The week in Global Force Wrestling may have been one of the most eventful and surprising weeks in wrestling history. While the company is still in the process of recording almost three months of television over the next few days, enough has happened where two weeks of programming could cover it all.
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote the following article: "After Six Months, Global Force Wrestling Needs To Actually Start Building A Company." I stated that GFW should not have their promotion led by former GFW Global Champion Alberto El Patron (aka Alberto Del Rio). I say former because GFW and their parent company Anthem Sports and Entertainment stripped El Patron of the title.
While El Patron was cleared of the alleged airport incident between himself and fiancee WWE superstar Paige, reports suggest El Patron’s behavior at other times were not becoming of someone GFW wanted as their champion. The move reeks of “too little, too late,” but by taking the belt off of El Patron, they are attempting to set a precedent by telling their wrestlers that things will be different going forward and that GFW is not the old regime of the “Clueless” Dixie Carter and John Gaburick. Good sign, but the week was not over there.
Tyrus (fka Brodus Clay) released a video saying that he would not appear on the “Live” GFW Impact Wrestling show this past Thursday. His reasoning was that he has not been happy with the direction of his character since the new regime came in and that he would need assurances about his character. Considering that his character has not done much in months, many could see why he would be upset. Tyrus kept his word and did not appear of Impact Wrestling this week.
But wait, there’s more.
During Impact Wrestling on Thursday, the unthinkable occurred. While Bruce Pritchard was in the ring explaining the GFW Championship situation, a person who has been critical of TNA/GFW over the years appeared and it was no other than...JIM CORNETTE.
Since leaving TNA Wrestling in 2009, Cornette was forthcoming about the issues he had in the company, stemming from working with his longtime enemy Vince Russo. He also stated that former TNA President Dixie Carter knew nothing about the wrestling business and was the reason that the company failed so many years. With that said, there are new owners at the helm, but also, Cornette’s friends Jeff Jarrett and Dutch Mantel are back in control meaning that Cornette has allies in the company.
Cornette made his first appearance in the company in almost eight years to announce that a new GFW Global Champion would be named in a 20-man Gauntlet match (like the WWE Royal Rumble) and the last man standing would leave as champion. After his appearance on the show, Cornette made sure to say that he is not part of the writing team, the roster or anything. He would be in Orlando for the marathon tapings this week and that this would not be a full-time spot in GFW. While his future in the company is unknown, it is a sign that the company is beginning to think logically about things.
In addition to what has been mentioned so far, here is what else occurred during Impact Wrestling on Thursday night.
- Former TNA Knockouts Champion Taryn Terrell made her first appearance in the company in over a year.
- Former X Division Champion Petey Williams made his first appearance in the company in over three years to deliver the greatest move in wrestling history once again.
- Current AAA and Lucha Underground champion Johnny Impact (fka John Morrison, Johnny Mundo) will be making his debut on the next Impact Wrestling.
- Color analyst D’Angelo Dinero announced that he would not be returning to GFW.
So all of that happened, and they are still taping months of television where as of press time, they have crowned a new GFW Champion and granted Tyrus his unconditional release from the company.
Is this all good news? Depends on what you consider good news, but what it has done is keep Global Force Wrestling in the headlines and fans’ consciousness. Many changes are happening in the company, but it is all necessary since the last regime FUBAR'd the company. They have to modify the look of the company drastically and it goes far beyond green wrestling ropes.
The next few months should be an interesting time for the company. They have resumed live events with two taking place in the New York City area a couple of weeks ago. I mentioned this before and I will mention this again: this is GFW’s last chance to make a first impression. Based on ratings from this past week, it looks as if it is starting to make an impression as ratings went up. Was it a mirage because it was a live show? Maybe, but if they keep this up, there could finally be an alternative for fans.
But not yet. They still have work to do.
