Josh Barnett took over GCW's Bloodsport event from former WWE United States Champion Matt Riddle. During his tenure as GCW's head of shootstyle wrestling, Barnett has overseen a number of WWE stars come through the independent event. In a new interview with "Not Sam Wrestling," the former UFC Heavyweight Champion said that the intricacies of booking WWE talent aren't as manageable as fans assume.
"The thing that's completely overlooked is that every athlete that is on their roster comes with a contract that has a certain value to it. That value is important, not only to the valuation of company at large, but that's an investment that they're paying into that person," Barnett said. "Allowing that investment, and the costs with it to be on my show is no small feat."
Barnett says that he doesn't take the responsibility of booking WWE stars lightly, as the company is essentially handing over its intellectual property to the former Openweight King of Pancrase, but Barnett understands that it's simply the responsibility a booker takes on, whether dealing with WWE talent or not.
"If I put together a match and it doesn't elevate the people within it, regardless of who won or lost? I failed," Barnett said, even if it's through the fault of the wrestlers. "I'm there to help them to make sure the match goes a certain way...to be as prepared as possible."
Barnett says the promotion is supposed to be the kind of promotion that wrestlers want to be a part of. By Bloodsport X, WWE President Nick Khan was attending Bloodsport events, which marked the end of a long road.
"I had Shayna Baszler. I've had a lot of athletes that were attached to me in WWE through the years," Barnett said. Through this, Barnett formed relationships with people like Triple H, and also WWE stars who sought out advice and training from Barnett. Barnett didn't expect WWE to let him use its talent, but kept asking. "I just was always consistent about it...As things have changed, Nick and [Triple H] were just receptive to it."
