From my conversation with Ralph:
1. He doesn't want "low production value". I suggested renting a gym or a warehouse for the night and just getting some 4k cameras up but that's not good enough.
2. He claims he can get a venue still with old contacts from Knoxville, even without Tara.
3. Even with the upfront money, he wants a live audience, because he he doesn't trust Godwinson's money.
He specifically cited Corey's street fight looking like garbage and didn't want a repeat of that, but IMO out of all the things I can and do fault him on, that was an acceptable fight and a perfect example of what should be the goal. These days we can get 4K cameras no problem.
I'm going to try and figure out the escrow with Godwinson asap just to put that money there and see if anyone wants to chip in. If a real Virginia lawyer is holding $10k and has a contract ready to go, it'll have a lot more surety to everything.