Wrld on GCW was promotion’s most successful pay-per-view ever on FITE
Last Sunday’s Wrld on GCW pay-per-view on FITE.tv was its most successful yet on the combat sports streaming service.
The news was first reported Wednesday by Post Wrestling’s John Pollock via an email confirmation from FITE COO Michael Weber.
While the event was the best in GCW’s history with FITE, it was not the biggest for FITE in general as Weber noted they had 700,000 buys for the Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. exhibition boxing match last year.
There is still no word on how many buys GCW had for last Sunday as it aired both on FITE and traditional pay-per-view for the first time. Final numbers from traditional providers can take months to figure out.
The Wrld event was GCW’s highest profile show to date as it came from the sold-out Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City where WWE and ECW have run before.
Pollock said he is also following up with state commission officials on whether there is an enforceable age limit for pro wrestlers as 16-year-old prospect Nick Wayne was unable to compete on the show as planned due to someone reportedly contacting the commission about his age.
GCW owner Brett Lauderdale tweeted that while the show was successful business-wise, he thinks they could do better and “got played and I shoulda known better.”
Sunday was a smash hit business wise for gcw. All records shattered and its not even close. But im not happy at all. Feel like I let a lot of people down. Got played and I shoulda known better. Big time learning experience. Gonna work harder than ever to get a 2nd chance.
— brett lauderdale (@Lauderdale11) January 26, 2022
Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.