Drake Younger (Wuertz) apologizes for past actions and associations at GCW Homecoming – POST Wrestling
Drake Younger apologized for his past actions and associations following a match at GCW Homecoming Night 2 on Sunday.
Younger, real name Drake Wuertz, challenged Otis Cogar for the GCW Ultraviolent Championship at the Showboat in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Cogar retained the title, after which a bloodied Younger asked the crowd to hear him out for several minutes.
Wuertz acknowledged that some fans were unhappy about his presence in GCW and said their feelings were “incredibly valid”. He recalled GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale and Joey Janela reaching out to him around “five or six years ago” as his behavior and public statements began drawing criticism.
Somehow, at some point, I lost my way. I had people like Joey, like Brett, 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.”
And 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.
Wuertz admitted his words and actions had offended people within GCW and the wider independent wrestling audience.
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.
He went on to say that he was not seeking special treatment from GCW but wanted the opportunity to prove himself through his work. Wuertz then returned to the issue of his past behavior.
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.
Sunday was Wuertz’s second appearance of Homecoming weekend. He made a surprise return on Saturday and became involved in the main event, preventing Max Recon from counting a fall as Atticus Cogar defended the GCW World Championship against Joseph Sawyer. Sawyer, formerly Joe Gacy in WWE, subsequently defeated Cogar to win the title.
Wuertz worked as a WWE referee from 2014 until his release in May 2021. During the latter portion of his tenure, he became the subject of significant criticism over his public political activity and promotion of conspiracy-related claims.
In May 2021, he missed an NXT television taping to attend a Seminole County school board meeting in Florida, where he argued against mask requirements for children during the COVID-19 pandemic.
At another school board meeting the following month, Wuertz opposed masks, social distancing and pressure to vaccinate children while also raising claims about sexual grooming and pedophilia in the entertainment industry. POST Wrestling reported on the appearance, which Janela attended as a prank.
David Bixenspan reported for Vice that Wuertz had used a WWE email account in connection with fundraising for Operation Underground Railroad, a purported anti-trafficking organization whose cause attracted significant interest within QAnon circles.
Wuertz later ran unsuccessfully for the Florida House of Representatives in 2022 and publicly disavowed QAnon during that campaign.
Sunday was not the first time Younger has publicly apologized for that period of his life. Following a deathmatch against Janela at Juggalo Championship Wrestling’s Powder Keg on August 1, 2025, he told the audience he was a “changed man,” described himself as “clean and sober”, and apologized to people he had offended through his actions.
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