Multiple GCW Stars Address Allegations Of Fake COVID-19 Tests

By Eric Mutter

Earlier Wednesday afternoon, wrestler Dirty Ron McDonald brought forth allegations that GCW owner Brett Lauderdale ordered fake COVID-19 tests for his talent, prompting Lauderdale to acknowledge the allegations when asked by Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp. Now several GCW talents are taking to social media to refute the allegations McDonald has made.

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The first among them appears to be Tony Deppen, who AEW fans will have also recently seen on "AEW Dark: Elevation" weeks ago. The longtime GCW stalwart detailed his own experience with COVID-19 testing in GCW while responding to west coast wrestling news site SoCal Uncensored.

"Before every show, we had a group chat where we'd talk about the precautions and the deadlines for our COVID tests," Deppen tweeted. "I also had to sit out two shows [be]cause my tests didn't come back in time — and that was at the request of Brett."

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A tweet from GCW in January would appear to back up Deppen's claims, as the promotion stated that Deppen was moved from the event GCW 56 Nights due to an adherence to COVID-19 protocols.

Another star who came to GCW's defense was Joey Janela. The self-proclaimed Bad Boy, who has been the subject of attention following one of the hottest superkicks in recent memory, provided some insight regarding his experience with GCW and COVID-19 testing, as well as some evidence to back up his claims.

"We always had groups like this on social media apps, many wrestlers have been told to sit out before..." Janela tweeted. "Roster is vaccinated now, see everyone in Vegas."

Janela also posted a follow-up tweet, in which he claimed that "Most will ignore this because they 'Wanna smoke that GCW PACK' whatever the f*ck that means."

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As further proof, Deppen then quote tweeted Janela's first tweet showing COVID test groups featuring GCW talent for certain shows.

Finally, Jordan Oliver also took some time to refute the accusations, including other ones McDonald brought to light earlier that had perhaps been ignored.

"GCW made me send my test results to head referees," Oliver tweeted. "Brett made it clear to me many times if you test positive or don't get a test you can't compete, I believe he took it very serious. On top of that GCW pays ME very good. And that has been since DAY 1. Of course, these are MY experiences."

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