!
