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| Graphics via SB Nation |
Jeff Jarrett's new wrestling promotion will be called Global Force Wrestling. No launch date has been announced, but Jarrett has already scouted 400 performers for his databases, and he promises an interactive, fan-driven experience. In an interview he gave to SB Nation, Jarrett said, "[WWE] have built a brand over the last 50, 60 years. And truly, [WrestleMania] weekend is the perfect example of just how global their brand is... There is definitely room, space for a brand new promotion to come on the scene... Our mission statement is going to be, right at the very top, that we are going to put out a professional wrestling product that listens to the fans, engages the fans. We are going to immerse ourselves with the wrestling fan and that is going to be first and foremost." That quote signifies that Jarrett looks to provide an alternative experience to the monolithic, "my way or the highway" approach WWE appears to take from time to time.
My thoughts on the matter, first, the name is pretty cheesy. Global Force Wrestling sounds like something out of the era in the '80s when the territories scrambled to go national in response to the WWF's expansion. With the above in mind, it is a hell of a lot better than the sex pun that was TNA's name. Jarrett also picked a great weekend to launch the first news of the promotion, as most people's eyes are on wrestling in the preparation and aftermath of WrestleMania. I can't speculate how the promotion will do based on a name and a press release; Jarrett named none of the names in his database, and the promotion doesn't have a start date, a venue, or any television announced yet. However, Jarrett doesn't exactly have a terrible track record here. TNA has been creatively awful, but the promotion has survived for over a decade. The other company Jarrett helped develop, Ring Ka King, was a stunning critical success as well as the highest rated wrestling program in the world at the time of its airing, thanks to India's hyper-inflated population.
While the website still needs work, I can't really be too critical or optimistic about GFW's future. The company is here, for better or worse, and it looks to attempt to compete right off the bat with TNA and ROH. Hopefully, Jarrett, his wife Karen, and whomever else they have working with them here get a good start out of the gate.