Top Indie star Effy appeared on The Masked Man Show, where he discussed a number of topics, including how he hopes AEW and GCW can work together again and how he does not have to be involved.
Effy said, “Yeah, I hope so and I don’t think it has to involve Effy necessarily. I think that’s a big point I’ve been trying to make while being a little too on the other topics. They can say I’m fake, they can say I’m don’t believe this, but I’m truly pro wrestling. I’m pro the wrestler doing well. I think AEW is really really good for the wrestling scene. I truly believe that. I think more places for people to work, more TV, more different visions of what they see wrestling as, it’s a very different product than WWE and I think that’s very good. It gives them room to grow. It’s just from perspective being on the outside, I’m looking at everything and going, as someone who is hoping to keep the health of the business up, as someone who is trying to get people to come to indie shows to branch out from the rest of the wrestling world, it’s frustrating to see when someone has that kind of money or has that kind of distribution and press isn’t doing things the way I think good business would be. But, I’m hoping, and what I’m guessing and seeing is, if it involves me being removed from the conversation completely, okay. I’m fine with that. But, I hope that communication with both sides — it’s not been a fun week for me either, it’s my own fault. But, I hope it’s opened communication on these things because a lot of times, I think with humans, our frustrations build and they end up coming out as these things that are seen as, oh, I’m just gonna go over here and do my thing. Sometimes, having those little explosions and bursts, I think they will lead to better conversation. I know with GCW, it’s three years since we’ve ran the Hammerstein Ballroom. We had a few of the AEW people coming back, we had Mox [Jon Moxley] making a big return last time, I had Jeff Jarrett, we had Ruby Soho. These are all wrestlers who believe it or not, I think are great, I look up to. I want to see them work. People think I must hate AEW and I’m over here checking in on Dynamite to see what the Death Riders are doing. I’m still very fascinated by wrestling and the product and it’s hard because everything is cut and dry on the internet. So I say I disagree with this being done — I felt caught out of left field that my statements were pulled into that situation and I think that’s why I got so feisty. Really it’s like, okay, it seems like maybe this leads to AEW and GCW talking some things out that they needed to talk out. Maybe this leads to Ricky and Tony talking things out. Everyone said, oh he’s doubling down, he’s roasting him. No, I said that I want Ricky Starks to succeed wherever that is. If it’s winning a Continental Classic, if it’s headlining Full Gear, if it’s going on a chase for the belt, working a big program with Hangman (Adam Page), something along those lines, I think that’s just as exciting as get him out of his contract and send him to another company or bring him to GCW. For whatever people want to say about us being an indie, there does seem to be a large group of wrestlers when they are able, when they are not under contract, when they have the permission to do so, that are wanting to come work with us and I hope all of wrestling can see like, the reason this is catching on with us is that the wrestling we’re putting out, we’re trying to one-up each other, try new things. Whether it comes with a mistake or not, we’re trying to move wrestling into what we think it can be, whether it’s been seen that way or not. For wrestlers in these positions, creatively, I think it gives them a lot of fun and freedom to come work in GCW. I know Cardona has looked at GCW as something that has helped reinvigorate his career. But, he’s still going to be able to working the other show with Hammerstein. I don’t have an issue with him. I can’t even imagine they really were thinking, we’re gonna run this a month before them, we’re gonna show them. I think the timing was really unfortunate. I think it’s narcissistic of me to think that they’re going, well what’s GCW doing this month, we’re gonna — I don’t think it’s even anything like that.”
Effy has been the center of controversy between the two promotions. Comments he previously made are believed to have led to AEW pulling Ricky Starks and Willie Mack from GCW events.
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(H/T to Fightful for transcribing the above quotes)
