Summary

Josh Barnett says Bloodsport is on hold for the foreseeable future because the event has not yet reached the level of backing he believes it needs to grow the right way.

Barnett first announced the pause at Bloodsport XV. The concept began in 2018 under Matt Riddle before Barnett took it over the following year, and it grew into a familiar part of WrestleMania weekend with talent from multiple major promotions appearing on the cards. Wrestling Remembers previously covered Barnett's announcement that Bloodsport was going on hiatus after Bloodsport XV.

In a new interview, Barnett said the decision was not meant as a promotional stunt. Instead, he described it as the result of trying to build Bloodsport toward a larger long-term vision and deciding the project was not close enough to that goal.

Quote from Josh Barnett

"I wasn’t trying to make a big deal out of it, and I didn’t want it to come off as a gimmick or for people to think, 'They’re just doing this for the purpose of drumming up interest' or that it was insincere. There was a lot of conflicting feelings in my own heart about whether this was going to be the case or not. When it’s all said and done, I feel like I absolutely made the right choice here."

Barnett later went on to say:

"It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing or a tragedy or major overarching bad issue, but for me, Bloodsport had an evolution of where it was trying to get to. That was not going to be a traditional wrestling path, especially because it’s not really made for the indie wrestling in a way that a lot of indie wrestling is done. You’re not doing shows with frequency, it’s not made for that. We don’t have the talent to keep up with it because you can’t book just anybody on this show. For me, that evolution was everything I was building on with that concept was to get it to that point where I felt like it could be put together in the best format in the best way possible to give it the ability to flourish at its best. We’re not there. We’re not close. For me, it was better to end it now than to keep going on and quite possibly diminish what the product is or run it down before we had a chance to get to where I feel like it would have been at it’s best."

What Barnett said Bloodsport still needs

Barnett said he had spent a long time thinking through the decision while also trying to secure sponsors and other support that could help expand the project. According to Barnett, those goals were not met on the timeline he had set.

"I thought very deeply and heavily about this. I was trying to bring on corporate sponsors or sponsors in general to support the show, and bring in other outside elements to build towards what the ultimate example is, and we just weren’t able to do it. That’s not to say there isn’t any possibility of doing that, but I had a timeline and we didn’t meet those goals. It’s closed unless things can be done to get us where we need to go."

He added that a return would require more money, more infrastructure and a stronger business setup than a typical independent show.

"We need more capital, we’d need our own office, we’d need more employees. We’d need a lot of things. The way that this show can best flourish is not the indie wrestling way. We’re not trying to be AEW, WWE, New Japan. We don’t have that kind of money and aren’t going to run at that capacity. Just like we’re not like anybody else in pro wrestling, we can’t take the same approach as other facets of pro wrestling. It’s quite possible we can put together what is needed to fully envision what I see Bloodsport as being, but it’s going to take a lot. It’s a lot more than most indie shows, a lot less than major (promotions), but it’s going to need aspects of both."

Barnett also said he wants Bloodsport, if it returns, to offer better pay, bonus incentives and the ability to secure multiple-match deals that could support longer-form stories.

"Certain things I want to do are pay wrestlers better, have bonus incentive structures for certain things as far as numbers, and also be able to get multiple match deals with people that we can honor so we can make storylines and create more compelling aspects to this."

What this means for Bloodsport

Barnett's comments make it clear that Bloodsport is not ending because of one immediate crisis. Instead, the pause appears tied to his belief that the concept should either operate with more support and structure, or not continue in a diminished form.

That leaves Bloodsport in a holding pattern rather than a permanent shutdown, but Barnett also made clear that he does not plan to hand the brand to someone else. For fans, that means any future return will likely depend on whether he can secure the money and operational support he believes the format needs.

Sources

Josh Barnett while speaking with Ariel Helwani