Jeff Jarrett Taking 'Indefinite Leave of Absence' From GFW

[IRS]

Jeff Jarrett is taking an “indefinite leave of absence” from his position as Chief Creative Officer of GFW/Impact Wrestling … this according to a statement from the company.


The statement on Impact Wrestling’s website says, “Effective immediately, Jeff Jarrett is taking an indefinite leave of absence from his position as Chief Creative Officer to focus on personal matters.”

Jarrett came back to the company in January when Anthem Sports took control from Dixie Carter. His return led to the exit of wrestlers like The Hardy Boyz, Drew McIntyre and Mike Bennett. He was also instrumental in signing Alberto El Patron, who hasn’t brought them the most positive public attention.

The company noted that Jeff will be available on a consultative basis “as needed.”

[Deleted]

Umm... what?

[greenjack1992]

So, do we think he's been forced to take a break or it's something he's decided to do?

[Zincdust]

Ugh, hopefully he won't be back to hocking those gold card...

[LA Times]

Sept 5, 2017 17:16:46 GMT -5 greenjack1992 said:

So, do we think he's been forced to take a break or it's something he's decided to do?

I think he had to do it. He was supposed to wrestle Alberto El Patron at Bound for Glory.

[figurecollector]

Good. That means he isn't winning the title for a while.

[drifter]

According to PWInsider.com, "erratic behavior" from Jeff Jarrett could be a primary reason why he is currently on hiatus from GFW. Apparently there have been incidents going on for several months, the first of which was an argument back in April between Bob Ryder and Jeff/Karen Jarrett. The "tipping point" is believed to have been Jarrett's behavior at the recent TripleMania show which included Jarrett throwing beer into the crowd

- Coming off the news that Jeff Jarrett will be taking a leave of absence from GFW, there is now information coming out that the GFW/Anthem merger might not as completed as people were led to believe. PWInsider.com reports that trademarks for the Global Force Wrestling name and the GFW letters are still listed as being owned by Global Force Wrestling, LLC, which is the company that Jarrett started in 2014. It's possible that if Jarrett doesn't return to the company, the merger could be dead and GFW would no longer be used as a name for the company that was previously known as TNA/Impact Wrestling.

- Regarding Alberto El Patron's status with GFW/Impact Wrestling, Jeff Jarrett was said to be a factor in El Patron being part of the company. With Jarrett possibly not coming back and Anthem's Ed Nordholm reportedly wanting to cut ties with El Patron, El Patron's future with the company is very much up in the air right now.

[Thought Collector]

Sept 5, 2017 19:40:45 GMT -5 drifter said:

According to PWInsider.com, "erratic behavior" from Jeff Jarrett could be a primary reason why he is currently on hiatus from GFW. Apparently there have been incidents going on for several months, the first of which was an argument back in April between Bob Ryder and Jeff/Karen Jarrett. The "tipping point" is believed to have been Jarrett's behavior at the recent TripleMania show which included Jarrett throwing beer into the crowd

- Coming off the news that Jeff Jarrett will be taking a leave of absence from GFW, there is now information coming out that the GFW/Anthem merger might not as completed as people were led to believe. PWInsider.com reports that trademarks for the Global Force Wrestling name and the GFW letters are still listed as being owned by Global Force Wrestling, LLC, which is the company that Jarrett started in 2014. It's possible that if Jarrett doesn't return to the company, the merger could be dead and GFW would no longer be used as a name for the company that was previously known as TNA/Impact Wrestling.

- Regarding Alberto El Patron's status with GFW/Impact Wrestling, Jeff Jarrett was said to be a factor in El Patron being part of the company. With Jarrett possibly not coming back and Anthem's Ed Nordholm reportedly wanting to cut ties with El Patron, El Patron's future with the company is very much up in the air right now.

[hbkbigdaddycool]

How does this company even cease to exist anymore?? From name changes, to owner changes, to TV channel changes, to wrestlers coming in for a bit and leaving, it's just.... complete chaos and havoc at all times!

[greenjack1992]

For crying out loud...

[greenjack1992]

Sept 5, 2017 23:38:34 GMT -5 hbkbigdaddycool said:

How does this company even cease to exist anymore?? From name changes, to owner changes, to TV channel changes, to wrestlers coming in for a bit and leaving, it's just.... complete chaos and havoc at all times!

I was just thinking that. They've survived everything! How do they go out of business if nothing seems to work?

[IRS]

Imagine if Jarrett does leave completely and takes the GFW name with him. They would have to rebrand for the third time in a year.

LMAO. They should've just stick with TNA at this rate.

[blissfan4life]

This company keeps taking L's. and I have no Sympy.

[Mr Wrestling Jr.]

That company ain't right I tell ya h'wut.

From TNA to Impact Wrestling to GFW to maybe not GFW to bringing in a guy to be the face of your company to that ing up within three months to all this, I really want these guys to succeed and move away from the TNA cloud. Like move away from Universal and start touring and being in locations that wrestling thrives but all this confusing head makes me want to give up on hoping these guys can do any good.

[Steve Corino]

Just read a report from a guy in sports illustrated that stated that anthem is looking to sell

According to a report by Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Anthem Sports and Entertainment, the parent company of Global Force Wrestling, is “hemorrhaging funds” on the wrestling promotion and is looking to cut bait.

“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.” (SI.com)

When Anthem swooped in (like an owl) late last year and purchased a majority stake in Impact Wrestling from Panda Energy and the Carter family, the purchased an asset deeply in debt and facing lawsuits on several fronts (Billy Corgan, the Hardy family, the Audience of One production company).

In an effort to alleviate the financial burden they acquired, Anthem has been aggressively cutting talent and scaling back on television tapings.

The news comes on the heels of Tuesday’s announcement that Jeff Jarrett is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the company due to ‘personal issues.’

Another dynamic at play is the fact that Jeff Jarrett reportedly still owns the “Global Force Wrestling” trademark. Anthem’s decision to rebrand the company without owning the rights to “Global Force Wrestling” is ‘questionable’ at best. As such, Anthem would technically be selling “Impact Wrestling.”

At this point, the biggest asset under the Impact Wrestling umbrella is the TNA Wrestling tape library. WWE seems like the most logical buyer of this tape library, which includes years of matches from the likes of AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode, Kurt Angle, Sting, Eric Young, Drew McIntyre and more.

[drgreenevil]

On the one hand, we wrestling fans need to stop doomsaying about Impact. Every time one of these stories come up We start doomsaying, but then the company finds a way to survive.

But at the same time...
How many "raise from the dead"/"get out of jail, bankruptcy, and failing free" cards does this one sad company get?
Also, after their video library, does this company have any other valuable asset?
Impact has minimum exposure and an ever-changing, not that great roster.

[ARUN]

Sept 5, 2017 23:38:34 GMT -5 hbkbigdaddycool said:

How does this company even cease to exist anymore?? From name changes, to owner changes, to TV channel changes, to wrestlers coming in for a bit and leaving, it's just.... complete chaos and havoc at all times!

My thoughts exactly

[Lewscher]

Big fan of tna in the Don west and Mike tenay days. Since hogan and taz etc and the ecw crap I've just kind of held on and not worried too much. They're still around regardless of what happens.

I just watch to enjoy 6sided ring action, with a large variety of talent and ideas being thrown around.

Wwe is very much the same cycle and pattern.
At least with tna through the years we have had so much variety it's almost good.

granted I'd have loved to see the originals thrive and create this fantastic alternative, however it's a shame they haven't but we have the memories and these guys have since killed it on the Indys and in Japan, and are now breathing fresh life into the wwe machine.

Tna/impact is an ever evolving entity. I doubt it will ever truly die out and there's a fantastic roster in 2017 that's introduced me to so many of my new favourite stars. (Eli drake being one guy who has the mix skills and can go in the ring and sells enough to make me believe, so glad he's champ)

So surely enough there's no consistency but what a whirlwind we've had in 15 years that far surpassed the past 15 years in wwe imo.

[Deleted]

I'm truly not surprised anymore. I'm not a naysayer, but someone who's threshold has been reached.

Sadly it doesn't matter what it's called, there will always be problems.

[tylerbreezee]

TNA is like a weed that just won't go away