Global Force Wrestling

[Laz]

So why are we talking about Bruiser Brody again?

[goc]

So why are we talking about Bruiser Brody again?

Bruiser Brody was tall. You're allowed to burn bridges and not want to do jobs if you're tall.

[Cox]

The only reason to care that Low Ki burns bridges in wrestling is that it means fewer places for him to work and we sometimes have to go long periods of time where he's not really working anywhere. Otherwise I don't give a fuck what kind of issues he has with various management, especially in GFW, which is run by mostly the same people that gave us 15 years of TNA.

[Matt D]

The only reason to care that Low Ki burns bridges in wrestling is that it means fewer places for him to work and we sometimes have to go long periods of time where he's not really working anywhere. Otherwise I don't give a fuck what kind of issues he has with various management, especially in GFW, which is run by mostly the same people that gave us 15 years of TNA.

Hopefully this leads to him working LA Park on some Mexican Indy.

[El-P]

I wonder if he's giving the management the old "This doesn't work for me brotha." in his deep voice...

[rzombie1988]

 

So why are we talking about Bruiser Brody again?

Bruiser Brody was tall. You're allowed to burn bridges and not want to do jobs if you're tall.

 

He drew too. Low-Ki's extra 5 fans ain't gonna do it.

[Jimmy Redman]

Anyhow, as much as I enjoy discussing how misunderstood Big Show Low Ki is, I have a question regarding Global Force.

 

They have posted this preview for the next episode of Impact:

 

 

I don't watch Impact (nor do I intend to) so I'm not sure I understand this. Does Sexy Star even work for GFW? If not, why are they promoting this episode like this? Is Rosemary a big name for GFW?

 

I hate to be cynical, but to an outsider it almost looks like Global Force is exploiting this situation to try and get attention for themselves. More power to them, I guess. It just seems kind of odd that Global Force is planning on addressing the situation in such a sensational looking way.

 

Exploiting the situation by doing shoot interviews on telly about a REALLY REAL SHOOT armbar in a fake wrestling match is Vintage GFW.

 

BUT, Rosemary is amazing and they really should be building the company around her anyway.

[Alucard]

I don't watch Impact (nor do I intend to) so I'm not sure I understand this. Does Sexy Star even work for GFW? If not, why are they promoting this episode like this? Is Rosemary a big name for GFW?

 

I hate to be cynical, but to an outsider it almost looks like Global Force is exploiting this situation to try and get attention for themselves. More power to them, I guess. It just seems kind of odd that Global Force is planning on addressing the situation in such a sensational looking way.

 

They were planning on showing footage of Lashley and Moose from TripleMania on the episode, so they probably figured they'd cover the Rosemary part too since it got the most attention. But no Sexy Star hasn't worked GFW.

[C.S.]

Low-Ki is someone I would never, ever hire - no matter how good he is in the ring - because someone who flames out so spectacularly everywhere he goes isn't worth the effort of bringing in.

[Mad Dog]

I would hire Low Ki if I had a 3 month storyline in mind for him where I could then send him on his way afterwards.

[El-P]

Thinking about the fans, there's no way you can invest into him emotionally either or follow a story arc (yeah, not everyone cares about your local US indy that had those greatest matches ever 24 people rave about). So yeah, he's like, a really good worker (I guess, still, I'm going through 2007 TNA and he was quite the trooper there despite not being used like he probably should, honestly, but that's 2007 TNA) whom you really shouldn't give a fuck about that much.

[ZThomas]

 

 

My favorite Low-Ki moment would be one of the 20 years worth of awesome matches he had.

 

 

So I guess that proves the bar for "how much unprofessional shit will a company put up with if you're good in the ring" is somewhere between him and HBK.

 

 

It weird how so many wrestling fans are management shills. Low-Ki would rather control his own fate then go along with whatever dumb shit his employer wants. He values autonomy more then being a widget in a mostly shitty machine, I think that is admirable. Ki can go back to doing cool shit in AAW and JAPW, and I am sure he is happy doing that.

 

I agree he's been in and out of that company a handful of times now so the should know how he is. He seemed to really enjoy the BDC run but you cant just expect him to be aligned with his friends and book him as the token cruiserweight. He's watched his peers like Danielson, Punk and even Joe become one of the top guys in WWE at some point so why should he be stuck in the X division. I wish he was a current regular in NJPW or even gotten a run in NXT

[sek69]

so Jeff Jarrett announced he was taking a leave of absence from the company today. Hopefully everything's okay, but the reason given was "personal issues".

[The Thread Killer]

This is unexpected and seems to be totally out of the blue. Just this morning he tweeted about all the stuff that was going to be happening in Global Force this month and how excited he is about it. Something strange seems to have come up out of left field all of the sudden?

[Memphis Mark]

Not anything sudden . The rumor has been out there for a long time that Jarrett has an drinking problem . The word was he was drunk at AAA . There also was a nasty back stage blow up between the Jarretts and Bob Ryder . Then there was Jarrett decision to main event the next PPV against ADR .Plus Jarrett had begun the process of rehiring all of his henchmen and turning the promotion into a country club for his group. Maybe Anthem took inventory of Jarrett's pluses and minuses , then decided to cut him loose. .

[peachchaos]

A Jarrett with a drinking problem?

 

Well, you know?

[sek69]

He was out of shape and.... shall we say... Scott Hall like, at Triplemania. I admit I was kind of zoning out during that match since it was horrible for many reasons, but I was hoping he was just playing up the Ugly American gimmick he does in Mexico. It seems that wasn't the case though.

 

The suddenness of this makes me think that maybe someone did an intervention on him, and I hope if that's the case he gets cleaned up.

[C.S.]

If Jarrett does indeed have a drinking problem, and that's the conclusion I came to as well based on the evidence, the person you really have to feel most sorry for is Karen - she went through this with Kurt Angle, and now possibly Jarrett too.

[The Thread Killer]

According to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated...

Global Force Wrestling, under Anthem Media’s ownership, has been “hemorrhaging funds” and that “sources close to the situation have confirmed that Anthem is ready to withdraw itself from the wrestling industry and sell GFW.” There were several cutbacks at the last TV tapings, with a number of talents not brought in and others only used for certain tapings before being flown home, instead of staying for the entire run of tapings.

Anthem has had to catch the company up and get it out of several legal issues since buying the company, including the Billy Corgan situation and a lawsuit brought against the company by its former production company, Virginia’s Audience of One Productions. The ownership came with Impact deeply in debt.

Along with that has been the public battle with the Hardys over the Broken Universe, the suspension of then-reigning GFW champion Alberto el Patron and yesterday’s issues with Jeff Jarrett.

Prior to Anthem acquiring the company, Sinclair Broadcasting, WWE, and Billy Corgan all had interest in the company. The site adds that Jarrett still owns the name of “Global Force Wrestling”, so Anthem would be selling “Impact Wrestling”.

 

No idea if this story is true or not, but considering the history of this company, I wouldn't be surprised. It wouldn't be the first time that Anthem/The Fight Network made some weird business decisions that put them in financial jeopardy, I know that much. That company has been in serious financial peril before and has even teetered on the brink of collapse themselves.

[sek69]

Also there's the issue of the head of Anthem apparently being the source of a lot of frustration. Jarrett wanted to bring in Alberto as a surprise, only to have pics of his arrival at the airport get posted on the Anthem head's Twitter. He also was the one who was said to have fucked up whatever deal was nearly finalized to allow the Hardys to have the Broken gimmick back, leading to one of Reby's infamous meltdowns. Jeff having to deal with someone who doesn't understand the wrestling business and by all accounts has the people skills of a wet paper bag was probably not helping with his personal issues.

 

It would be amazing if this all ended with WWE owning the TNA library and Jeff going back to running spot shows with the GFW banner.

[El-P]

If Jarrett does indeed have a drinking problem, and that's the conclusion I came to as well based on the evidence, the person you really have to feel most sorry for is Karen

 

Agreed, that was my first thought too. And I know first hand, having been in the same situation.

 

Plus, I'm watching late 07 TNA and Karen then Angle was just excellent in her role, she picked it up immediately, a complete natural. Enjoying her stuff a lot (even when she's given crappy stuff, she's making the best out of it)

[bradhindsight]

Hemorrhaging funds read to me like they are actually paying their people, and seeing how this definitely isn't a viable opportunity. I don't know how they're just learning this now, really bad homework done by them going in.

[PeteF3]

It seems like Anthem was sold a bill of expectations that the company was just THAT close to a big cable deal again, and when the news of a re-up with PopTV came down, everything went to hell.

 

The too-hilarious aspect of this story is that the GFW trademark paperwork hasn't been finalized yet, meaning the trademark and assets still lie with Jarrett. So if he's out and the company is bailed out again, that means the 3rd or 4th rebranding in 6 months.

[Rah]

So we're all gonna be heading back to the TNA thread, then?

[The Thread Killer]

Also there's the issue of the head of Anthem apparently being the source of a lot of frustration. Jarrett wanted to bring in Alberto as a surprise, only to have pics of his arrival at the airport get posted on the Anthem head's Twitter. He also was the one who was said to have fucked up whatever deal was nearly finalized to allow the Hardys to have the Broken gimmick back, leading to one of Reby's infamous meltdowns. Jeff having to deal with someone who doesn't understand the wrestling business and by all accounts has the people skills of a wet paper bag was probably not helping with his personal issues.

 

Ah yes, the brilliant Mr. Ed Nordholm. This is the business and legal genius who decided to release evidentiary documents via Twitter while he was in the middle of litigation and a potential settlement to end said litigation. First Dixie and now this yahoo. Where does TNA manage to find these people?