ANTHEM 'HEMORRHAGING FUNDS', WANTS OUT OF GFW

[The Ultimate Nullifier]

www.pwinsider.com/article/112141/report-anthem-hemorrhaging-funds-wants-out-of-gfw.html?p=1

REPORT: ANTHEM 'HEMORRHAGING FUNDS', WANTS OUT OF GFW
By Mike Johnson on 2017-09-06 10:06:00

Justin Barrasso of Sports Ilustrated is reporting that 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."

It was obvious based on the last set of TV tapings that there had been cutbacks with a number of talents not brought in and others only used for certain tapings before being flown home, as opposed to remaining for the entire run of tapings.


Since purchasing what at the time was known as TNA Impact Wrestling, Anthem has had to catch the company up and get it out of several legal predicaments 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 Wrestling deeply, deeply in the red. Although there have been several new TV deals made, there have been relatively few new revenue streams brought into the company and partnerships forged with different international companies, including AAA, Crash Lucha Libre and Pro Wrestling NOAH.

Since Anthem purchased the company, controversy continued to follow, including the "Broken Hardys" situation, the suspension of then-reigning GFW champion Alberto el Patron and now, the departure of Jeff Jarrett, who is taking an "indefinite leave of absence" as Chief Creative Officer following a meeting yesterday in Nashville, TN with Ed Nordholm.

Prior to Anthem taking ownership of Impact from Dixie Carter and Impact Ventures LLC, World Wrestling Entertainment, ROH parent company Sinclair Broadcast Group and Billy Corgan (who went on to purchase the National Wrestling Alliance instead) all looked into potentially acquiring the brand - and in the case of Corgan began that process before ending up suing the very company he was, at the time, President of.

PWInsider.com can confirm that there were multiple meetings yesterday afternoon and early evening regarding plans for the company going forward We can also confirm that calls were being made yesterday to members of the roster to assure them that everything was fine following the Jarrett announcement.

Anthem Media is also the parent company of the Fight Network, which airs pro wrestling programming regularly. It has begun putting much of the TNA/Impact/GFW library to use on the network since acquiring ownership.

To read Barrasso's report, click here.

www.si.com/extra-mustard/2017/09/06/jeff-jarrett-global-force-wrestling

Jeff Jarrett out; Global Force Wrestling "hemorrhaging funds" and future in balance

Jeff Jarrett is out as Global Force Wrestling’s Chief Creative Officer, and the move has the potential to have a wide-reaching impact within the professional wrestling industry.

GFW released a statement that Jarrett needed to focus on personal issues. When asked for clarification on Jarrett’s status, GFW’s parent company, Anthem Sports and Entertainment, declined comment.

Jarrett’s exit creates an entire realm of possibilities for GFW, which, up until 2017, was known as TNA Impact Wrestling.

GFW is hemorrhaging funds, and sources close to the situation have confirmed that Anthem is ready to withdraw itself from the wrestling industry and sell GFW. Anthem even needed to gut the Fight Network in order to finance GFW.

Another wrinkle to the story is that Jarrett still owns the name of Global Force Wrestling, so Anthem would be selling Impact Wrestling.

Yet, despite the entire ordeal, wrestling is all about commodities, and Anthem has a worthwhile commodity if it decides to sell GFW/Impact primarily due to its tape library.


WWE tops the list of potential suitors, as the tape library is extremely valuable. A number of WWE’s top stars, including AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, and Bobby Roode, as well as Raw GM Kurt Angle, all produced some incredibly compelling work in TNA. If the company were ever to pursue Ring of Honor’s Jay Lethal, he also has entertaining work from TNA with his Randy Savage-inspired “Black Machismo” character, as well as his Ric Flair impersonation.

If WWE decides to purchase GFW/Impact, the Hardys stand to benefit most. WWE would then own the “Broken Universe” intellectual property, and “Broken” Matt and Brother Nero would mesmerize WWE audiences with their “Broken Brilliance”.

A key part of any potential deal is the presence of John “Big” Gaburick, who is still a part of the GFW creative team. Gaburick is extremely close with Kevin Dunn, who is WWE’s Executive Vice President of Television Production.

Anthem could also consider selling to Ring of Honor or even open up discussions with former TNA investor and Smashing Pumpkins icon Billy Corgan, but Jarrett’s exit opens the door for WWE to make Anthem an offer it cannot refuse.

Justin Barrasso can be reached at [e-mail]. Follow him on Twitter @justinbarrasso.

[The Ultimate Nullifier]

www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/0906/631912/gfw-execs-to-discuss-future-of-the-company/

GFW Execs To Discuss Future Of The Company, Bully Ray's Words For GFW Roster, Ava Storie Photoshoot



- Above is behind-the-scenes video of Ava Storie at the recent "Forces of Nature" Knockouts photoshoot.

- It was noted during today's GFW conference call with Johnny Impact that the future of the company will be discussed on next Wednesday's call. The guests for next week's call will be Sonjay Dutt, Scott D'Amore and "Big" John Gaburick, who are leading the creative team with Jarrett's absence.

- Alfred Konuwa's latest blog at Forbes looks at GFW's problems and why WWE should avoid buying it.

www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alfredkonuwa/2017/09/06/gfw-is-up-for-sale-again-and-wwe-must-avoid-damaged-promotion/&refURL=http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/0906/631912/gfw-execs-to-discuss-future-of-the-company/&referrer=http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/0906/631912/gfw-execs-to-discuss-future-of-the-company/#3472a0a66a25

GFW Could Be Up For Sale Again And WWE Must Avoid Damaged Promotion

Global Force Wrestling (GFW) is up in flames again, and its possible sale is one acquisition to avoid for WWE.

Anthem Entertainment is beginning to discover what the wrestling world has known for well over a decade as TNA/Impact Wrestling/GFW's tumultuous existence once again seems to be burning another owner.

Before we go any further, just know I’ll be using TNA, GFW, Impact Wrestling—and maybe even an unfavorable nickname or two—interchangeably to underscore the crippling chaos that has defined this promotion’s existence.


After enjoying a cushy spot in prime time on SpikeTV beginning in 2005, TNA's relationship with SpikeTV came to an ugly end in 2014 after an email fiasco that implicated the promotion's ties to pro wrestling pariah Vince Russo, whom SpikeTV had no interest in working with.

Frayed relationships have become an unfortunate theme of GFW's recent struggles, which have seen entrances, exits, returns, infighting and power struggles between Dixie Carter, Billy Corgan, Jeff Jarrett and, most recently, Ed Nordholm.

The latest chapter in Grease Fire Wrestling is a doozy. Chief Creative Officer and unfortunate part-time wrestler Jeff Jarrett engaged in controversial antics at TripleMania XXV when he tossed tortillas in to the crowd to antagonize a predominately Mexican audience.

Alfred is a contributor to Forbes Sports Money. Follow him on Twitter @thisisnasty LIKE him on Facebook and subscribe to his weekly wrestling podcast.


"All Impact Wrestling really has to offer are tape libraries, which very well could be an overrated commodity in and of itself, especially when it comes to solving WWE's looming problem of attracting subscribers beyond its currently low ceiling of hardcore fans," Konuwa wrote. "As WWE goes through several cutbacks in order to rally its profits, all while trying to figure out how to make WWE Network more mainstream after it seems to have peaked at 1.6 million subscribers, spending money to acquire a damaged product with a minuscule audience would defeat the purpose of its mission statement in 2017."

- Former TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bubba Ray Dudley tweeted the following words of encouragement to the GFW roster today:

[The Ultimate Nullifier]

www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2017/0906/631905/anthem-reportedly-ready-to-sell-gfw/

Anthem Reportedly Ready To Sell GFW

Source: Sports Illustrated

Global Force Wrestling is in a state of jeopardy, and things seem to be getting worse. After Jeff Jarrett took an indefinite leave of absence as Chief Creative Officer to focus on personal matters, Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso reports that GFW's parent company Anthem Sports and Entertainment is preparing to sell the wrestling commodity.

Barrasso states that GFW is "hemorrhaging funds" and Anthem had to needed to "gut the Fight Network" just to finance GFW. It was just earlier this year that Anthem acquired the company after GFW's merger with TNA Impact Wrestling. Barrasso reports that since Jarrett technically owns the name of Global Force Wrestling, Anthem would technically be selling Impact Wrestling.

Also, PWInsider reports that "multiple meetings" were held Tuesday afternoon to discuss the future of GFW. Members of the roster were called to reassure them of the company's stability in the wake of the Jarrett announcement. But with these latest reports, it seems that Anthem is looking for suitors to get rid of GFW. Barrasso reports that among the potential suitors are WWE, Ring Of Honor and former TNA investor Billy Corgan.

[The Ultimate Nullifier]

www.f4wonline.com/tna-news/inside-jeff-jarrett-gfw-anthem-sports-situation-242346

INSIDE THE JEFF JARRETT-GFW-ANTHEM SPORTS SITUATION
BY DAVE MELTZER | @davemeltzerwon | SEP 6, 2017 10:25 AM

Yesterday, Global Force Wrestling announced that Jeff Jarrett, who was running the wrestling end of GFW and is part owner of the company, was taking an indefinite leave of absence from the company to deal with personal issues.

According to those close to the situation, the personal issues aspect of the story is legitimate and the public story is accurate.

It was clear that the decision was not something he knew about in advance because he sent out a tweet that morning talking about going back into the office to start a day of work. He was scheduled to host a party for the company staff at his home that day, which ended up being canceled.

However, others in the company were aware of the decision for at least a week.

There were a long list of reasons involved that date back several months including a screaming match with Bob Ryder at a television taping. Although issues between the two were settled quickly, it was said the situation was very bad when it happened. Another was Reby Hardy's admission of receiving unprofessional drunk text messages revolving around her going public on the Broken Hardy intellectual property conflict. The messages had gotten around to some in the company.

It appears the breaking point had to do with Jarrett's behavior at this year's TripleMania. Jarrett was said to be not in shape for wrestling and stumbled down the ring steps (although, he wasn’t the only person on the show who had trouble with the steps), doing little wrestling in his match. Ed Nordholm, Executive Vice President of Anthem Sports & Entertainment, was on the trip and made the call to remove Jarrett.

A Potential Sale

Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated reported Wednesday that with Anthem losing significant money, sources close to the situation say Anthem is ready to pull out of running a wrestling company and is ready to sell. Sources in the company denied that, but that type of story is also always going to be denied until it happens for the obvious morale reasons, and also because even those at the top would not be in the loop on a sale.

As noted in the Observer Newsletter last week, the company's inability to get a new U.S. television deal is hurting them because it’s clear the company can’t grow financially while on Pop TV and their current situation doesn’t appear to have any other way to make money. After testing the waters with three house shows in the Northeast (one of which was canceled and neither of the others drew well), no future house shows are on the schedule, nor is anything past the television tapings in November after Bound for Glory.

The creative has improved under Jarrett, particularly the quality of the show stemming from the last television tapings. Most of the damage was done prior to his return, but the new storylines haven’t led to any kind of a ratings increase. In the big picture, that’s a moot point with GFW having signed with Pop for another year, ensuring they have television. However, they aren’t going to be able to make any serious money off it. So, from a business standpoint, things will remain tough.

WWE's interest

Barrasso noted the value in selling to WWE, which would acquire a tape library that could be used for the WWE Network and other projects since it contains footage from WWE main roster talent like A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe and Bobby Roode. When Dixie Carter was in talks with WWE in the past (denied to those in the company at the time), it was about selling the tape library as WWE had no interest in anything outside that.

An added wrinkle is that the intellectual property the company claims ownership to includes the Broken Hardy gimmick, which would remove any obstacles of the Hardys using the gimmick in WWE. It isn’t clear who else would be interested in buying their assets, although just a few months ago, musician and former TNA creative member Billy Corgan was interested in taking over the company.

Because all the paperwork on the GFW merger with Impact Wrestling hadn’t been completed, any sale talks would be regarding the Impact Wrestling name and not the GFW name. However, the feeling is that, for the time being, it makes no sense to do another public rebranding so the GFW name will continue to be used on television.

Who's In Charge?

The creative side of the company for the time will be led by John Gaburick, who was in charge under Carter, along with Scott D’Amore and Sonjay Dutt. Gaburick being in charge of wrestling is interesting since there was a lot of heat and criticism from when he was in charge in the past. All the key people on the creative end were either brought in specifically by Jarrett (i.e, Dutch Mantell and Jim Cornette) or those who are longtime friends of his.

Jarrett had been on television doing a feud with American Top Team head Dan Lambert, although when Alberto Rodriguez (El Patron) was suspended, the pre-taped television wasn’t changed when it hit air. Jarrett was also scheduled for a package that was put together before he was let go with he and Jeremy Borash commenting on the recent Sexy Star situation from TripleMania.

If the Lambert angle even lasts past Bound for Glory, it can be easily transferred to Cornette as the GFW authority figure since that’s also been pushed on television. However, that could change depending on what happens with Cornette and Mantell. One company source said the decisions regarding both men were up in the air, and in the case of Cornette, there was at least a feeling of downplaying or not having an authority figure going forward. If authority figure angles are done away with, that changes a lot of the creative direction.

Similarly, the future of Karen Jarrett and Bruce Prichard are up to the new creative team. To complicate matters, Karen was working in the office and whether that continues is also up in the air.

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For more on this situation, including the plans for Jarrett, Alberto El Patron, and Rey Mysterio, check out this week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Wrestling Observer Live, and Wrestling Observer Radio.