Rumors started to form and take surface after Atticus Cogar was a no show for his match against Billie Starkz for GCW’s Believe Me on February 19th. In the latest episode of Iron-On Wrestling, Cogar addresses the internet rumors surrounding his departure from GCW.
In a rare interview, Cogar sits down with fellow 44OH! member Gregory Iron to discuss the controversy surrounding himself and GCW. Cogar also discusses his promo leading up to the GCW Hammerstein Ballroom event, the creation of the new promotion Circle 6, and much more. You can listen to the full interview now on Spotify.
On GCW’s booking: “There are some of the booking I liked and some of it, I didn’t after War Games. The ultimate plan was for me to kind of go on my own and then eventually some sort of angle to like, bring you guys back and make it cool. And I feel like it was just kind of, I don’t know, mushed together. And it was kind of like, after War Games Rickey just disappeared from GCW and I guess essentially you guys did too and I was doing stuff on my own and then Michigan, I think was the show where you guys came back, right? Instead of it like being like, Oh, 44OH is returning because what a lot of people don’t realize is 44OH never got involved in my matches. Like if you were at ringside or something, yeah maybe, but like 44OH never did run ins for me. So it could have been like some cool come back for you guys. And instead, it was just announced me and Eddie Only are teaming and it kind of just like, brought everybody back and like, Eric was part of NGI, and you guys were randomly there, but then just got jobbed out.
So it is what it is. I was grateful for the opportunities of facing Rina and Takeda. Just everything. I wouldn’t say that the booking of how I was booked in GCW or how we were booked in GCW had anything to do with me leaving. I mean like yeah, I didn’t like it but at the same time I look at it like if a movie star doesn’t like his role in the movie, he’s still showing up and he’s still going to get paid to play that role and that’s just kind of how I’ve always looked at it. I’m going to get paid the same regardless of what I do.”
On the Hammerstein Ballroom event and his promo leading up to it: “I 100% agree and that’s why I like I was saying like, it really has nothing to do with my departure from GCW. But at the same time, there were little things that I did I went out of my way, personally, to do to, obviously, like you said, make the most of things and try to get the best positions possible. Like I was informed that we were doing the Hammerstein show and I looked at it as like, okay, that’s going to be my biggest opportunity that I’ve ever had. I truly believe that and the the promo that I released before Hammerstein. I also just want to clarify. That was me and all me and I was not asked to do that promo.
And it was the promo that was pretty much about. Hey, why is, why are all these TV names on Hammerstein? And why are the people who, you know, help this company grow not on Hammerstein?”
“And with independent wrestling, you’re given the platform to do stuff and be creative, especially with GCW, 9 times out of 10, you’re given zero direction. And in, there’s always someone coming for your spot. You know, there’s always Brett’s new toy. That’s what I was told since day one with the whole, like, quicksand business thing. I don’t know. I just always related to that with GCW, because pretty much just like you’re sinking and if you’re just going to sit there and run in place in quicksand, you’re gonna just fucking sink to the bottom. You know what I mean? So, yeah, that’s kind of just the thought of going into that. I didn’t really look at it as a super powerful line. And then we’re really, I don’t know, thought about it like that until you said something, but it is true and it still applies to everything that I’m doing today and going into that promo. I knew what I was doing. I knew that I didn’t have a prominent spot on the show. I knew that I was going to do something with quote unquote, ECW Legends. I knew that there were a lot of people on the roster because I was on every GCW show. So every show leading up until Hammerstein. There was so many people in the locker room that were upset because they did so much for the company and they didn’t have prominent positions, you know. You had the SGC guys in prominent positions and I don’t disagree with that. I think that they’ve been a huge part of GCW’s success and they all deserve every bit of it. You know, you’ve got 30 other people on your roster that were there every single show during Covid that are what in the pre-show Battle Royal.”
GCW management’s reaction to the promo: “I mean if you look Game Changer Wrestling, never shared the promo. They never retweeted it, nobody from them, I mean, Giancarlo probably tweeted and said something about it, but like nobody ever shared it from there end. They didn’t want it seen and when it started getting a lot of views and regardless if it’s positive on my end or not, the overall reaction to it was yeah, he’s right all these dudes aren’t on the show. What the fuck? I know that Game Changer Wrestling is gonna listen to Twitter. So that was my goal with it, was for Twitter freak out and for them to listen to Twitter. So I think I don’t know it overall helped everything. But yeah, Brett was not happy about it and I feel like it’s why our spot went from about five ECW Legends coming out and bumping us to maybe just Sabu.”
“Yeah, by no means, did we not want to do it. I mean, the idea of doing something with Sabu and ECW Legends and all that in Hammerstein Ballroom is very cool and again, very grateful for the opportunity for everything. But yeah, I mean up until the day of the show it was supposed to be a bunch of ECW legends that we’re gonna come out and do stuff. And then we were told it was just Sabu and Bill Alfonso and we said okay. And we did it. Yeah, and we sold a bunch of merch, and it was a lot of fun. And I have no issues, really, with the Hammerstein event, as far as the way that I was booked on the show, or we were booked.”
The reason for his GCW departure: “Yes, I am gone from GCW, it’s simply because me and the office we just don’t see eye to eye on the way that business is handled. And I think that the locker room is extremely toxic for someone who has battled with drug issues. I think it’s toxic for someone who’s battled mental health issues. And in this is all strictly my point of view. I’m not speaking for anybody else that’s in the Game Changer Wrestling locker room. If other people don’t feel the same way that’s on them. And that’s fine. It got to a point where my mental health is bad. It got it to a point where I was doing every GCW show, and I was very very loyal for the exposure. I was very loyal to Brett, it got me to where I am today, and I’m very thankful for that. Very grateful. We didn’t get along towards the end.
My ultimate goal in professional wrestling is to be able to make a living off of professional wrestling. And with my new opportunities I am able to do that. If I stayed in GCW, which I like wrestling for GCW, so I’m not going to bash them as a company, like running shows and stuff. It just got to a point where I just wasn’t having fun anymore, and I just didn’t like being there. Another reason why I decided to step away from GCW is, I didn’t like, how the people that I was close to where treated. I didn’t like how Rickey was treated, and I didn’t like the way everything went about after War Games. And it’s not my business to speak on and I won’t, but I didn’t like it. Eddy Only still hasn’t been paid for Hammerstein. There’s just like little things like that. People were just being disrespected and stuff like that. So I also, I just didn’t agree with that. I didn’t agree with the way things were handled in that aspect.”
On what is Circle 6: “What Circle 6 is, I was given an opportunity to help out with a new wrestling company with Mike. He did not steal me from GCW like everybody’s saying. That’s weird and the fact that someone can steal someone else from an independent wrestling company is an odd idea. Mike is who used to run Nick Gage’s merch, the MDK All Day. I just remember a specific instance where Mike pulled me off to the side in San Diego. He still worked for GCW. I had no relationship with Mike whatsoever other than saying hi to him when I got to the show. And he pulled me off to the side and he had no idea that I was, you know, a little bit frustrated and he told me hey next month I’m going to step away from GCW because I don’t feel appreciated and whatever. It’s not my story to tell, it’s his but he pretty much told me like if I ever need anything that I can reach out.
So when I was in Los Angeles for GCW which is where he lives, I reached out to him and we started talking on a personal level about like mental health and like problems in my life and problems in his life. Yeah. I mean, we just kind of became close through that and he had a lot of business ideas. And when he pitched, this idea for a new wrestling company, I was obviously game for it because he’s been very successful with everything that he’s done in the past. He has great ideas.
So when the idea of Circle 6 was pitched to me, he wants to start a wrestling company that is drama-free and he wants to start wrestling company for wrestlers and fans who watch and show up to without having to deal with drama or any sort of negativity or anything like that. And if you can tell by the roster that we’ve booked on this first show, that that’s actually what it is. It’s a bunch of people who are drama-free, they want to show up. They want to make money. They want to wrestle. That’s my biggest goal with this whole company is to just, I don’t know, make a living off wrestling and actually be happy doing it. I know that sounds impossible but hopefully yeah, we can do that.
I’m not going to say what’s to come. All I’m going to say is, this show is 100% not a one-off show. And another thing I want to say is, a lot of people coming up to me and talking about or posting on social media, yeah, fuck GCW. You’re going to do so good in Circle 6 and blah blah blah. And I just, I don’t even want to think about my departure from GCW. It’s nobody’s business. I shouldn’t even be doing a podcast about it. Imagine someone quitting their job or getting fired from their job or having a fall out with something that they’ve been so passionate about and put so much into. And even the promoter has been passionate and put so much back into me. Imagine that that happens and everybody just creates their own narrative, and it’s the biggest thing that people are talking about on social media. Like, it’s, I’m not going to say it’s hard to deal with, because I don’t really go on social media, I don’t like social media. But It’s just weird. It’s weird to me. Like, I get like from a fan standpoint, like let fans be fans. But at the same time, like these people are creating these ideas of a bunch of weird drama that happened.”
