Global Force Wrestling

Global Force Entertainment, LLC
Global Force Wrestling
Private
Industry Professional wrestling
Genre Sports entertainment
Founded April 7, 2014 (2014-04-07)
Founder Jeff Jarrett
Karen Jarrett
Headquarters Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Area served
 Worldwide
Website globalforcewrestling.com

Global Force Entertainment, LLC, d/b/a Global Force Wrestling (GFW), is an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2014 by Jeff Jarrett, the co-founder and former President of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (now known as Impact Wrestling), and his wife Karen Jarrett. The promotion ran several live events and tapings for a potential television show. Jeff Jarrett returned to Impact Wrestling in an executive role in January 2017 and Karen Jarrett announced that GFW had "merged" with them on April 20, 2017. Impact Wrestling assumed the GFW name the following month, but it was dropped when Jeff Jarrett departed the company four months later. Jarrett resumed promoting events under the name in December 2017.

History

With Jeff Jarrett holding stake as the minority owner of TNA Wrestling, in 2014, he debuted the branding of Global Force Wrestling (business name Global Force Entertainment, LLC)[1] in April 2014 and began promoting the brand and establishing international partnerships with wrestling promotions across the world. The organization had a strategic partnership with 25/7 Productions and David Broome (creator of NBC's The Biggest Loser).[2] Broome stated that the organization planned to create new on-air content 52 weeks per year.[2]

By August 2014, GFW announced working agreements with Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA),[3] Japan's New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) promotion,[4] multiple European promotions,[5] South African promotion World Wrestling Professionals (WWP),[6] and promotions from Australia and New Zealand.[7] As part of GFW's relationship with New Japan Pro Wrestling, it presented NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 9 at the Tokyo Dome on the American pay-per-view market on January 4, 2015.[8] The pay-per-view featured English language commentary from Jim Ross and Matt Striker.[9] Wrestle Kingdom 9 reportedly drew 12,000 to 15,000 buys in North America.[10]

Co-founders Karen and Jeff Jarrett

Throughout May 2015, Jarrett announced talent for their roster, which included Bullet Club members Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows, the Killer Elite Squad, and Chael Sonnen as an expert analyst.[11] Jarrett also announced that four champions (Global, NEX*GEN, Tag Team and Women's Champion) would be crowned at the July 24 tapings.[12]

The first Global Force Wrestling house show took place on June 12, 2015, at The Ballpark at Jackson in Jackson, Tennessee, as part of GFW's "Grand Slam Tour", which entailed holding events at minor league baseball stadiums.[13] In that show's main event, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows defeated the New Heavenly Bodies.[14]

On July 9, 2015, Jeff Jarrett announced that the name of GFW's television program was "Amped". Tapings for Amped took place at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 24, August 21, and October 23, 2015.[15] In a December 2015 interview, Jeff Jarrett said that they had sixteen one-hour shows filmed at the Las Vegas tapings and hoped to have the programs air globally on television in the future.[16] GFW announced that they had signed an international TV distribution deal with Boulder Creek TV in the UK on September 14, 2015,[17] and with New Zealand's TVNZ Duke on February 18, 2016.[18] Despite this, no tapings of Amped ever aired until 2017, when footage from them were aired as Impact One Night Only pay-per-view specials.[19][20] Overall, the promotion held 36 live events.[21]

Jarrett finally departed TNA in September of 2015 as minority owner,[22] with the deal to bring him back to TNA (in order to get publicity for GFW) including an agreement for him to hand over his stake to TNA President Dixie Carter. That deal saw members of the GFW roster "invade" TNA with Jarrett to stage an attempt at a hostile takeover; that attempt ultimately failed, with Jarrett & the GFW talent being driven out of TNA.

After returning to TNA in early 2017 as the promotion's Chief Creative Officer, Jarrett stated that GFW and the newly renamed Impact Wrestling were "becoming one day-by-day".[23] On the April 20 episode of Impact Wrestling, Karen Jarrett announced that GFW and Impact Wrestling had officially merged.[24] In a press release issued on June 28, Impact Wrestling announced that their parent company, Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., had entered into an agreement to acquire the rights to GFW.[25] After the announcement, Impact Wrestling rebranded and took on the Global Force Wrestling name.[26] Jeff Jarrett took an indefinite leave of absence from the company in September and Anthem slowly reverted to using the Impact Wrestling name. Impact Wrestling's rebranding was officially over on October 23, when Impact announced that its business partnership with Jeff Jarrett and GFW was terminated. The deal for Anthem to acquire GFW was never completed and Jeff Jarrett continues to own the rights to GFW.[27]

Global Force Wrestling returned with a private show held for the Kentucky Wildcats and Northwestern Wildcats on December 27, 2017.[28] In May 2018, FITE TV announced that they had reached a deal with Global Force Entertainment to produce content for the streaming network.[29] On August 14, 2018, Jeff Jarrett and Global Force Entertainment announced that it had filed a lawsuit against Impact Wrestling's parent company, Anthem Sports & Entertainment, in the District Court of Tennessee for copyright infringement over the GFW rights, as Jarrett owned all GFW properties since its creation in 2014.[30][31]

Championships history

GFW Global Championship

GFW Global Championship
Details
Promotion Impact Wrestling
Global Force Wrestling
Date established October 23, 2015
Date retired July 2, 2017
(unified with the Impact World Heavyweight Championship)
No. Champion Reign Date Days held Location Notes
1 Nick Aldis/Magnus 1 October 23, 2015 547 Las Vegas, Nevada Defeated Bobby Roode to become the inaugural champion. Changed his name to Magnus during his reign.[32]
2 Alberto El Patrón 1 April 22, 2017 71 Orlando, FL [33]
— Unified — July 2, 2017 — Orlando, FL Alberto El Patrón defeated Lashley to unify the GFW Global Championship with the Impact World Heavyweight Championship at Slammiversary XV.[34]

GFW NEX*GEN Championship

GFW NEX*GEN Championship
Details
Promotion Global Force Wrestling
Impact Wrestling
Date established October 23, 2015
Date retired July 2, 2017
No. Champion Reign Date Days held Location Notes
1 PJ Black 1 October 23, 2015 35 Las Vegas, NV Won a four-way match over Jigsaw, TJ Perkins, and Virgil Flynn to become the inaugural champion.[32]
2 Sonjay Dutt 1 November 27, 2015 364 Winston-Salem, NC [35]
3 Cody Rhodes 1 November 25, 2016 191 Winston-Salem, NC During his reign, he wrestled as Cody and Cody Rhodes.[36]
— Deactivated — June 4, 2017 — Orlando, FL On June 4, 2017, it was reported that Rhodes' contract with Impact Wrestling had expired while he was champion. The championship has since been deactivated.[37]

GFW Women's Championship

GFW Women's Championship
Details
Promotion Impact Wrestling
Global Force Wrestling
Date established October 23, 2015
Date retired July 2, 2017
(unified with the Impact Knockouts Championship)
No. Champion Reign Date Days held Location Notes
1 Christina Von Eerie 1 October 23, 2015 546 Las Vegas, NV Defeated Amber Gallows to become the inaugural champion.[32]
2 Sienna 1 April 21, 2017 72 Orlando, FL [38]
— Unified — July 2, 2017 — Orlando, FL Sienna defeated Rosemary to unify the GFW Women's Championship with the Impact Knockouts Championship at Slammiversary XV.[34]

GFW Tag Team Championship

GFW Tag Team Championship
Details
Promotion Impact Wrestling
Global Force Wrestling
Date established October 23, 2015
Date retired July 2, 2017
(unified with the Impact World Tag Team Championship)
No. Champion Reign Date Days held Location Notes
1 The Bollywood Boyz
(Gurv Sihra and Harv Sihra)		 1 October 23, 2015 406 Las Vegas, NV Defeated Reno Scum to become the inaugural champions[32]
— Vacated — December 2, 2016 — — The titles were vacated due to The Bollywood Boyz signing with WWE.[39]
2 The Latin American Xchange
(Ortiz and Santana)		 1 April 23, 2017 70 Orlando, FL Defeated Veterans of War in a tournament finals to crown the new champions.[40]
— Unified — July 2, 2017 — Orlando, FL The championship was unified with the Impact World Tag Team Championship after LAX defended both at Slammiversary XV.[41]

Other championships used by GFW

PromotionChampionshipLast GFW ChampionReignNotes
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling TNA King of the Mountain Championship PJ Black July 27, 2015 – July 28, 2015 [42]
TNA World Tag Team Championship Brian Myers and Trevor Lee July 28, 2015 – July 29, 2015 [43]
OMEGA Championship Wrestling OMEGA Heavyweight Championship Trevor Lee May 2, 2015 – November 21, 2015 [44]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Varsallone, Jim (June 28, 2017). "Gearing for Slammiversary XV in Orlando, Anthem acquires Global". Miami Herald. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Goldberg, Lesley (April 15, 2014). "'Biggest Loser' Creator to Bring New Wrestling Venture to TV (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  3. ↑ "GFW Partners With Mexico's Top Wrestling Promotion, AAA". Global Force Wrestling. April 29, 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  4. ↑ "GFW Reaches Agreement With New Japan Pro Wrestling". Global Force Wrestling. June 23, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  5. ↑ "GFW Reaches Agreements With European Promotions". Global Force Wrestling. July 24, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  6. ↑ "GFW Inks Partnership With South African Promotion". Global Force Wrestling. August 5, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  7. ↑ "GFW Locates New Partners 'Down Under' - Global Force Wrestling". Global Force Wrestling. August 14, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  8. ↑ Johnson, Mike (October 1, 2014). "Latest on first GFW PPV". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  9. ↑ Caldwell, James (December 15, 2014). "GFW news: Report – Jim Ross's commentary partner for Jan. 4". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  10. ↑ Martin, Adam (March 15, 2015). "Wrestle Kingdom 9 early PPV buyrate, Global Force update". WrestleView. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  11. ↑ "The GFW Roster Reveal Begins; Chael Sonnen Named GFW Analyst". Global Force Wrestling. May 6, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  12. ↑ Jordan, Paul (May 12, 2015). "Global Force Wrestling to Crown Four Champions". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Updated: Global Force Wrestling announces 'Grand Slam' summer baseball park tour, dates". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. April 20, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  14. ↑ Martin, Adam (June 13, 2015). "6/12 GFW Results: Jackson, Tennessee (Debut live event)]". WrestleView. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  15. ↑ Martin, Adam (March 30, 2015). "Global Force Wrestling Debuting on 7-24 in Las Vegas". WrestleView. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  16. ↑ "Under the Mat Radio: Afternoon with Jeff Jarrett". BlogTalkRadio. Dec 9, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Press Release: Global Force Wrestling partners with Boulder Creek International to distribute TV". Global Force Wrestling.
  18. ↑ Lee, Joseph (February 18, 2016). "GFW Amped Gets First TV Clearance In New Zealand". 411Media. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  19. ↑ Martin, Adam (July 3, 2017). "Previously taped GFW Amped footage to be part of One Night Only PPV". WrestleView. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
  20. ↑ Martin, Adam (April 21, 2017). "Global Force Wrestling has officially merged with Impact Wrestling". WrestleView. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  21. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Global Force Wrestling (GFW)". Cagematch. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  22. ↑ Johnson, Mike (August 9, 2015). "Jeff Jarrett Out as Minority Owner of TNA Wrestling". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  23. ↑ Himanshu D (April 3, 2017). "Jeff Jarrett says that Global Force and Impact Wrestling are "becoming one"". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
  24. ↑ McMahon, Mike (April 20, 2017). "McMahon's Impact report 4/20: Lashley vs. Storm for the Impact Title, ODB vs. Rosemary, X-Division six-man title match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  25. ↑ "Impact Wrestling Acquires Global Force Wrestling". Impact Wrestling. June 28, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  26. ↑ Rau, Nate (June 30, 2017). "TNA Wrestling rebrands". The Tennessean. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  27. ↑ Currier, Joseph (October 23, 2017). "Jeff Jarrett Officially Gone From Impact Wrestling". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  28. ↑ Johnson, Mike (December 28, 2017). "Global Force Wrestling touts last night's event in TN". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  29. ↑ Kellerman, Austin (May 24, 2018). "Jeff Jarrett To Tag With FITE TV For New 'Global Force' Content". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  30. ↑ Johnson, Mike (August 14, 2018). "Jeff Jarrett & GFW Sue Impact Wrestling Parent Company". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  31. ↑ "Jeff Jarrett And Global Force Sue Impact Wrestling And Anthem - Fightful Wrestling". www.fightful.com. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  32. 1 2 3 4 Alvarez, Bryan (24 October 2015). "New champions crowned at Global Force Wrestling TV tapings". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  33. ↑ Martin, Adam. "Spoilers: 4/22 Impact Wrestling TV tapings results from Orlando". WrestleView. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  34. 1 2 Powell, Jason (July 2, 2017). "7/2 Powell's GFW/Impact Wrestling Slammiversary live review: Lashley vs. Alberto El Patron to unify the GFW and Impact Wrestling Championships, Scott Steiner and Josh Mathews vs. Jeremy Borash and Joseph Park, Sonjay Dutt vs. Low Ki in a best of three falls match for the X Division Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved July 2, 2017.
  35. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (November 28, 2015). "Global Force Wrestling sees one of its titles change hands". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  36. ↑ "Daily Update: UFC Fight Night 101, D. Bryan responds to Cesaro, Dykstra fired". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. November 26, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  37. ↑ Jordan, Paul (June 4, 2016). "Cody Rhodes-Impact Wrestling Update". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  38. ↑ Martin, Adam (April 21, 2017). "Spoilers: 4/21 Impact Wrestling TV tapings results from Orlando". WrestleView. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  39. ↑ "GFW to hold tournament to find new tag team champions". Global Force Wrestling. December 2, 2016. Archived from the original on December 7, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  40. ↑ Martin, Adam (April 23, 2017). "Spoilers: 4/23 Impact Wrestling TV tapings results from Orlando". WrestleView. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  41. ↑ Impact Wrestling (July 2, 2017). "Congrats, LAX! The new #Unified GFW & Impact Tag Team Champions! #TagTeam #Champions #LAX". Retrieved November 19, 2017 – via Instagram.
  42. ↑ Caldwell, James (July 28, 2015). "TNA news: Impact TV spoilers — big events taped Monday in Orlando". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  43. ↑ Johnson, Mike (July 28, 2015). "Another big TNA spoiler". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  44. ↑ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "GFW Grand Slam Tour". Cagematch. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
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