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LAS VEGAS – The average sports fan who thinks of pro wrestling likely has the idea in their head that everything in the industry is WWE-like – a four-sided, cable-roped ring, with four sides, featuring muscle-laden men and women performing highly choreographed moves with no violence or blood involved.
While that might be true for most events that will take place in Las Vegas in the lead-up to WrestleMania 42, Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XV promises hard-hitting action and an event unlike any other.
For one, there are no ropes around the ring in Bloodsport. Two competitors enter the intimate venue looking to knock the snot out of each other. Wrestlers go one-on-one with mixed martial arts-like rules. A winner is determined via knockout, referee stoppage or submission.
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Josh Barnett stands in the corner of Victor Henry before a bantamweight fight against Charles Jourdain during the UFC Fight Night event at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, on Nov. 2, 2024. (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Barnett helped establish what the event is today as he took over production of the event under Brett Lauderdale’s Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) banner. He told Fox News Digital he embarked on a journey to create matches that may never happen anywhere else.
"I think one thing about wrestling, or really kind of anything, is that once something becomes established at any given time, it starts to become the set standard, or the rope standard, where you find that almost entirely everywhere you go and nothing else," he explained. "And it's always good to have something else to offer that still falls within that same category as pro wrestling. So, with Bloodsport, it's not just what is commonly referred to in the business as a shoot or like a like an MMA or sort of more realistic style, but mainly, I think the thing was that it's stripping away the wrestling down to its rawest, most-purest form.
"For me, I want to Bloodsport to be a place that, regardless of what you think about it, but you should probably try to capture the fans first, but I built Bloodsport in a way, the most enticing to wrestlers, to make them want to be there and be a part of this, especially because if, in my mind, we were able to do what I was hoping, there would be wrestlers of a very high caliber from all over the world that would be willing, or athletes in general, that would willing to do BloodSport, despite us being an indie show, because it's me.
PANDEMONIUM: PRO WRESTLING KICKSTARTS WRESTLEMANIA WEEK WITH HARD-HITTING ACTION IN LAS VEGAS
Charlie Dempsey and Joe Hendry compete during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on Aug. 12, 2025. (Craig Ambrosio/WWE)
"And I would take advantage of that in the sense of making something that seems so desirable to them that they didn't that they really just wanted to do it considering that it's much smaller sandbox than what they're used to and I figured from there that's where you'll get the fans you'll be able to do things here with athletes and matchups that you can't find anywhere else and you won't it's just never going to happen. You're not going to find Masashi Takeda versus Pete Dunne. Plus, that's possible nowhere else. It’s never going to happen. And things of that nature. But by being something that is so much more raw and aggressive, We're the hardest hitting event in professional wrestling for a reason."
Finding a pro wrestler that fits the mold of what Barnett is looking for isn’t easy to come by.
However, the event has had success at bringing in wrestlers and even MMA fighters to the canvas. WWE stars like Dunne, Nattie Niedhart and Charlie Dempsey, All Elite Wrestling champion Jon Moxley, and even Barnett himself, have participated in BloodSport in the show’s history.
Barnett relishes the opportunity to allow other pro wrestlers the ability to showcase a different side of themselves that fans may not have been able to see elsewhere.
Josh Barnett looks on during New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 19 at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, on Jan. 4, 2025. (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
"It really is important that you have a proper understanding and set of skills before partaking in a type of match like this. And honestly, I mean that keeps the talent pool small, which I knew was going to be an issue leading into this, but it's OK," he told Fox News Digital. "I also saw it as an opportunity to showcase maybe wrestlers that folks haven't seen as much or weren't as aware of simply because they fit like hand and glove in this, and maybe in some of the other shows, or the more typical wrestling shows, they feel like they’re more restrained and not being able to use this side of themselves or it doesn’t register as well in that other environment.
"Here, they can be something completely different. It's been the case that a lot of people that have even come from the WWE, you’ll see them in BloodSport. It’s like, ‘Wow, who is this person? I’ve never seen them before.’ Well, that’s always been there, that's part of who they are and where their capability as a wrestler stems from. It also allows us to bring in MMA fighters at times, too, when possible, like a Frank Muir or Rampage Jackson."
Barnett will be among those in action in what promises to be an incredible lineup.
- Matt Mako vs. Angel Verduczo
- Ulka Sasaki vs Joe Dashou
- Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ray Jaz
- Erick Stevens vs. Fuminori Abe
- Miyu Yamashita vs. Janai Kai
- Shane Mercer vs. Royce Isaacs
- Masashi Takeda vs. Pete Dunne
- Timothy Thater vs. Charlie Dempsey
- Nattie Neidhart vs. Shayna Baszler
- Josh Barnett vs. Yuji Nagata
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Zack Sabre Jr. enters the ring during New Japan Pro-Wrestling at Edion Arena Osaka in Osaka, Japan, on Feb. 11, 2026. (Etsuo Hara/Getty Images)
"I think there's a lot of potential for some breakout matches on this card with the level of talent that's involved. And not every match is gonna seem the same in any way, shape, or form."
Bloodsport XV is set for Friday at the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas at 3 p.m. PT.
Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.
