Dark Sheik has revealed why she left GCW.
Sam Khandaghabadi had been with the organization since 2020 but walked out of the promotion earlier this year.
Sheik explained she decided to leave when GCW hired controversial referee Drake Wuertz (Drake Younger). At GCW Homecoming Night 2, Wuertz, challenged Otis Cogar for the GCW Ultraviolent Championship.
“When they brought in drake and I was the only one who walked out, im pretty sure I became the last outlaw.”
when they brought in drake and I was the only one who walked out, im pretty sure I became the last outlaw.
— SHEIKAH (@darksheikftf) October 4, 2026
She then wrote: “Prob shoulda left all that in the drafts but yknow critique comes from a place of caring and I always hope everyone has a good time and gets home safe. I feel a little in the wrong here because I know everyone there just wants to put on the best show and Anakin, Bear, the Cogars, Danger, Vipress and others all deserve to and should feel good about the work they’re doing, I just feel s–t sometimes.”
Prob shoulda left all that in the drafts but yknow critique comes from a place of caring and I always hope everyone has a good time and gets home safe
— SHEIKAH (@darksheikftf) October 4, 2026
I feel a little in the wrong here because I know everyone there just wants to put on the best show and Anakin, Bear, the Cogars, Danger, Vipress and others all deserve to and should feel good about the work they’re doing, I just feel s–t sometimes
— SHEIKAH (@darksheikftf) October 4, 2026
Back 2021 when he still worked for WWE, Wuertz attended local school board meetings denouncing mask requirements for children during the COVID-19 pandemic and went on a rant about how pedophilia is rife in the entertainment industry. It was also reported that as a volunteer at Operation Underground Railroad (OUR) used his WWE corporate email for fundraising initiative including contacting WWE talent.
Wuertz was let go from NXT and WWE in 2021.
Last month, during his first appearance for the company, Wuertz addressed his past.
“Somehow, at some point, I lost my way. I had people like Joey (Janela), like Brett (Laderdale) reach out to me and say, “Hey, you’re not the guy that I know. That’s not the Drake that I know that you’re saying. That’s not the loving Drake that everybody was so happy about when he signed a contract. That’s not our guy. I brushed it off. I didn’t listen. I had tunnel vision, stuck in my own bubble, associating with topics, loosely or directly, that I had no business or no interest in affiliating with,” he said.
He continued: “Through that, I may have said some things and I definitely did some things that I’m sure offended a large portion of our audience here in Game Changer Wrestling and in independent wrestling. And for that, listen, look me in my eye, I want to tell you genuinely, for that, I’m sorry, and I hope you’ll forgive me.
I’ve spent the last five years proving and showing that I’m not that guy and all that I’m asking, as I look some of you in your eyes, all that I am asking is for that chance to prove myself to you.”
After the appearance, GCW owner and promoter Brett Laderdale stated on social media: “In the past, Drake Wuertz shared some extreme view. He spread a rhetoric that was offensive to many and in some cases, dangerous. What makes him worthy of a second chance and why does that second chance come in GCW of all places?” he asked.
Laderdale explained: The answer to that question is personal to me. In March of 2012, I was on the losing end of a brutal addiction to opiates. I was at the end of the road. I was in Miami for Mania Week and I needed help. I didn’t know what to do. Only one person reached out his hand to help and that person was Drake Younger. On that day, he took me to my first of many years of [Narcotics Anonymous] meetings that put me on my road to recovery. Drake’s compassion changed (saved) my life, he gave me a second chance. I’ve been waiting for years to return the favor and give him his second chance. In my heart, I feel like now is that time.”
