Less than two months after it was announced that he would be taking an indefinite leave of absence from his position with the company to focus on personal matters, Jeff Jarrett is officially gone from Impact Wrestling.
Impact broke the news in a statement that was posted on Twitter: “Impact Wrestling announced today that it has terminated its business relationship with Jeff Jarrett and Global Force Entertainment Inc., effective immediately.”
The statement also confirms that the company’s rebrand into Global Force Wrestling is officially over, which was apparent when Impact started to shift their branding to remove references to GFW in September. Impact had announced an agreement to acquire GFW this summer, but the deal was never completed.
After returning to the company at the beginning of the year as the Anthem era began, Jarrett had been responsible for Impact’s creative direction until his leave of absence was announced. Scott D’Amore, Sonjay Dutt, and John Gaburick have been in charge of creative since then.
Impact will be in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada for their next set of tapings in November. This year’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view will take place at the Aberdeen Pavilion on November 5th before the venue also hosts Impact television tapings the next five nights.
Previously: Bobby Lashley made his final appearance after picking MMA over pro wrestling. Lashley and American Top Team then beat down Moose. Also, Johnny Impact defeated Low Ki to become the number one contender for the GFW Global Championship.
Tonight: GFW Global Champion Eli Drake defends his title in Mexico. Plus, Ethan Carter III & Eddie Edwards face El Hijo del Fantasma & Pagano.
Show Recap —
– An in memoriam for Bobby “The Brain” Heenan aired.
– Johnny Impact stormed into the Impact Zone searching for Eli Drake. He called out Drake and demanded his title shot right now. Instead, KM came out with a referee and told Impact that Drake is still in Mexico. Impact claimed that he saw Drake’s car and that he’s just scared. This eventually resulted in a match.
Johnny Impact defeated KM
Impact put his Global Championship title shot on the line. He got in a flurry of offense early until KM took over. Impact then made a comeback and used the Thursday Night Delight to score the win.
– In the back, Pagano was talking to an unseen person and went over the plan for later.
Taya Valkyrie defeated Ava Storie
Valkyrie dominated the match and easily beat Storie. After it was over, she took the mic and said that she came here to win the Knockouts Championship. This brought out Rosemary, who wanted a title shot too. They ended up brawling and Sienna, Allie, and Taryn Terrell all joined in. Gail Kim ran out for the save and the faces cleared the ring.
– In Tijuana, OVE found the location of LAX’s hangout spot at the gentleman’s club. They partied with some ladies before LAX showed up and they agreed to a match next week.
– Global Forged episode two aired next. Scott D’amore continued his search for new talent. He watched hours of matches and sit-down interviews. Only three competitors will advance to the finals.
– Joseph Park has been getting Grado a lot of work. He’s been working independent shows and is making great money, with clips of Grado at an event being shown. Colt Cabana made a very brief cameo in the background.
Pagano & El Hijo del Fantasma defeated Ethan Carter III & Eddie Edwards
The faces were in control until EC3 let his temper get the better of him and the heels took over. They isolated EC3 in their corner. He made a brief comeback and almost made a tag, but Fantasma yanked Edwards off the apron.
Edwards finally got the hot tag and ran wild. He had the match won, but the referee was distracted by EC3 and Pagano on the floor. Texano came out and helped the heels win.
After the match, the heels beat down the faces until James Storm came out for the save.
– Backstage, Dutch Mantell was interviewed. He believes Lashley is finished with wrestling. He also said he hopes he’s seen the last of Dan Lambert and ATT.
– In the back, Johnny Impact approached Pagano, Fantasma, and Texano looking for Eli Drake. They told him that Drake is in Mexico. Impact challenged Texano to a match and agreed to put his title shot on the line.
Kongo Kong defeated Mahabali Shera
Kong dominated the early part of the match. Shera made a brief comeback, but Kong cut him off and connected with a cannonball in the corner. Kong hit a splash from the top turnbuckle for the win.
Johnny Impact defeated Texano
Impact was in control of the match until he missed an attempt at the Thursday Night Delight. Texano took over and beat down Impact, but he made a comeback with a moonsault to the floor. Texano briefly regained the advantage until Impact fought back. Impact used a sliding German suplex and Starship Pain for the win.
– Sienna, Taryn Terrell, and Taya Valkyrie barged into Karen Jarrett’s office. She booked a six-woman tag match for next week against Allie, Gail Kim & Rosemary.
GFW Global Champion Eli Drake defeated Mascara de Bronce in Mexico to retain his title
Bronce got in some early offense, then Drake slowed down the pace and gained the advantage. Bronce tried to fight back, but Drake was in firm control. Bronce caught Drake with a hurricanrana for a two count. Bronce charged at him, but Drake caught him in the Gravy Train for the win.
Next Week: Impact presents Victory Road. The lineup features:
GFW Global Champion Eli Drake defending against Johnny Impact
X Division Champion Trevor Lee defending against Petey Williams
Sienna, Taryn Terrell & Taya Valkyrie vs. Gail Kim, Allie & Rosemary
GFW Global Tag Team Champions LAX defending against OVE
Bound for Glory is headed to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Impact Wrestling announced today that the Aberdeen Pavilion would be hosting the pay-per-view on November 5th, with television tapings also set for the venue on November 6-10.
When the word got out that the tapings were being moved to Canada, a number of people in wrestling inquired about the status of Jim Cornette, who has been all over the recent television shows as the head of authority for the promotion.
Cornette hasn’t been to Canada for years because he was turned away at the border in 2010 when they ran his record, which included a number of assaults, mostly stemming from incidents involving fights with fans who attacked him while he was a manager at matches in the 80s. He had been going to Canada for years, including his WWF run, with no incident, prior to 2010. When he worked for ROH, he never attended the shows in Toronto.
Because of that, Cornette won’t be at the next set of tapings and is done with the promotion, which he said there is no heat over and it’s just a matter of circumstances.
Cornette is expected to go into more detail on this on his podcast on Thursday.
GFW officials confirmed his being done yesterday as did Cornette today. Cornette noted that he came to GFW after being called in August by Jeff Jarrett, and the agreement was just to work one set of television tapings to facilitate a few storylines, which were the stripping of the championship from Alberto El Patron and the gauntlet match, the on-screen firing of Bruce Prichard so he could return as a heel manager, and to try and make Anthem Sports & Entertainment babyfaces to the wrestling fans.
After the tapings, he and Jarrett agreed that he would come back for Bound for Glory and for a few days at the next tapings in November. Cornette didn’t know his status with Jarrett now out of the company and the company’s creative, headed by Scott D’Amore and Sonjay Dutt, said to be more focused on in-ring action and less on authority figure angles.
Cornette hadn’t heard from anyone in the company other than Bob Ryder, who told him not to believe what he read on the Internet, and spoke to Dutch Mantell, where he explained with the tapings being done in Canada that he wouldn’t be able to appear.
Cornette agreed to come to Nashville and do whatever would be needed on camera to do a storyline exit. Right now there is nothing on the table for it.
Previously: GFW Global Champion Eli Drake defeated Matt Sydal to retain his title.
Tonight: Johnny Impact faces Low Ki with the winner getting a shot at the Global title. Also, Bobby Lashley makes his decision regarding his future in MMA and pro wrestling.
Show Recap —
– Earlier today, Bobby Lashley, Dan Lambert, and American Top Team arrived. They roughed up a backstage technician and laughed at him.
Garza Jr. defeated Braxton Sutter (w/ Allie)
Sutter was in control until Garza Jr. made a comeback and did the spot where he rips off his pants and reveals his tights. He blew a kiss at Allie and threw his pants in her direction, which upset Sutter. Sutter got frustrated that he couldn’t put Garza away. Garza then made another comeback and connected with a second rope moonsault for the win.
Sutter blamed Allie for the loss and tried to drag her away, but she wouldn’t let him. Cooler heads prevailed and they walked away together.
Grand Champion Ethan Carter III defeated El Hijo del Fantasma to retain his title
The judges for the match were Dutch Mantell, Scott D’Amore, and Hector Guerrero. Both guys each won a round apiece as we headed into the final round. EC3 caught Fantasma with the One Percenter, but he couldn’t make the pin in time.
They teased that Guerrero would favor Fantasma because of the AAA connection, though EC3 won on a split decision with Guerrero scoring in EC3’s favor.
After the match, Fantasma was angry with Guerrero and got in his face. Fantasma and EC3 argued before Pagano made his GFW debut by attacking EC3.
-In Tijuana, LAX reunited with Homicide and partied at a gentleman’s club. They discussed the upcoming match with OVE.
GFW Global Tag Team Champions LAX defeated OVE and two other teams to retain their titles
This match took place at The Crash in Tijuana, Mexico. It was just highlights, featuring a lot of high flying and insane moves. One of the spots was a hurricanrana from the top turnbuckle to the floor on the other guys. Homicide interfered to help LAX score the win.
,OVE confronted LAX in an empty arena after but were out numbered. As OVE walked away, they decided to pay a visit to the LAX Clubhouse.
Grado defeated William Weeks
This was Grado’s farewell match and he easily defeated Weeks. After it was over, Grado thanked the fans and said goodbye. Joseph Park came out and announced he’s hiring Grado to his sports agency, which means he can stay.
– Bobby Lashley, Dan Lambert, and ATT entered Jim Cornette’s office. Lashley made his decision and he’s going with his team. He said he wants a full release from GFW. Cornette finally agreed, but the only way he can get his release is if ATT leaves and Lashley confronts Moose.
Trevor Lee defeated Sonjay Dutt in a falls count anywhere match to win the X Division Championship
Lee sent Caleb Konley to the back because he wanted to win on his own. They brawled around ringside to start the match with both scoring near falls. Dutt climbed to the top, but Lee cut him off and connected with a huge superplex to gain the advantage. They fought into the crowd and Dutt hit a standing moonsault for a two count.
They brawled backstage, with Konley jumping Dutt to help Lee. Lee dropped Dutt on a guardrail and Konley nailed him. Lee then rolled up Dutt to win the X Division Championship.
– In the back, ATT beat up Richard Justice as they were leaving.
Taya Valkyrie defeated Amber Nova
Valkyrie dominated the match and easily defeated Nova in her debut.
Johnny Impact defeated Low Ki to earn a GFW Global Championship match
Impact had the early advantage until Low Ki used a dragon sleeper in the ropes to take over. Low Ki applied a second dragon sleeper, this time in the tree of woe. Impact made a comeback but missed the Thursday Night Delight. Low Ki missed a Warrior’s Way, then crashed hard in the ropes. Impact hit the Starship Pain to win and earn a Global title shot.
Eli Drake and Chris Adonis then attacked Impact and beat him down. Drake nailed Impact with the Gravy Train.
– Lashley came out to confront Moose in his last appearance in the Impact Zone. He officially announced that he’s going back to MMA and American Top Team. But before he goes, he called out Moose to the ring. A brawl broke out instantly between the two. They brawled around ringside and into the crowd. Moose hit a spear to gain the advantage.
American Top Team ran in and attacked Moose. Security tried to help, but ATT threw them out. The show ended with ATT posing over the fallen body of Moose.
Impact Wrestling’s Global Wrestling Network, an attempt to be positioned as the alternate brand to the WWE Network, will be launched next week with 850 to 900 hours of content and a $7.99 monthly price point, according to Ed Nordholm, the Executive Vice President of Anthem Sports and Entertainment.
Nordholm appeared on Wrestling Observer Radio Friday and spoke of the company’s future, saying the goal is to break even and eventually make money, but they knew full well when they purchased the company that wasn’t going to happen overnight.
“We’re invested in this company. We’re growing it. We know it’s not going to turn around tomorrow.”
The key news revolved around the announcement of the streaming service. The service will have both a free and a pay tier. There will be a one-month free trial period for everyone who signs up.
For those in North America, the free tier would include episodes of Impact Wrestling released ten days after they air on Pop TV. Of the company’s approximately 3,000 hours of tape in its library, about 850 to 900 of those hours will be part of the archives in the pay tier.
He also noted the goal is not for this to be just the GFW or Impact streaming service, but the alternative streaming service.
“We do expect in the very near future to be bringing in our partners as well,” Nordholm said. It’s not branded an Impact app. We want it to be a generic place for AAA, NOAH, if we can persuade New Japan or anybody. We’ll have a plan, an efficient place for an aggregation of wrestling content that isn’t related to WWE.”
“Most of the product will be in the pay tier. It’s hard to make the business work in the digital world off an ad-based product. There will be stuff available on the free tier, but you’ll have to go to the pay tier for the archives.”
Regarding The Crash, the company’s other partner, which has been running strong sold out shows in Tijuana, he said, “Not sure if Crash has that ability (to provide live show content), but if they had that ability to provide the content, we’d be looking for something to be on the app.”
As far as selling the library to WWE, that makes no economic sense at this point.
“I know full well how the WWE Network would monetize the content and what they could pay for the library,” he said. “It makes no sense for me to sell it for that kind of price. I’d rather keep it, put it up on the app, and monetize it myself.”
For subscribers, the full show with Nordholm is available to listen to below:
Impact Wrestling announced on 9/5 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 public story is accurate. The public statement made by the company is that Jarrett would be available as a consultant as needed.
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, and that day was scheduled to host a party for the company staff at his home, which ended up being canceled.
However, others in the company were aware of this for at least a week.
Previously: Dan Lambert and American Top Team had another altercation with Jim Cornette and GFW officials.
Tonight: GFW Global Champion Eli Drake defends against Matt Sydal.
Show Recap —
Sonjay Dutt & Petey Williams defeated Trevor Lee & Caleb Konley
Lee avoided getting in the ring with Dutt and even walked out at one point until being brought back in. The heels isolated Williams before Dutt got the hot tag and ran wild. For the finish, Williams nailed Konley with the Canadian Destroyer and Dutt hit the splash for the win.
GFW Global Tag Team Champions LAX (w/ Konnan and Diamante) defeated Jon Bolen & Zachary Wentz in a non-title match
LAX dominated the match and won easily with the Street Sweeper. After the match, OVE came out and demanded a title shot. Konnan agreed, but the match will take place in Tijuana in The Crash promotion.
Sienna (w/ KM) & Taryn Terrell defeated Gail Kim & Allie (w/ Braxton Sutter)
Terrell only came in the match when Kim was down. The heels isolated Kim and kept her on their side of the ring, then Allie got the tag and climbed to the top. KM grabbed her leg, but Sutter ran him off. Allie hit a crossbody from the top, but Sienna rolled through to pick up the win.
The heels jumped the faces after until Rosemary ran out for the save. The heels overwhelmed her before Taya Valkyrie made her debut. Valkyrie teased going after Sienna but instead attacked Rosemary.
– Jim Cornette came down to the ring. He talked about all the changes in GFW and new talent. Johnny Impact came out and said he wants to challenge the winner of tonight’s championship match next.
LAX interrupted them. Konnan was irate that Johnny Impact wants a title shot and feels Low Ki deserves a shot first. Low Ki told Impact this isn’t WWE or Lucha Underground. A brawl broke out until security came out to break it up.
Backstage, Cornette announced Low Ki vs. Johnny Impact in a number one contender’s match for next week.
– In the back, Joseph Park convinced Grado to call off the wedding with Laurel Van Ness because she’s Canadian. Van Ness went crazy and appears to be returning to her old ways.
– Scenes of GFW talent at Triplemania aired next. This focused on DJ Z’s return and Moose eliminating Bobby Lashley from their match. Lashley said that Dan Lambert is right and that pro wrestling is not for him.
A second video package from Triplemania aired, this time focusing on Johnny Impact’s title defense against El Hijo del Fantasma and Texano Jr. in a ladder match.
GFW then dealt with the controversy involving Sexy Star and Rosemary from Triplemania. They aired the finish of the match of Sexy Star injuring her. Later, Jeff Jarrett had an altercation in the back with La Parka and the AAA roster.
– AAA’s Pagano will soon make his debut in GFW.
– GFW congratulated Eddie Edwards on winning the GHC Heavyweight Championship.
GFW Champion Eli Drake (w/ Chris Adonis) defeated Matt Sydal to retain his title
Adonis tried to interfere, but Sydal took him out with a drop kick. This gave Drake the opportunity to gain the advantage. Sydal made a comeback and connected with a series of kicks, then scored a near fall with a standing moonsault. Sydal got another near fall after hitting the double knees from the top, but Drake nailed him with the title belt and hit the Gravy Train to retain.
Next Week: Johnny Impact takes on Low Ki in a number one contender’s match, X Division Champion Sonjay Dutt faces Trevor Lee in a falls count anywhere match, and GFW Tag Team Champions LAX defend against OVE in Tijuana.
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, musician and former TNA creative member Billy Corgan was interested in taking over the company in 2016.
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 being will be in the hands of John Gaburick (who was in charge under Carter), Scott D’Amore, and Sonjay Dutt. Gaburick being involved 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.
Global Force Wrestling announced today that Jeff Jarrett is taking an indefinite leave of absence from his regular position with the company to focus on personal matters.
The company’s statement: “Effective immediately, Jeff Jarrett is taking an indefinite leave of absence from his position as Chief Creative Officer to focus on personal matters. Jeff will be available on a consultative basis as needed.”
Jarrett has been a key figure in the wrestling side of the business during the Anthem era and as the company has rebranded as GFW. He has been forming working relationships with a handful of international promotions, with him representing GFW at AAA’s Triplemania XXV show on August 26th.
Jarrett was also in action at Triplemania, where he competed in the Torneo battle royal. It was similar to a Royal Rumble match, but with teams of three. He represented GFW along with Moose and Bobby Lashley. He spent a long time getting to the ring, heckling fans and throwing tortillas to the crowd, which is what his gimmick usually is when going to Mexico.
Jarrett tweeted this morning: “Tuesday morning…let’s go…super excited about September for @IMPACTWRESTLING @GFWWrestling …” GFW has also been advertising that he will appear on this week’s episode of Impact in a taped segment where they address the incident with Sexy Star injuring Rosemary at Triplemania.
Previously: Eli Drake captured the GFW Global Championship by winning a Gauntlet for the Gold battle royal.
Tonight: Eli Drake & Chris Adonis take on the team of Eddie Edwards & Johnny Impact in the main event.
Show Recap —
– Earlier today, Bobby Lashley, Dan Lambert, and American Top Team arrived. Lambert and Jeff Jarrett argued as Earl Hebner tried to get involved.
– Eli Drake and Chris Adonis made their way to the ring to celebrate Drake’s championship win. He discussed his title victory and that it took him 14 years to get to where he is.
Johnny Impact interrupted the new champ and made his way to the ring. Impact mentioned that he’s the AAA Mega World Champion, but he said that he wants Drake’s title too. This brought out former World Champion Eddie Edwards.
Edwards respects Impact being AAA Champion, but this is GFW. Edwards said he wants a shot at the championship as well. Jim Cornette came out and announced the tag team main event. Whoever scores the pin in the main event gets a future title shot. If Drake or Adonis gets the win, Drake doesn’t have to defend the title against either guy.
– In the back, Allie introduced herself to Taryn Terrell. Allie wanted to know why Terrell was so mean to Gail Kim last week. Terrell asked Allie to give Kim a message and beat her down.
OVE defeated Fallah Bahh & Mario Bokara
OVE controlled the early part of the match by keeping Bokara on their side of the ring. The heels had the brief advantage, but OVE made a quick comeback to win the match. During the match, LAX was shown watching in the back.
– In Cornette’s office, Cornette warned Moose that he might run into Bobby Lashley at AAA’s Triplemania. Ethan Carter III came in and was upset that he’s not on Triplemania. Cornette and Moose did Road Dogg’s “Oh you didn’t know?” quote to end the segment.
Petey Williams defeated Caleb Konley (w/ Trevor Lee)
Konley jumped Williams to start things off. Williams gained the advantage, then Lee distracted him and allowed Konley to take over. Williams took out Lee with a hurricanrana to the floor and hit the Canadian Destroyer on Konley for the win. Lee jumped Williams, but Sonjay Dutt ran out for the save.
Kongo Kong defeated Richard Justice
Kong destroyed Justice and beat him easily with a splash off the top. Kong continued to attack Justice after it was over until Mahabali Shera came out for the save.
Low Ki (w/ LAX) defeated James Storm
Low Ki was in control until Storm made a fiery comeback and scored several near falls. Low Ki attempted the Warrior’s Way, but Storm moved and hit the Eye of the Storm for a close near fall.
Storm connected with the Last Call, but Konnan had the referee distracted. Ortiz nailed Storm with the tag team title belt and Low Ki connected with the Warrior’s Way for the victory.
– In the back, Allie nursed her injury from Taryn Terrell’s attack earlier. She was explaining to Braxton Sutter what happened when Garza Jr. approached to see if she’s okay. Sutter got upset at Garza Jr. and told him to leave.
– Joseph Park helped Grado and Laurel Van Ness plan their wedding. Grado and Park were shocked to find out that Van Ness is Canadian.
– Pagano is on his way to GFW and will be debuting soon.
– Taya Valkyrie makes her GFW debut next week.
– Bobby Lashley, Dan Lambert, and ATT were interviewed in the back. Lashley said he wants to do both pro wrestling and MMA. Lambert wanted him to focus on MMA and accused Jeff Jarrett of disrespecting him, his team, and the entire sport of MMA.
Eli Drake & Chris Adonis defeated Johnny Impact & Eddie Edwards
The faces were in control early as Edwards hit a suicide dive to Drake and Impact dove onto Adonis. The heels then took over and isolated Impact on their side of the ring.
Edwards got the tag and took on both heels. He climbed to the top, but Adonis held his leg and Drake caught him with a slam for a near fall. The heels worked over Edwards and cut him off from tagging Impact.
Impact finally got the hot tag and ran wild. He connected with the Thursday Night Delight for a two count. Edwards got the blind tag, but Drake hit the Gravy Train for the win.
– After the match, Dan Lambert, Lashley, and ATT came to the ring. Jim Cornette came out and told Lashley that if he or ATT enters the ring, Lashley will lose his match at Triplemania. Cornette then announced Matt Sydal challenging GFW Champion Eli Drake next week.
Next Week: GFW Champion Eli Drake defends against Matt Sydal, Sonjay Dutt teams with Petey Williams against Trevor Lee & Caleb Konley, and Sienna & Taryn Terrell take on Allie & Gail Kim.
A day after being injured in a legitimate in-ring incident with Sexy Star at Triplemania, Rosemary posted a statement on Twitter last night to clarify the situation and thank people for their support.
She wrote: Let me make this perfectly clear: if you take liberties with someone’s body when they are giving it to you and trusting you to keep them safe, you are not tough. You are an asshole. And you don’t belong in this business.
Sexy Star decided to do just that this weekend at Triplemania. And while I have remained quiet on social media until I was more calm to address this situation, I have now been informed that she is telling people that it is a work. You are all now being informed that Sexy Star is a liar. She was a liar in the locker room when she was forced to apologize and instead cooked up some bullsh*t excuse that she ‘didn’t know’ and she is a liar now. You know if you are torquing on someone’s arm. You know an armbar is a real and dangerous hold.
The only reason your face is not broken right now is because a little voice inside my head as I lay on the apron kept repeating, ‘Don’t go to Mexican prison..’ (thanks, Demon)
However, turning to positives: the outreach from the wrestling community has been incredible. I’m overwhelmed with how much love I feel right now from friends, fans, and people I have yet to meet in this amazing business. We are a family and we protect our own. If you violate that, you are not welcome here.
I also want to thank the AAA locker room. Multiple people came up to me saying how sorry and disgusted they were. Thank you Hamada and Shani, who also had to deal with bullsh*t from Star during that match. Thank you, Vampiro, for professionally trying to calm a volatile situation, though, as you know, once the excuses started pouring out of Sexy Star’s mouth in lieu of an apology, it was over.
Thank you to the amazing GFW locker room, both present that night and not. I have so much support from everyone, and talent, crew and office have all reached out to show me that.
Rosemary suffered the injury when Sexy Star applied an armbar on her at the end of the Reina de Reinas title match at Triplemania on Saturday night. Dave Meltzer wrote in yesterday’s daily update that the explanation that was given was that Sexy Star thought all three other women in the match were after her due to Lady Shani allegedly shooting on her earlier in it.
In addition to the support Rosemary has received, Sexy Star has gotten significant criticism on social media from others in the pro wrestling industry. Cody Rhodes tweeted that Sexy Star will never step foot into one of his locker rooms and Brian James (Road Dogg) called for her to be blacklisted if the incident is legitimate.
WrestleCade also announced that they’ve removed Sexy Star from their November weekend in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They wrote that anyone who ordered tickets to her meet and greet in advance will be refunded as soon as possible.
There was an incident involving Rosemary (Holly Letkeman) and Sexy Star (Dulce Garcia) at last night’s Triplemania show that resulted in Rosemary’s elbow popping from an armbar finisher.
The reports are that Garcia put the move on legitimately to end a four-way match for the Reina de Reinas title that also involved Lady Shani and Ayako Hamada.
There have been a lot of wrestlers from GFW who have posted on social media regarding the incident, as well as talent not with the company.
While it is always possible such a thing is a new age work, especially given Vampiro being said to be part of this, from all indications we’ve been given at this point it was not and there is a huge backlash against Garcia since injuries from moves and accidents are one thing, but something that would appear to be deliberate should not be part of the modern business.
Global Force Wrestling’s Eddie Edwards has become the first American wrestler to win Pro Wrestling NOAH’s GHC Heavyweight Championship.
Edwards defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima to win the title at this morning’s NOAH Summer Navigation 2017 event at Korakuen Hall. Edwards has been a semi-regular since GFW established a working relationship with NOAH back in February. Nakajima had been champion for 307 days, defeating Takashi Sugiura on October 23rd of last year.
Naomichi Marufuji came out after the match and challenged Edwards to a title match. That will take place in Yokohama on October 1st.
Since taking over GFW, Jeff Jarrett has established ties with a number of international promotions, including NOAH, to bring talent over to the US for Impact tapings. Both Taiji Ishimori and Marufuji have wrestled for the promotion in recent months. GFW has also set up relationships with Konnan’s The Crash promotion in Tijuana and AAA.
The Summer Navigation 2017 event featuring Edwards’ title win is set to air on G+ in Japan on September 3rd.
Previously: Jim Cornette made his return to GFW and officially stripped Alberto El Patron of the GFW Global Championship. Additionally, Johnny Impact is on his way to GFW.
Tonight: A new GFW Global Champion will be crowned in a 20-man Gauntlet For The Gold Battle Royal featuring a surprise entrant.
Show Recap —
– Last week, Dan Lambert and Jeff Jarrett got in an argument after Bobby Lashley’s loss to Matt Sydal. James Storm ended up getting involved as well.
– Earlier today, Lashley, Lambert and American Top Team arrived at the building. Jarrett offered a handshake to Lambert, but he refused.
– Also before the show started, Jim Cornette gave a pep talk to the GFW roster. He promised a surprise entrant in the battle royal. He also fined Lashley for not attending the meeting.
OVE defeated Heat Seekers
OVE started off the match simultaneously hitting a suicide dive and moonsault to the floor. Dave Crist executed a very unique looking DDT on the apron. They dominated the match and easily picked up the win.
– In Cornette’s office, Eli Drake and Chris Adonis attempted to get Drake’s number changed as he was set to enter at number one in the battle royal. Cornette agreed and changed his number to two.
– Jeremy Borash interviewed Taryn Terrell, who made her return last week and cost Gail Kim the Knockouts championship. Terrell is going to help Kim on her journey to retirement. Kim ran out but Terrell escaped.
– In Cornette’s office, Lashley, Lambert and American Top Team were arguing with him. Lashley was upset that he wasn’t given the title. Cornette and Lambert both told Lashley he must choose between MMA and wrestling.
– Grado and Joseph Park came down to ring for Grado’s American farewell. He was disappointed he couldn’t convince anyone to marry him. Park apologized for not being able to help.
Laurel Van Ness came out looking gorgeous and not a psychotic mess in a wedding dress. She got down on one knee and asked him to marry her. Grado said yes and they celebrated. Kongo Kong came out but Mahabali Shera stopped him for entering the ring.
– In Cornette’s office, Jim gave Eddie Edwards a pep talk. Edwards has an early number, but Cornette believed in him.
– At the LAX clubhouse, Konnan discussed business including Low Ki winning the battle royal later.
Eli Drake won the GFW Global Championship in a Gauntlet for the Gold battle royal
Order of Entry: Eddie Edwards, Eli Drake, Mario Bokara, Kingston, Braxton Sutter, Richard Justice, Ethan Carter III, Kongo Kong, Suicide, Mahabali Shera, Chris Adonis, El Hijo Del Fantasma, Johnny Impact, Garza Jr., Fallah Bahh, KM, Taiji Ishimori, Bobby Lashley, Moose, and Low Ki.
The story of the match had Drake and Edwards lasting the entire battle royal. The ring filled up with a bunch of guys over time. Richard Justice came out and did some squats before entering. Nobody wanted his help, so he did more squats in the corner. EC3 entered and made an alliance with Justice. He then quickly turned on Justice and tossed him out of the ring for the first elimination.
Kongo Kong easily eliminated Bokara and Kingston. Kong charged at Shera but he moved and Kong went out. Adonis entered and quickly dumped out Shera.
Johnny Impact was the surprise entrant and ran wild. He immediately eliminated Adonis and Suicide. Sutter charged Garza Jr. but he moved and Sutter went out. Lashley cleared the ring and eliminated KM, Bahh and Ishimori. Moose dominated and power bombed Garza Jr. to the floor. EC3 gave Fantasma the TK3 to the floor.
Moose and Edwards teamed up to eliminate EC3 from the match. Low Ki locked a submission on Moose but Lashley grabbed Low Ki and eliminated him.
The final five were Lashley, Edwards, Drake, Moose and Impact. Moose and Lashley traded shots in the middle of the ring. Lashley climbed to the top but Moose caught him with a drop kick eliminating him. Moose attempted to power bomb Edwards out but he held on and sent Moose to the floor. Drake went through the middle ropes and pulled Impact out to eliminate him, now making it a singles match between Drake and Edwards for the title.
Edwards scored several early near falls, but couldn’t put Drake away. Edwards dove off the top but Drake caught him and hit the Gravy Train to win the GFW Global Championship.
– After the match, American Top Team attacked Brian Hebner again. Dan Lambert shoved Scott D’Amore to the floor. American Top Team jumped the guard rail and stormed off.
Next Week: Eli Drake celebrates winning the GFW Global Championship.
Eli Drake is the new GFW Unified World Champion following tonight’s tapings in Florida.
In a 20-man gauntlet match, Drake entered as the first participant and outlasted everyone else, last eliminating Eddie Edwards to win the title. This will air on the August 24th edition of Impact.
On the episode that aired tonight, it was officially announced that former champion Alberto El Patron had been stripped of the title. Bruce Prichard first tried to award it to Bobby Lashley, but Jim Cornette returned as an on-screen authority figure and set up the gauntlet match.
The move to strip El Patron was made earlier this week following GFW’s investigation of the Orlando International Airport incident between El Patron and fiancee Paige from July. GFW released a statement saying that “While it is apparent that initial reports unfairly characterized El Patron’s involvement in the incident in the Orlando airport, we are nonetheless disappointed with the manner in which he dealt with this situation, we expect more decorum from all on the GFW roster, especially the World Champion.”
While their investigation of the incident has concluded, El Patron remains suspended.
Drake, 34, had been in NXT as Slate Randall before joining Global Force Wrestling in 2015, most recently teaming with Chris Adonis, aka Chris Masters.
