Josh Barnett shed light on the decision to shut down the popular Bloodsport series after Friday’s announcement by its namesake.
Barnett appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show to add context to the surprise news, which Barnett revealed to the Las Vegas audience at the Horseshoe last Friday at the show’s conclusion. Barnett told the crowd he was shelving the shows “for the foreseeable future” while the shows still have their “pride and integrity”.
Barnett explained he had a timetable of growing and flourishing Bloodsport and said, “we’re just not there,” citing a need to raise capital and failure to land corporate sponsors.
It is over. It’s not like I’m doing a hiatus. It’s closed unless things can be done to get to us to where we need to go.
Josh Barnett reveals his reasoning for ending Bloodsport:
“I wasn’t trying to make a big deal out of it. I didn’t want it to come off as a gimmick. There were a lot of conflicting feelings within my own heart about whether this was going to be the case or not.
When all is said… pic.twitter.com/PAofEfxvU4
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 20, 2026
Barnett elaborated on what it would take to continue, “Well, we need more capital, we need our own office, we need more employees, we need a lot of things. We are not trying to be a WWE, AEW, or New Japan; we don’t have that kind of money, and we’re not going to run those types of shows at that type of capacity. It’s going to take a lot (to continue), and it’s more than most Indie shows, and it’s a loss less than your majors, but it’s going to need aspects of both.
Barnett was steadfast that WWE played no role in this decision and cited his long-term working relationship with the company and frequent usage of WWE performers on Bloodsport events.
Closing the show had zero to do with Saudi Arabia next year. It had zero to do with the WWE ever telling me to do anything or whether I’m going there or they’re going to do this show, nothing. The WWE has never, not once, told me what to do, how to do anything, had any input on the show, ever. If that match was booked, it’s booked the way I wanted it to be.
The Bloodsport concept was launched over WrestleMania Weekend in April 2018 with Matt Riddle’s name attached. When Riddle joined the WWE, Barnett took over the following year and has run 14 events since coming on board.
