Wikipedia

Global Force Wrestling

This article is about the wrestling promotion founded in 2014. For the company that briefly took its name in 2017, see Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.

Global Force Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion founded in 2014 by Jeff Jarrett, the co-founder and former President of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, and his wife Karen Jarrett. It was owned and operated via its parent company Global Force Entertainment, LLC.

Global Force Wrestling
AcronymGFW
FoundedApril 7, 2014 (2014-04-07)
Defunct2018
HeadquartersNashville, Tennessee
Founder(s)Jeff Jarrett
Karen Jarrett
Owner(s)Mickie James
Merged withImpact Wrestling
Websiteglobalforcewrestling.com

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 Impact 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, but has not run any events since October 2018.

History

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Formation and live events

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With Jeff Jarrett out as minority investor of TNA Wrestling,[1] he debuted the branding of Global Force Wrestling (business name Global Force Entertainment, LLC)[2] 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).[3] Broome stated that the organization planned to create new on-air content 52 weeks per year.[3]

By August 2014, GFW announced working agreements with Mexican promotion Lucha Libre AAA World Wide (AAA),[4] Japan's New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) promotion,[5] multiple European promotions,[6] South African promotion World Wrestling Professionals (WWP),[7] and promotions from Australia and New Zealand.[8] 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.[9] The pay-per-view featured English language commentary from Jim Ross and Matt Striker.[10] Wrestle Kingdom 9 reportedly drew 12,000 to 15,000 buys in North America.[11]

 
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.[12] Jarrett also announced that four champions (Global, NEX*GEN, Tag Team and Women's Champion) would be crowned at the July 24 tapings.[13]

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.[14] In that show's main event, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows defeated the New Heavenly Bodies.[15]

 
Logo of the proposed Amped show

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.[16] 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.[17]

GFW announced that they had signed an international TV distribution deal with Boulder Creek TV in the UK on September 14, 2015,[18] and with New Zealand's TVNZ Duke on February 18, 2016.[19] Despite this, no tapings of Amped ever aired until 2017, when footage from them was aired as Impact One Night Only pay-per-view specials.[20][21] Overall, the promotion held 36 live events.[22]

Association with Impact Wrestling and lawsuits

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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]

On August 14, 2018, Jeff Jarrett and Global Force Entertainment announced that it had filed a lawsuit against 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.[28][29] It was revealed on February 19, 2019, that Jarrett filed another lawsuit claiming that Impact Wrestling had deleted the master copies of all 16 hours of GFW Amped. Jarrett also sued in attempt to get the trademarks of his name and likeness from Anthem.[30] Anthem counter-sued in July 2019, arguing that they were the rightful owners of the "Jeff Jarrett" copyright, that Jarrett knew the master tapes had been deleted, that they made no money off of GFW's content and that the looks and trademarks of GFW and their former Global Wrestling Network app are not similar.[31]

A mistrial was declared on July 30, 2020. The jury had come to a verdict but this was voided by a judge after a motion by Anthem stated that comments made by Jarrett's attorney had prejudiced them.[32] In October, Jarrett's request for a new trial was denied without prejudice, meaning that he could have requested a new trial at a later date.[33] However, Jarrett and Anthem reached a settlement in January 2021.[34]

Promotional return

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Global Force Wrestling returned with a private show held for the Kentucky Wildcats and Northwestern Wildcats on December 27, 2017.[35]

In May 2018, FITE TV announced that they had reached a deal with Global Force Entertainment to produce content for the streaming network.[36] The first event GFW produced for FITE TV was Starrcast, which was held during the week of All In from August 28 to September 2, 2018.[37] On October 21, 2018, GFW co-produced the NWA 70th Anniversary Show with the National Wrestling Alliance in Nashville, Tennessee.[38] Global Force Wrestling would become dormant in the following year, as Jarrett was hired by WWE as a backstage producer and member of their creative team,[39] a job which would last through to January 2021 as he left in order to pursue new projects potentially related to GFW.[40] He would ultimately return to WWE for a stint as Senior Vice President of Live Events from May[41] to August of the following year.[42][43] That November, Jarrett would join All Elite Wrestling.[44] This has precluded any more involvement with Global Force Wrestling.

Championships

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Championship Final champion(s) Date Established Date Retired Previous champion(s) Inaugural champion
GFW Global Championship Alberto El Patron October 23, 2015 August 14, 2017 Magnus Magnus
GFW NEX*GEN Championship Cody Rhodes October 23, 2015 July 4, 2017 Sonjay Dutt P. J. Black
GFW Tag Team Championship The Latin American Xchange
(Ortiz and Santana) 		October 23, 2015 July 3, 2017 Vacant The Bollywood Boyz
(Gurv Sihra and Harv Sihra)
GFW Women's Championship Sienna October 23, 2015 July 2, 2017 Christina Von Eerie Christina Von Eerie

GFW Global Championship

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GFW Global Championship
Details
PromotionGlobal Force Wrestling
(2015 – 2017)
Impact Wrestling (2017)
Date establishedOctober 23, 2015
Date retiredJuly 2, 2017
(unified with the Impact World Heavyweight Championship)
Statistics
First champion(s)Nick Aldis
Final champion(s)Alberto El Patrón
Most reignsAll titleholders (1 reign)
Longest reignNick Aldis (547 days)
Shortest reignAlberto El Patrón (71 days)
Oldest championAlberto El Patrón (39 years, 332 days)
Youngest championNick Aldis (28 years, 351 days)
Heaviest championAlberto El Patrón (240 lb (110 kg))
Lightest championNick Aldis (239 lb (108 kg))
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Nick Aldis October 23, 2015 GFW Amped Las Vegas, Nevada 1 547 Defeated Bobby Roode to become the inaugural champion. He later went by Magnus during his reign. [45]
2 Alberto El Patrón April 22, 2017 Impact Wrestling Orlando, Florida 1 71 [46]
— Unified July 2, 2017 Slammiversary XV Orlando, Florida — — El Patrón defeated Lashley to unify the GFW Global Championship with the Impact World Championship. [47]

GFW NEX*GEN Championship

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GFW NEX*GEN Championship
Details
PromotionGlobal Force Wrestling
Impact Wrestling
Date establishedAugust 21, 2015
Date retiredJune 4, 2017
Statistics
First champion(s)P. J. Black
Final champion(s)Cody Rhodes
Most reignsAll titleholders (1 reign)
Longest reignSonjay Dutt (364 days)
Shortest reignP. J. Black (98 days)
Oldest championSonjay Dutt (33 years, 234 days)
Youngest championCody Rhodes (31 years, 148 days)
Heaviest championCody Rhodes (220 lb (100 kg))
Lightest championSonjay Dutt (194 lb (88 kg))
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 P. J. Black August 21, 2015 GFW Amped Las Vegas, Nevada 1 98 Defeated Jigsaw, T. J. Perkins and Virgil Flynn to become the inaugural champion. Aired on tape delay on October 13, 2015 [45]
2 Sonjay Dutt November 27, 2015 WrestleCade Showcase of Champions (2015) Winston-Salem, North Carolina 1 364 [48]
3 Cody Rhodes November 25, 2016 WrestleCade Showcase of Champions (2016) Winston-Salem, North Carolina 1 191 [49]
— Deactivated June 4, 2017 — — — — On June 4, 2017, it was reported that Rhodes' contract had expired while he was champion. The championship has since been deactivated. [50]

GFW Women's Championship

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GFW Women's Championship
Details
PromotionGlobal Force Wrestling
Impact Wrestling
Date establishedOctober 23, 2015
Date retiredJuly 2, 2017
(unified with the Impact Knockouts Championship)
Statistics
First champion(s)Christina Von Eerie
Final champion(s)Sienna
Most reignsAll titleholders (1 reign)
Longest reignChristina Von Eerie (546 days)
Shortest reignSienna (72 days)
Oldest championSienna (29 years, 167 days)
Youngest championChristina Von Eerie (26 years, 56 days)
Heaviest championSienna (150 lb (68 kg))
Lightest championChristina Von Eerie (123 lb (56 kg))
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 Christina Von Eerie October 23, 2015 GFW Amped Las Vegas, Nevada 1 546 Defeated Amber Gallows to become the inaugural champion. [45]
2 Sienna April 21, 2017 Impact Wrestling Orlando, Florida 1 72 [51]
— Unified July 2, 2017 Slammiversary XV Orlando, Florida — — Sienna defeated Rosemary to unify the GFW Women's Championship with the Impact Knockouts Championship. [47]

GFW Tag Team Championship

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GFW Tag Team Championship
Details
PromotionGlobal Force Wrestling
Impact Wrestling
Date establishedOctober 23, 2015
Date retiredJuly 2, 2017
(unified with the Impact World Tag Team Championship)
Statistics
First champion(s)The Bollywood Boyz
(Gurv Sihra and Harv Sihra)
Final champion(s)The Latin American Xchange
(Santana and Ortiz)
Most reignsAll titleholders (1 reign)
Longest reignThe Bollywood Boyz
(Gurv Sihra and Harv Sihra) (406 days)
Shortest reignThe Latin American Xchange
(Santana and Ortiz) (70 days)
Oldest championGurv Sihra (30 years, 344 days)
Youngest championHarv Sihra (27 years, 355 days)
Heaviest championThe Latin American Xchange
(Santana and Ortiz) (389lbs (176kg))
Lightest championThe Bollywood Boyz
(Gurv Sihra and Harv Sihra) (303lbs (137kg))
Key
No. Overall reign number
Reign Reign number for the specific champion
Days Number of days held
No. Champion Championship change Reign statistics Notes Ref.
Date Event Location Reign Days
1 The Bollywood Boyz
(Gurv Sihra and Harv Sihra) 		October 23, 2015 GFW Amped Las Vegas, Nevada 1 406 Defeated Reno Scum to become the inaugural champions Aired on December 8, 2015 [45]
— Vacated December 2, 2016 — — — — The titles were vacated due to The Bollywood Boyz signing with WWE. [52]
2 The Latin American Xchange
(Santana and Ortiz) 		April 23, 2017 Impact Wrestling Orlando, Florida 1 70 Defeated Veterans of War in a tournament finals to win the vacant titles. [53]
— Unified July 2, 2017 Slammiversary XV Orlando, Florida — — The championships were unified with the Impact World Tag Team Championship after LAX defended both [47]

Other championships used by GFW

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Promotion Championship Last GFW Champion Reign Notes
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling TNA King of the Mountain Championship P. J. Black July 27, 2015 – July 28, 2015 [54]
TNA World Tag Team Championship Brian Myers and Trevor Lee July 28, 2015 – July 29, 2015 [55]
OMEGA Championship Wrestling OMEGA Heavyweight Championship Trevor Lee May 2, 2015 – November 21, 2015 [56]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Johnson, Mike (August 9, 2015). "Jeff Jarrett Out as Minority Owner of TNA Wrestling". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  2. ^ Varsallone, Jim (June 28, 2017). "Gearing for Slammiversary XV in Orlando, Anthem acquires Global". Miami Herald. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Goldberg, Lesley (April 15, 2014). "'Biggest Loser' Creator to Bring New Wrestling Venture to TV (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved April 15, 2014.
  4. ^ "GFW Partners With Mexico's Top Wrestling Promotion, AAA". Global Force Wrestling. April 29, 2014. Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  5. ^ "GFW Reaches Agreement With New Japan Pro Wrestling". Global Force Wrestling. June 23, 2014. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  6. ^ "GFW Reaches Agreements With European Promotions". Global Force Wrestling. July 24, 2014. Archived from the original on January 27, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  7. ^ "GFW Inks Partnership With South African Promotion". Global Force Wrestling. August 5, 2014. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  8. ^ "GFW Locates New Partners 'Down Under' - Global Force Wrestling". Global Force Wrestling. August 14, 2014. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  9. ^ Johnson, Mike (October 1, 2014). "Latest on first GFW PPV". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  10. ^ Caldwell, James (December 15, 2014). "GFW news: Report – Jim Ross's commentary partner for Jan. 4". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
  11. ^ Martin, Adam (March 15, 2015). "Wrestle Kingdom 9 early PPV buyrate, Global Force update". WrestleView. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  12. ^ "The GFW Roster Reveal Begins; Chael Sonnen Named GFW Analyst". Global Force Wrestling. May 6, 2015. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  13. ^ Jordan, Paul (May 12, 2015). "Global Force Wrestling to Crown Four Champions". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  14. ^ "Updated: Global Force Wrestling announces 'Grand Slam' summer baseball park tour, dates". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. April 20, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  15. ^ Martin, Adam (June 13, 2015). "6/12 GFW Results: Jackson, Tennessee (Debut live event)]". WrestleView. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  16. ^ Martin, Adam (March 30, 2015). "Global Force Wrestling Debuting on 7-24 in Las Vegas". WrestleView. Retrieved March 30, 2015.
  17. ^ "Under the Mat Radio: Afternoon with Jeff Jarrett". BlogTalkRadio. Dec 9, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  18. ^ "Press Release: Global Force Wrestling partners with Boulder Creek International to distribute TV". Global Force Wrestling. 14 September 2015. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  19. ^ Lee, Joseph (February 18, 2016). "GFW Amped Gets First TV Clearance In New Zealand". 411Media. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  20. ^ Martin, Adam (July 3, 2017). "Previously taped GFW Amped footage to be part of One Night Only PPV". WrestleView. Retrieved September 10, 2017.
  21. ^ Martin, Adam (April 21, 2017). "Global Force Wrestling has officially merged with Impact Wrestling". WrestleView. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  22. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Global Force Wrestling (GFW)". Cagematch. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  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. Archived from the original on July 1, 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 (August 14, 2018). "Jeff Jarrett & GFW Sue Impact Wrestling Parent Company". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  29. ^ "Jeff Jarrett And Global Force Sue Impact Wrestling And Anthem Wrestling". Fightful. August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  30. ^ "Anthem & Impact Wrestling Admit They Deleted All Master Footage of GFW Amped To 'Free Up Storage Space'". 411Mania. February 25, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  31. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (July 19, 2019). "Report: Anthem Files Counter Lawsuit Against Jeff Jarrett". Fightful. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  32. ^ Johnson, Mike (July 30, 2020). "Mistrial declared in Jarrett vs. Anthem lawsuit". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  33. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (October 9, 2020). "Jeff Jarrett's Request For New Trial Against Anthem Turned Down". Fightful. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  34. ^ Valdés, Apolo (January 13, 2021). "Jeff Jarrett y Anthem Sports llegaron a un acuerdo por GFW". Súper Luchas (in Spanish). Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  35. ^ Johnson, Mike (December 28, 2017). "Global Force Wrestling touts last night's event in TN". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  36. ^ Kellerman, Austin (May 24, 2018). "Jeff Jarrett To Tag With FITE TV For New 'Global Force' Content". Pro Wrestling Sheet. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  37. ^ Johnson, Mike (July 9, 2018). "Starrcast to air live on FITE.TV". Pro Wrestling Insider. Archived from the original on July 10, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  38. ^ "GFW Presents NWA 70th Anniversary Event In Nashville". Global Force Wrestling. August 23, 2018. Archived from the original on April 3, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  39. ^ "WWE HALL OF FAMER TAKING ON NEW POSITION WITH WWE | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
  40. ^ "Exclusive: Update On Jeff Jarrett's Status With WWE, Clarification On His "Producer" Role". Wrestling Inc. July 30, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2021. It was in January of this year that we believe a friendly conversation was had between Jarrett and Vince McMahon. Jarrett, we're told, was upfront with McMahon about the projects he had in the works and his desire to pursue them, while at the same time maintaining a good relationship with WWE.
  41. ^ Heydorn, Zack (May 29, 2022). "Jeff Jarrett's new title in WWE revealed". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  42. ^ Rose, Bryan (August 21, 2022). "Report: Jeff Jarrett departs WWE". F4WOnline.com. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  43. ^ "Jeff Jarrett Departs Wwe". PWInsider.com. Retrieved 2022-08-24.
  44. ^ DeFelice, Robert (November 6, 2022). "Jeff Jarrett Is Excited For His New Roles In AEW, Loves The Wrestling Business More Than He Ever Has". Fightful. Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  45. ^ a b c d Alvarez, Bryan (24 October 2015). "New champions crowned at Global Force Wrestling TV tapings". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  46. ^ Martin, Adam (23 April 2017). "Spoilers: 4/22 Impact Wrestling TV tapings results from Orlando". WrestleView. Retrieved April 23, 2017.
  47. ^ a b c 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.
  48. ^ Meltzer, Dave (November 28, 2015). "Global Force Wrestling sees one of its titles change hands". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved November 29, 2015.
  49. ^ "Daily Update: UFC Fight Night 101, D. Bryan responds to Cesaro, Dykstra fired". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. November 26, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
  50. ^ Jordan, Paul (June 4, 2016). "Cody Rhodes-Impact Wrestling Update". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved January 13, 2018.
  51. ^ Martin, Adam (April 21, 2017). "Spoilers: 4/21 Impact Wrestling TV tapings results from Orlando". WrestleView. Retrieved April 22, 2017.
  52. ^ "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.
  53. ^ Martin, Adam (April 23, 2017). "Spoilers: 4/23 Impact Wrestling TV tapings results from Orlando". WrestleView. Retrieved April 24, 2017.
  54. ^ Caldwell, James (July 28, 2015). "TNA news: Impact TV spoilers — big events taped Monday in Orlando". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
  55. ^ Johnson, Mike (July 28, 2015). "Another big TNA spoiler". Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  56. ^ Kreikenbohm, Philip. "GFW Grand Slam Tour". Cagematch. Retrieved July 16, 2017.
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