If there is one thing Effy is not afraid of, it is speaking his mind. Infamously, the fishnet-wearing indie sensation was the man to call on pro wrestling promoters to book LGBTQ talent on their cards outside of Pride month, something that has become far more commonplace since. He’s also gone on the record calling Chris Jericho and Jeff Jarrett “clout vampires,” a term he uses to label older pro wrestlers working short programs with young, popular talent to stay relevant.
Now, one-half of Bussy is setting his sights on Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s right-hand man, Gabe Sapolsky. Sapolsky is the former owner of EVOLVE, which was acquired by WWE in 2020. In the wake of the acquisition, Sapolsky was hired by WWE to help Levesque with NXT and recruiting. Haus of Wrestling has heard that Sapolsky filmed an EVOLVE pilot for the WWE Network but it was not well-received internally and never manifested.
Sapolsky was let go by WWE in early 2022 while Vince McMahon was still in charge of creative. Following McMahon’s resignation, Levesque took over WWE creative control and reportedly re-hired Sapolsky late last year to help with booking. Previously, Sapolsky served as the booker for Ring of Honor and currently remains with WWE, while occasionally conducting virtual seminars with young talent.
In a video released via Twitter, Effy explained how some things have been brought to his attention “that sound complimentary” regarding Sapolsky using him as an example in his seminars. According to Effy, Sapolsky has been mentioning him as an example to prospective pro wrestlers as someone who has been successful at branding themself and making money.
“I politely ask that you keep my name out of your f-cking mouth because you are the problem with the entire industry today,” Effy bluntly stated. “For years at EVOLVE, because you did something good with CM Punk at Ring of Honor, you could manipulate and gaslight and carrot dangle and underpay and lie to people about pay or give them t-shirts to set up your ring for two years and then never really give them opportunities.
“Most egregiously of all, making more money on seminars than any of those shows actually drew with your own ticket-making foundation. You, sir, are the problem with what is holding indie wrestling down. You, sir, are the creative control that keeps people from having agency for themselves. Of course, I’m successful because I never listened to you. You tried to stop me from doing things that would get me blackballed and I only got bigger and better.
“I know you had to run away to sell NFTs when you got fired for a minute but now that Triple H has you back, everyone seems to have f-cking forgotten that you are a fraud and a fool. Beyond all the pay issues, I’ve all the stories of you yelling and screaming and acting like a petulant child in an environment that should be wonderful, nourishing, and uplifting to those that are there.”
He closed by inviting anyone who wanted to participate in a real seminar to hit him up, and not Sapolsky. It was also noted that the only reason he felt compelled to release a video is that this was the “ninth time” someone had taken the former EVOLVE owner’s seminar and brought up to him how he was being used as an example. Sapolsky responded to Effy in a now-deleted tweet, accusing the GCW star of trying to gaslight his own fans.
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