Josh Barnett has revealed the genesis of his Bloodsport product and his ethos behind it in a wide-ranging interview with Renee Pacquette. On her Oral Sessions podcast, Barnett appeared as the podcast’s latest guest and he spoke on his willingness to fight and his takes on the modern sports entertainment option.
The reason for Bloodsport’s existence is the MMA fighter’s desire for something unique in wrestling:
“There’s so much ‘fluffy’ stuff, to have something that’s absolutely not that, that’s dead serious and really stripped down and raw. It stands out and becomes completely unique. What makes it also unique is when people try and rip it off, […] that only helps us and shows you can have all the packaging but not the product.”
For him, unpredictability is king when it comes to Bloodsport. Fighting and living in the moment is central to him and his product:
“With Bloodsport you can’t pick how anything’s gonna happen and that’s on purpose. If everyone’s waiting around watching a 20-minute match, […] drinking their beer; yelling goofball comments until 14:49 where all of a sudden and now they’re hitting their signature moves and going home. They’re just paying attention for four minutes and one second. […] I don’t want people to be able to turn their eyes away”
Josh Barnett also described his idealised wrestling show, stating:
“Generally, [sports entertainment]’s not for me. There’s lots of people who can make a career out of this stuff. […] I have a delineation, there’s ‘wrestling’ and then there’s ‘theatre’ basically. So if you’re doing comedy matches and goofy stuff and weird over-the-top gimmicks, I’m like it’s a great event to be at but I don’t call it wrestling. That’s not wrestling to me – it can still be awesome.”
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