Josh Barnett announced the indefinite hiatus of Bloodsport over the weekend, shocking each fans in attendance on the event on the Horseshoe Las Vegas, in addition to those watching from home. Barnett made the announcement within the ring after his primary event victory over Yuji Nagata, and said he was “shutting shop” while fans still loved every little thing they do, and while they’ve their pride and integrity in place.
On Monday, Barnett appeared on “The Ariel Helwani Show” to speak further about his decision to finish Bloodsport after 17 events, after he took the helm from Matt Riddle in 2019. He said he wasn’t attempting to make a giant deal out of the announcement, and didn’t want it to come back off like he was attempting to drum up attention. He said he appears like he made the precise alternative.
“For me, Bloodsport had an evolution of where it was attempting to get to, and that was not going to be a standard indie wrestling path,” he explained. “Especially, because I do not think Bloodsport, it’s probably not made for indie wrestling in the way in which that loads of indie wrestling is completed.”
He said that he was attempting to construct Bloodsport with an idea that he could get to a degree where they were running shows at frequency of a promotion like GCW, but they haven’t got the talent to maintain up with that, and they can not book just anyone on their shows.
Not a Spur-of-the-Moment Decision
Barnett spoke quite a bit concerning the decision, which he said had been at the back of his head for “a while,” which stemmed from his idea of what Bloodsport’s evolution must have been. He said it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision, and he thought very deeply about it.
“Every part that I used to be constructing upon with this idea was to have the option to try to get it to that time, to where I felt prefer it could really be put together in one of the best format and in one of the best ways possible to provide it its ability to flourish at its best,” he said. “We’re just not there. We’re not close. For me, it was higher to finish it now than to maintain occurring and, quite possibly, diminish what the product is or run it down before we had a probability to actually get where I actually feel like it could have been at its best.”
Barnett said he was attempting to bring on corporate sponsors, and sponsors basically, to construct toward his ultimate example, nevertheless it just didn’t occur. He said while there’s at all times a possibility of doing that, but he had a timeline and his goals weren’t met. He explained they’d need more capital, more employees, and more to flourish.
“From what I’m feeling and the way in which I’m seeing things, it’s like, ‘Alright. It’s just gotta be done then for right away,'” Barnett said. “Or, I mean, I do not know, nevertheless it is over. It will not be like I’m doing a hiatus… It’s closed, unless things could be done to get us to where we’d like to go.”
Should you use any quotes from this text, please credit “The Ariel Helwani Show” and supply a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.