ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — AEW superstar Joey Janela would recently reveal some news. Janela is seeking to break a world record for the longest sporting event in history. (Well, at least the longest sporting event in 2021. More on that later.)
Janela would announce that a 24-hour professional wrestling event will take place on January 29-30. The event, ‘GCW Fight Forever’ will take place inside the GCW Performance Center in Atlantic City.
This event won’t exactly break the world record
24 hours of professional wrestling appears to be a lot. And you thought 6 to 8-hour WrestleManias were bad…
So there is a clear reason why this event isn’t beating a world record as the longest sporting event ever. The longest event recorded was a 1939 cricket game between England and South Africa. The game would run 43 hours, 16 minutes.
However, Janela’s event will set a record for the longest event in professional wrestling. Although the record is not currently a trackable record, it’s highly likely that the “record” belongs to WrestleMania 35 in 2019. The preshow would elapse 1 hour, 58 minutes. The main card show would run for 5 hours, 19 minutes. The grand total for both broadcasts is 7 hours, 17 minutes. It most definitely was an endurance test, to say the least.
Janela: a creative mind for modern wrestling
‘Fight Forever’ will be a production in partnership with Game Changer Wrestling (GCW) and will broadcast for free. The great part about this event: it will rely on donations to help independent wrestlers.
A press release from the promotion would explain some more about the event.
“Streaming LIVE and FREE, Fight Forever will feature top stars from across all of independent professional wrestling competing in matches spanning a variety of styles and stipulations,” the release states.
It continues to add that GCW is partnering with individual talent to book curated programming blocks over the course of the telethon. Participating wrestlers and match cards will be gradually announced over the next few weeks.
“100% of donations will go directly to the performers,” the release continues. “All of whom have seen their income dramatically affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
It’s not currently known who will be on the show card. However, we will follow up as more information is made available.
What we currently do know is the show will be on a closed set, with COVID-19 testing taking place before entry.
This is a developing story.
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Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.