After 15 years, TNA is officially dead.
It was announced this week that Anthem Sports (the new owners of TNA) had acquired Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling and would be rebranding TNA as GFW, yet keeping their weekly wrestling program on Pop TV named Impact.
Videos by PopCulture.com
The organization’s name has been in limbo since Jarrett rejoined the company. For the past several months they had dropped the TNA name and only been referring to themselves as Impact Wrestling, despite having Championship belts adorned with the TNA logo.
With the three brand names to choose from, Jarrett has convinced Anthem to go with the one who had the least notoriety and perhaps, the least amount of stink on it from the Dixie Carter years. ImpactWrestling.com and GlobalForceWrestling.com are, for the moment, two separate sites, with conflicting rosters, but surely this will all be cleared up in the coming weeks.
Up Next: Former RAW GM Smitten Over Samoa Joe and Brock Lesnar
The company’s annual event “Slammiversary” takes place on Sunday, which the new GFW views as a re-launch of its pay per view business.
“We’re a global brand,” Jarrett told the Tennessean of the rebranding. “We have partnerships in Mexico, Japan, other places. Collectively coming together, we’ve combined forces and basically the rebrand final touches happen (on Sunday) at ‘Slammiversary.’”
Jarrett and Anthem hope to emphasize the Global portion of GFW as they look to tap into wrestling markets across the world.
“One part of our international strategy is not just to take WWE-style ‘Impact’ and export it to other countries, but as well to more deeply penetrate those international markets in association with (wrestling) promotions that are centric to those markets,” Nordholm said. “The (international promotions) want to tap into our expertise to boost those shows, but also to in turn boost the GFW content.”
In addition to following WWE’s lead across the globe, they have also announced plans for a subscription based network which would allow access to their TNA archives. President Ed Nordholm said the company is developing an on-demand streaming service as well to tap into its valuable library.
Again, speaking with the Tennessean, Jarrett acknowledged that TNA had a complicated legacy. One of developing many of WWE’s current superstars like AJ Styles, Samoa Joe and Bobby Roode, but also one of bumbling up most of their business with poor management under the Dixie Carter regime.
More: Vince Russo Says WWE Mishandled Jinder Mahal
“Perseverance,” Jarrett said when asked to describe the company’s legacy over its first 15 years. “Nobody said it would be easy. But when you really chart the road map of the business side of things, it was a challenge day in and day out. But in spite of those business challenges, I will say the brand persevered, the talent persevered.
“And when you look back on history, 2005 to 2015, the stars of today were created right under our watch – A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe and Bobby Roode, arguably the top freshest stars in the world today. I’m excited for this roster now. I’m excited to show the next A.J. Styles to the world.”
